U.S. President Donald Trump has established the American Technology Council with an executive order. So far there are few details about the ATC mission although Trump will chair the group. Apparently the president signed the order last Friday although it is dated May 1, 2017.
As stated in the executive order: “It is the policy of the United States to promote the secure, efficient, and economical use of information technology to achieve its missions. Americans deserve better digital services from their Government. To effectuate this policy, the Federal Government must transform and modernize its information technology and how it uses and delivers digital services.” The ATC will guide implantation of the policy.
On first glance, the goals seem government-centric rather than broadly focused on IT use throughout society or its effective advancement as competitive U.S. strategy. This contrasts with the National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI), established by President Obama with an executive order, which laid out broader HPC-focused vision. Indeed the two may not be comparable, and NSCI for all its ambition has seemed to lose steam recently.
CNN reports The Council falls under the White House Office of American Innovation led by Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. In addition to Kushner, Chris Liddell and Reed Cordish (Kushner lieutenants), members of the ATC include the President; the Vice President; Secretary of Defense; Secretary of Commerce; Secretary of Homeland Security; Director of National Intelligence; OMB Director; Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy; and U.S. CTO.