The Congressional Research Service has come down hard on the role of the federal chief technology officer. The job is poorly defined, the group said in a recent report, and Congress may want to act to codify the CTO's responsibilities.

"There is currently no formal position description for the CTO," said the report, written by CRS science and technology policy specialist John Sargent. "Accordingly, the official duties of the CTO remain largely undefined. If the position or office of the CTO is not established by Congress and provided with statutory authorities and a dedicated budget, it may be difficult for the CTO to affect change in individual federal agencies or systemically throughout the federal government."

Federal CTO Aneesh Chopra, the first FCTO in government, has focused on open government and the administration's technology innovation policy. However, the report points out that the role of CTO is too handcuffed by the president's discretions.

"The manner in which the CTO has been established may affect the position/office's ability to transcend presidential administrations," the report said. "If the authorities of the CTO continue to rely solely upon the President's executive authority, then its continued existence would be at the sole discretion of the current or future President."

For more on the CRS report:
- see this InformationWeek article

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