Aneesh Chopra, President Obama's Chief Technology Officer, said the White House needs the best and the brightest from the private sector to provide technical know-how and big investments to make the administration's ambitious IT plans for healthcare, education and energy a success.

Chopra said the administration is doing its part with policy changes and hefty funding, but he added the government also needs entrepreneurs to come up with solutions and tools, as well as the additional dollars in investments.

"It is highly unlikely the public sector will be the source of that capital," he explained. "We will bring all stakeholders to the table to have this discussion; we want to have a platform for economic growth."

It makes a lot of sense to invite the private sector to the party, doesn't it? While many of the most innovative ideas for IT have come out of government--like the Internet, for example--the private sector has taken the ball in many new directions as it sees potential for new client bases and has the money to invest.

So what better way than combining forces for government to succeed than with a viable partnership with private industry?

For more on the CTO:
- see this TheStreet.com article