Kundra now gets to ask himself the same question about the U.S. government, in his new role as Federal CIO. The answers will be a lot harder: Political infighting led the director of the National Cyber Security Center to last week, a day after Kundra was appointed by President Obama. There was no connection between the two events, but the timing wasn't encouraging.

According to magazine, one of Kundra's top priorities for the short term is to put government contract information and related data on the new administration's site. Kundra said in a conference call that new reporting rules from the Office of Management and Budget make clear to state governors and city mayors that they will be held accountable for publishing contract information on their own economic recovery sites, such as .

Government Technology reports that Kundra is held in high esteem for his work at the state level in Virginia, and then later in the District of Columbia.

But Gartner analyst , who describes Kundra as "very bright, innovative, and driven," says Obama's new CIO will nonetheless need to come to terms with the lack of real authority given to his office:

I've met quite a few national government CIOs and they all have the same problem. They are given the responsibility to optimize whole of government architectures without the authority to get it done. In most cases they have influence over government departments but no real control. In many cases they play the role of advisor and cajoler but lack the backing to make real change. Clearly there have been some successes, but in most cases those successes occur after several failed attempts.