Vivek Kundra Wishes Governing Departments Share Ample Clusters of Computers
Sunday, January 31st, 2010Vivek Kundra sees clouds in a peculiar way than many people. As Federal CIO, he endorses many ‘cloud computing’ initiatives, as he believes they will improve data sharing among Federal, state and local government agencies. As the former Chief Technology Officer for Washington, D.C., Vivek Kundra considers cloud computing as a important chance for renovating intergovernmental IT relationships.
Vivek Kundra is responsible for assuring that the public has user-friendly access to government information. He is also accountable for rethinking the way the public interacts with the government in this economy and age of information. His model for accomplishing all of this is with the usage of off-the-shelf applications, cloud computing, open-source technology, and concepts such as Facebook and the like, that motivate U.S citizens to self-organize on the Worldwide Web.
In 2008, as Chief Technology Officer of the District of Columbia, he promoted the use of government information. He created a contest called Apps for Democracy, which invited developers to come up with fresh ways to use feeds. The District of Columbia makes information available to the people, and they offer roughly 240 feeds. These feeds offer a spectrum of information from the local government offices. These include building permits and crime reports and more. Vivek Kundra wanted to move away from a model of hiring a costly government contractor to build technologies based on the feeds. His goal was to encourage citizens in Washington, D.C. area, nationally, and internationally with the contest. As a result, the contest resulted in Web and mobile applications used to help people find parking and to help tourists explore the city. This is among other applications created because of this contest.
Vivek Kundra is now applying his expertise to the important tasks at hand as Federal Chief Information Officer. The know how gained during his time as CTO for the District of Columbia is conducive to the initiatives he is enforcing as part of President Obama’s administration. He wants the government’s Information Technology efforts using private sector platforms that are conducive to effective sharing of information.