Obama appoints US technology team

Barack Obama has named a three-strong technology team

President-elect Barack Obama has named the three members of a team that will decide on the technology priorities of the new administration.

The technology, innovation and government reform policy working group will consist of Blair Levin, a former Federal Communications Commission (FCC) staffer; Julius Genachowski, formerly chief council to the FCC; and Sonal Shah, head of Google's philanthropic arm Google.org.

The team will formulate the IT priorities of the new government and decide on policy issues to be addressed. Chief among these is likely to be net neutrality, as a bill on the issue has already been promised.

Another campaign pledge was greater transparency in government, with more data being published for businesses and individuals to examine.

The team will also have input into the choice for the new role of US chief technology officer. Genachowski has been mentioned as a possible candidate in some circles, but no statement on the role is expected soon.