I just returned from a productive trip to the West Coast, where I met with technology innovators from the private sector and state and local governments to hear their ideas about how the Federal Government can leverage the power of technology to deliver better results for the American people. As I’ve said before, the Federal Government does not have a monopoly on the best ideas, and in order to truly change business as usual here in Washington – we’ve got to look beyond the Beltway. The Obama Administration is committed to making the Federal Government work better for the American people. Closing the technology gap between the private and public sectors is essential to delivering the best results possible. That is why I returned to the West Coast to continue to meet with leaders who have taken innovative steps and implemented bold strategies to drive progress and productivity. The power of raw data to provide consumers with relevant information and inform their decisions is already being realized. For example, as I was heading to the airport, I used “FlyOnTime.us” to check if my flight was on time and to see what the wait in line would be. This innovative website was created by a group of independent developers using Data.gov . My first stop was San Francisco, where I joined Mayor Gavin Newsom and city CIO Chris Vein for the launch of the nationwide Open311 API (Application Programming Interface) initiative, which will open up access to local government services across the country. Open311 will enable people to track the status of repairs or improvements, while also allowing them to make new requests for services. For example, I can use the same application when I am home in Washington, DC to report a broken parking meter as I would in San Francisco. I also spoke to CIOs from Boston, Chicago, DC, Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Francisco about accelerating the development of applications that the American people can use in their everyday lives. From downtown San Francisco, it was out to Silicon Valley to meet with venture capitalists and technology innovators, including Mint.com, Mozilla, and Facebook, at IDEO Labs to discuss how government can improve how it is delivering services to the American people. We used a visual storyboard concept to capture our conversation, which you can see here. Later that afternoon, I met with companies like Apple and Google to learn how innovation is happening in the consumer space, through new platforms such as Apple’s online App Store. On Thursday, I travelled to the “other” Washington, where I started the day with CIOs from organizations such as Weyerhaeuser and Microsoft to hear about how they successfully manage large-scale IT projects. I also had the opportunity to look at some of the impressive investments in next generation technologies being made by companies like Microsoft and Amazon. I then delivered a speech at the University of Washington titled “Making Government Work: Closing the Technology Gap to Deliver for the American People.” I was very encouraged by the response and was pleasantly surprised when following my speech, dozens of professors and students lined up to ask questions and continue the dialogue. At the end of the day, I attended an industry awards celebration for local technology entrepreneurs, hosted by the Washington Technology Industry Association. It was great to see entrepreneurs from the “other” Washington talk to me about their ideas for helping us change the way Washington, DC works. Vivek Kundra is U.S. Chief Information Officer
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Getting Outside the Four Walls of Washington
Often overlooked in day-to-day political discussions, the opportunities for economic recovery through imports and exports, moving American goods around the world, should never be underestimated. Along those lines, during his State of the Union address, the President set a goal of doubling exports over the next five years – an increase that will support two million additional jobs here at home. At 11:15PM EST today, the President will address the Export-Import Bank’s Annual Conference today to elaborate on his vision and approach, which has also been a focus of every trip he has taken since taking office. Following up on the President’s speech we’re happy to welcome Commerce Secretary Gary Locke at 12:30 for a live online video chat where he’ll take your questions on the President’s remarks and policies. Watch the chat at WhiteHouse.gov/live Watch, discuss, and engage through Facebook
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Watch, Discuss, Engage at 12:30: Secretary Locke on the National Export Initiative
While discussing health insurance reform in St. Charles, Missouri today, President Obama announced new efforts to reign in waste and fraud in Medicare, Medicaid and other government programs. He explained that the administration plans to prevent wasted dollars through the use of payment recapture audits by giving auditors incentives to catch improper payments and payment errors. He called for federal agencies to launch these audits across the country, which have been successful through pilot programs. The audits are expected to return $2 billion in taxpayer money over the next 3 years. He also announced his support for the Improper Payments Elimination and Recovery Act, a bipartisan bill to expand the government’s ability to perform such audits and prevent waste. The administration is working to cut programs that are not needed, increase accountability, and eliminate high-risk contracts. The President explained that by saving billions of dollars, government-run health care programs like Medicare can work better and provide better care. On the other side of the spectrum there are those who believe that the answer is to simply unleash the insurance industry, and provide less oversight and fewer rules. And that somehow that’s going to drive down prices for everybody. This is called the “putting the foxes in charge of the hen house” approach to health care reform. So whatever state regulations were in place, we’d get rid of those and so insurance companies could basically find a state that had the worst regulations and then from there sell insurance everywhere. And that somehow that was going to be helpful to you. All this would do would give insurance companies more leeway to raise premiums and deny care. So I don’t believe we should give either the government or the insurance companies more control over health care in America. I want to give you more control over health care in America. President Barack Obama delivers remarks on Medicaid fraud and health care reform at St. Charles High School in St. Charles, Missouri, The President also explained that his health care proposal would have three core reforms: ending the worst practices of insurance companies, creating a marketplace that allows for affordable health care options, and reducing costs for families, businesses, and the government. As a result, the government would reduce the deficit by $1 trillion dollars. Businesses have also conducted a study that shows the reforms are expected to reduce premiums by as much as $3000 per employee. So here’s the bottom line, St. Charles. There’s no government takeover, unless you consider reining in insurance companies a government takeover — and I think that’s the right thing to do. There’s no cutting of Medicare benefits. There’s just cutting out fraud and waste in Medicare to make it stronger. What we’re proposing is a common-sense approach to protecting you from insurance company abuses and saving you money. That’s the proposal, and it is paid for. And I believe that Congress owes the American people a final up or down vote on health care reform. The time for talk is over; it’s time to vote.
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Cracking Down on Waste and Fraud
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