Tough call, who is far seeing and far reaching and technically astute as well?
Definitely rules out Balmer, he's a sales guy.
Bezos? Good business, but that doesn't equate to technical.
Mark Cuban? hmmm, not right attitude but a decent mix of both perhaps.
Tim Berners Lee? Maybe
Linus Torvaldes? Interesting too.
Ray Ozzie? Gets my vote, but I believe in sharing, something most politicians dislike.
Pete Townshend or Neil Young? to name some musicians that have been ahead of the curve.
Douglas Adams would also get a vote, but sadly he left us a few years back.
Lastly, Bill Gates, love him or hate him.

I see it more as a group of people from various areas because one person should not shape our digital future. There is a creative part to it, which many lack, and a technical part which others have.
Put it together and you may get some place.

Esther:

The key here is how you define the role of a US government CTO. If the role is to serve as the President's principal advisor on information technology, then maybe the Council of Economic Advisors would be an interesting model. Here is their “job" description from their web site:

“The Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) was established by the Employment Act of 1946 to provide the President with objective economic analysis and advice on the development and implementation of a wide range of domestic and international economic policy issues.

The CEA includes three members who are appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The President shall designate one of the members as Chairman. The duties and functions of the CEA include:

1.to assist and advise the President in the preparation of the Economic Report;

2.to gather timely and authoritative information concerning economic developments and economic trends, both current and prospective, to analyze and interpret such information for the purpose of determining whether such developments and trends are interfering, or are likely to interfere, with the achievement of such policy, and to compile and submit to the President studies relating to such developments and trends;

3.to appraise the various programs and activities of the Federal Government for the purpose of determining the extent to which such programs and activities are contributing, and the extent to which they are not contributing, to the achievement of such policy, and to make recommendations to the President with respect thereto;

4.to develop and recommend to the President national economic policies to foster and promote free competitive enterprise, to avoid economic fluctuations or to diminish the effects thereof, and to maintain employment, production, and purchasing power;

5.to make and furnish such studies, reports thereon, and recommendations with respect to matters of Federal economic policy and legislation as the President may request.”

Not a bad model to be thinking about, with some obvious changes in language, as a job description for a US government CIO.

Bill

William A. Crowell
Principal
Magellan Associates, LLC
www.magellan-associates.com

You can contact me by clicking on my name and then click the "contact" tab.

Definitely Bill Gates

1. He has enough money to stay independent
2. He has enough courage to say what he really think
3. He has enough followers and opponents to make it interesting
4. As a matter of fact, he had this position already so he knows the job ;-)
5. You will use Vista anyway as a core desktop technology, so the strategy is there
6. And there are no other candidates who really know how Windows works ...

More seriously, governments will not be able to drive technology, while they can kill some attempts by regulations. It is a business issue.