Replace Aging Federal Workers With Technology?
A former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers suggests that the Obama administration should replace aging federal workers with technology. “Replace some of the 42 percent of federal civilian employees who will retire in the next decade with technology,” holds Michael Boskin, a professor of economics at Stanford and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, at the end of a New York Times op-ed published Saturday.
Darrell West, vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institute, told National Journal in response that “It certainly will be possible to use technology in the public sector to improve future productivity. The private sector has managed to decrease its labor force and maintain current service through digital technology. New technologies help people achieve more with less time, and that will save a lot of money.”
If better use of technology could enable the government to make due with fewer employees, it seems like the task would be something that would fall under the chief technology officer purview -- a position for which Obama has yet to offer a name. According to Obama’s technology plan, the CTO would “ensure that our government and all its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century” and work with “chief technology and chief information officers of each of the federal agencies, to ensure that they use best-in-class technologies and share best practices.” -- Winter Casey
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Presidential Transition
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