Yesterday, President Trump met with top tech leaders again. This includes Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s?Satya Nadella. Then there was the clear message. Trump to Silicon Valley execs: Fix government tech.
So President Trump wants to improve government technology. Trump also told them federal technology lags way behind the private sector. Furthermore, he wants federal agencies to have better tech facilites to better serve Americans. However, he wants to technology to be cheaper to buy, on their end. But there’s other concerns. One is fighting cyber attacks. Another is turning paper forms into websites any worker can use.
But Silicon Valley leaders had requests of their own. For example, Bezos wants the government to use commercial tech tools. Then there is Alex Karp. He’s the CEO of Palentir, a major software company. He urges the fed to use big data to fight fraud, especially on the federal level. You also have Apple CEO Tim Cook. One of Cook’s passions is to teach computer technology in schools. So he used this trip to promote that cause. Cook urged Washington to make coding not only accessible in schools, but a requirement as well. Even Peter Theil, the only Silicon Valley leader who supported Trump during his campaign, attended.
It seems that relations between Washington and Silicon Valley are getting better. I hope so. They need each other. Now here in our little Boston computer service shop, we try to avoid political talk like the plague. Look at how volatile our ?political climate is. But Silicon Valley leaders aren’t so lucky. It seems like there’s a lot of favors being exchanged. I don’t knock it. In fact, I admire it. We need to better fight cyber criminals, and we needs the feds to do better. Tim Cook is right, too. Our children need to be better educated in computer technology. Trump to Silicon Valley Execs: Fix government tech. But one question: Could this be about tightening government excitement?