It's back to the blackboard for Bill Chou

Connect with state & local government leaders
 

Connecting state and local government leaders

Wushow "Bill" Chou left his post as the Treasury Department's chief information officer this month and returned to academic life after being at the vortex of several sweeping changes in federal information technology policy. Chou oversaw the early implementation of the Information Technology Management and Reform Act, increased congressional scrutiny of IRS' troubled Tax Systems Modernization program and the cutover to a new departmentwide communications network in the three years he was deputy assistant secretary of

Wushow "Bill" Chou left his post as the Treasury Department's chief
information officer this month and returned to academic life after being at the vortex of
several sweeping changes in federal information technology policy.


Chou oversaw the early implementation of the Information Technology Management and
Reform Act, increased congressional scrutiny of IRS' troubled Tax Systems Modernization
program and the cutover to a new departmentwide communications network in the three years
he was deputy assistant secretary of Treasury for information systems.


James L. Flyzik, Treasury's telecommunications director, will be the acting CIO until
the department names a permanent replacement. Chou will return to his job as a computer
science professor at North Carolina State University at Raleigh, where he taught before
coming to Washington during President Clinton's first term. He had previously worked in
several government systems jobs.


Looking back at his most recent stint in Washington, Chou said he sees a sea change for
the government. "Everything is more evolutionary. If you had asked me three years ago
whether top agency heads pay attention to technology, I would be surprised if they
would," Chou said. "Now they do."


Chou said last year's passage of ITMRA indicated how far senior managers and lawmakers
had come. The law solidified the important role IT plays in government agencies, he said.


But the law won't necessarily make things happen; having a seat at the secretary's
table is not enough, Chou warned. "You can still have a seat at the table and still
be ignored. Understanding the issue is still more important."


Chou said that one of the most significant changes of his tenure at Treasury was the
shift to buying communications services rather than buying the pipelines, a change that
occurred with the Treasury Communications System (TCS).


"Before it was seen purely as a transfer mechanism for data," as if it were a
utility like electricity, he said. "More and more it's a way to do business."


The e-mail, electronic commerce and collaborative computing applications make it
useful, Chou said, adding that he likes to call it the department's WorkNet.


Chou's biggest disappointment proved to be continuing problems with IRS information
systems. But he said he expects that IRS CIO Arthur A. Gross, appointed last spring, can
turn the program around.


In the past, there was a rush to merely install machines at IRS without looking at the
overall structure, he said. "It's everywhere in the world, not just government.
Government has just been slow to respond."


As to the future, Chou noted the year 2000 date conversion work the government must
complete. The work is critical for bureaus such as IRS that the nation and government
depend on for revenue figures, he said.


X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.