President Donald Trump has created the White House Office of American Innovation (OAI), which will task White House officials and the private sector with recommending policies and plans improving government services -- like info technology -- and infrastructure projects, which are expected to include broadband buildout. Computer companies were praising the move.
He has named his son-in-law and senior advisor Jared Kushner to head the effort. Kushner said he and the OAI team have already met with more than 100 private sector CEOs -- no word on whether Charter CEO Tom Rutledge, who teamed up with the President last week to promote insourcing call center jobs, was among them.
In addition to modernizing government services, IT, and infrastructure OAI will create task forces looking to help implement regulatory and process reforms.
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Also on the OAI team are Assistant to the President for Economic Policy Gary Cohn, Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy Andrew Bremberg, Assistant to the President for Strategic Initiatives Chris Liddell, Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental and Technology.
“One of the primary reasons I ran for President was the need for new thinking and real change," said the President, "and I know the Office and its team will help us meet those challenges.”
An association whose members include an A list of computer powerhouses, applauded the move.
"Fresh thinking can spark new solutions to old problems, an approach that is deeply engrained in the tech industry," said Dean Garfield, president of ITI, which represents tech companies including Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft. "We welcome this initiative to bring that same forward thinking mindset to the challenges facing our government by infusing innovation and data-driven efficiencies into the government's operations. Already the White House is tapping talent from the private sector, and we look forward to working with them on this effort as it goes from upstart to government-wide."
