4 ms·

Obama's data.gov CIO quits White House

59 points by cwan 15y ago

cjoh 15y ago
Don't want to publish information without unattributable sources, but -- the deal is in Washington that Obama gave his appointees until August 30th to decide whether or not they wanted to stay on through the remainder of his present term. Basically, while they're on their honor, the administration doesn't want appointees to drop out during election season. This is customary for administrations seeking reelection to do. Vivek likely won't be the first.
jinushaun 15y ago
Not looking good for the future of data.gov. I know funding was cut recently, but didn't realise until this article that funding was cut from $35m to $8m!
nextparadigms 15y ago
Weren't they closing down data.gov anyway, to "save money" or something?
ChrisArchitect 15y ago
like some other things with Obama's Presidency, data/gov projects haven't gone the way we all 'Hoped' they would when the ideals presented themselves at its start. <Sigh>
- brown9-2 15y ago
  From the article: As The Register has previously reported, Data.gov has been the subject of serious funding cuts in recent months. Its budget was dramatically reduced from $35m in 2010 to just $8m this year. From http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/datagov_et_al_budget_slashed_by_75.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/datagov_et_al_budget_sl... : Federal government transparency programs, including data resource directory Data.gov, face across-the-board budget cuts by 75% in the latest version of the federal budget to emerge from Congressional negotiations. Congress slashed the budget, not the President.
  - eli 15y ago
    True enough, but it was slashed in a Congressional budget that the Whitehouse agreed to. Sunlight Foundation has extensive coverage & ways you can help: http://sunlightfoundation.com/savethedata/ http://sunlightfoundation.com/savethedata/
baconner 15y ago
Vivek wasn't the CIO of data.gov as the headline implies. He was the CIO of the united states. IMO Its a real shame to see him go. Data.gov and other important projects like the federal it dashboard and his efforts to reduce wasteful spending on data centers seem destined for termination without him.
rpledge 15y ago
Prediction: Eric Schmidt replaces him
- hugh3 15y ago
  Why the hell would Eric Schmidt want a job like that?
  - rpledge 15y ago
    It was allegedly offered to him before: http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10769458?nclick_check=1 http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10769458?nclick_check=1 Of course, he was CEO of Google then. Now, not so much. I can see him wondering if a career in politics would work. I'm sure he's got enough cash not to care about the finical hit.
    - thematt 15y ago
      I might agree with you if the position actually had any credibility anymore. However...being a government organization with only $8 million in funding, Schmidt would barely be able to keep the lights on.
    - brown9-2 15y ago
      more recent speculation has Schmidt being named Commerce Secretary.
      - hugh3 15y ago
        If I were Eric Schmidt, my plans would involve enjoying my many billions of dollars and private 767 and occasionally dropping into a Google board meeting to say "Good job Larry, keep it up". They would so not involve moving to dreary old Washington DC to take up a thankless bureaucratic job in an administration that is as likely as not to be over in eighteen months.
buckwild 15y ago
Does anyone else not trust the data on data.gov? I don't have any evidence to prove otherwise, but I have a feeling that the raw data is tampered with before release... Perhaps its just the fact that the US government really goes out of its way to protect its data (remember how much the US government hates Wikileaks and how long it takes to de-classify documents). Why would they up and release data all of a sudden?
- jonknee 15y ago
  ... Because data.gov isn't releasing classified information?
- davidhollander 15y ago
  >I don't have any evidence to prove otherwise, but I have a feeling that the raw data is tampered with before release... Evidence is the currency by which one fulfills burden of proof. >Why would they up and release data all of a sudden? You just read an article listing several reasons. All government data is by default public unless related to national security and explicitly upgraded to a higher secrecy level. You could already request to view any of the information being released, but it's cheaper to start moving all public information to one location than to have every agency inconsistently implement its own information handling processes. It's extremely unlikely the government is coordinating all of its workers to tamper with public disability claims, military recruitment trends, environmental reports, geological surveys, public housing inventories, etc. before posting it on the site.
known 15y ago
A Senator should take the CIO job.

59 points by cwan 15y ago

cjoh 15y ago

Don't want to publish information without unattributable sources, but -- the deal is in Washington that Obama gave his appointees until August 30th to decide whether or not they wanted to stay on through the remainder of his present term. Basically, while they're on their honor, the administration doesn't want appointees to drop out during election season. This is customary for administrations seeking reelection to do. Vivek likely won't be the first.

jinushaun 15y ago

Not looking good for the future of data.gov. I know funding was cut recently, but didn't realise until this article that funding was cut from $35m to $8m!

nextparadigms 15y ago

Weren't they closing down data.gov anyway, to "save money" or something?

ChrisArchitect 15y ago

like some other things with Obama's Presidency, data/gov projects haven't gone the way we all 'Hoped' they would when the ideals presented themselves at its start. <Sigh>

brown9-2 15y ago
From the article: As The Register has previously reported, Data.gov has been the subject of serious funding cuts in recent months. Its budget was dramatically reduced from $35m in 2010 to just $8m this year. From http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/datagov_et_al_budget_slashed_by_75.php http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/datagov_et_al_budget_sl... : Federal government transparency programs, including data resource directory Data.gov, face across-the-board budget cuts by 75% in the latest version of the federal budget to emerge from Congressional negotiations. Congress slashed the budget, not the President.
- eli 15y ago
  True enough, but it was slashed in a Congressional budget that the Whitehouse agreed to. Sunlight Foundation has extensive coverage & ways you can help: http://sunlightfoundation.com/savethedata/ http://sunlightfoundation.com/savethedata/

baconner 15y ago

Vivek wasn't the CIO of data.gov as the headline implies. He was the CIO of the united states. IMO Its a real shame to see him go. Data.gov and other important projects like the federal it dashboard and his efforts to reduce wasteful spending on data centers seem destined for termination without him.

rpledge 15y ago

Prediction: Eric Schmidt replaces him

hugh3 15y ago
Why the hell would Eric Schmidt want a job like that?
- rpledge 15y ago
  It was allegedly offered to him before: http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10769458?nclick_check=1 http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10769458?nclick_check=1 Of course, he was CEO of Google then. Now, not so much. I can see him wondering if a career in politics would work. I'm sure he's got enough cash not to care about the finical hit.
  - thematt 15y ago
    I might agree with you if the position actually had any credibility anymore. However...being a government organization with only $8 million in funding, Schmidt would barely be able to keep the lights on.
  - brown9-2 15y ago
    more recent speculation has Schmidt being named Commerce Secretary.
    - hugh3 15y ago
      If I were Eric Schmidt, my plans would involve enjoying my many billions of dollars and private 767 and occasionally dropping into a Google board meeting to say "Good job Larry, keep it up". They would so not involve moving to dreary old Washington DC to take up a thankless bureaucratic job in an administration that is as likely as not to be over in eighteen months.

buckwild 15y ago

Does anyone else not trust the data on data.gov? I don't have any evidence to prove otherwise, but I have a feeling that the raw data is tampered with before release... Perhaps its just the fact that the US government really goes out of its way to protect its data (remember how much the US government hates Wikileaks and how long it takes to de-classify documents). Why would they up and release data all of a sudden?

jonknee 15y ago
... Because data.gov isn't releasing classified information?
davidhollander 15y ago
>I don't have any evidence to prove otherwise, but I have a feeling that the raw data is tampered with before release... Evidence is the currency by which one fulfills burden of proof. >Why would they up and release data all of a sudden? You just read an article listing several reasons. All government data is by default public unless related to national security and explicitly upgraded to a higher secrecy level. You could already request to view any of the information being released, but it's cheaper to start moving all public information to one location than to have every agency inconsistently implement its own information handling processes. It's extremely unlikely the government is coordinating all of its workers to tamper with public disability claims, military recruitment trends, environmental reports, geological surveys, public housing inventories, etc. before posting it on the site.

known 15y ago

A Senator should take the CIO job.