“With the government still using floppy disks and checking for Y2K compliance, the private sector’s creativity will help move the Trump administration past the turn of the century, presidential advisor Jared Kushner said Monday,” Anita Balakrishnan reports for CNBC. “Major technology executives met with Kushner to gather ideas for modernizing the government.”
“Kushner, who is also President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, helps lead the White House Office of American Innovation, which he said aims to bring “business sensibility” to the government,” Balakrishnan reports. “‘We will unleash the creativity of the private sector to provide citizen services in a way that has never happened before,’Kushner said.”
“Kushner said his efforts are not being stymied by bureaucracy. He added that he is working with employees on eliminating outdated, unsustainable policies and systems that are as much as 56 years old and have held back departments like the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Defense Department. ‘By modernizing these systems we will meaningfully improve the lives of tens of millions of Americans,’ Kushner said,” Balakrishnan reports. “The government and Silicon Valley aim to work together despite the fact that technology leaders like Apple’s Tim Cook and Alphabet’s Eric Schmidt, for instance, have positioned themselves squarely against the administration on several issues.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Floppies and Y2K compliance. Sheesh.
Chris Liddell, director of strategic initiatives for the Trump administration, told CNBC that the government has more than 6,000 data centers and spends $86 billion a year on technology, figures that are “orders of magnitude” higher than the private-market equivalents.
The waste is simply appalling. Where is that $86 billion annually going, exactly? And, most importantly, to what lengths will those receiving those billions go in order to keep the appalling spigot flowing?
Government is like a baby. An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. — Ronald Reagan
SEE ALSO:
President Trump to meet with Apple CEO Cook, other tech execs on cutting government waste, improving services – June 19, 2017
Apple CEO Cook, other tech CEOs to attend President Trump’s Jared Kushner-led summit – June 9, 2017
Apple CEO Tim Cook pressured to follow Elon Musk and leave President’s Council over Paris Agreement kerfuffle – June 2, 2017
Apple CEO Cook slams President Trump’s decision to withdraw from climate deal; says it’s ‘wrong for our planet’ – June 1, 2017
Despite pleas from Apple CEO Tim Cook and others, President Trump pulls out of Paris Agreement – June 1, 2017
Apple signs on to full page ‘open letter’ ad urging President Trump to keep U.S. in Paris Agreement on climate change – June 1, 2017
Apple CEO Cook calls President Trump as Elon Musk threatens to quit White House advisory councils over Paris decision – May 31, 2017
President Trump leaning toward exiting Paris climate change agreement despite Apple, others urging U.S. to remain in deal – May 31, 2017
Apple to stick with environmental pledges despite President Trump’s gutting of Obama’s climate change orders – March 30, 2017