Trump seeks tech firms' help to modernize US govt's IT skills

US President Donald Trump asked tech giants to "lend" their digital expertise to upgrade the US federal agencies' ability to use emerging high-tech.

According to sources familiar with the matter, the White House's senior adviser Jared Kushner has spoken with major tech companies including Apple, Amazon, Oracle, IBM, and Qualcomm.

Trump participates in an American Technology Council round table, accompanied by Tim Cook, CEO of Apple (L) and Satya Nadella CEO of Microsoft Corporation at the White House in 2017.

In a private call with the firms, he said that the White House plans to form small "center of excellence."

It is tasked to help federal agencies embrace cloud computing and make more use of their data available for private-sector use, he said.

Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos specifically called on Trump to make it easier for companies to sell off-the-shelf technologies to federal agencies, upgrading their current digital infrastructures.

At the same time, some Silicon Valley venture capitalists emphasized the need for data transparency for regulators. In their opinions, the White House should release more useful data to help the decision-making of companies, especially startups, in fields like health care.

Trump's top tech aide Reed Cordish expressed Trump Administration's ambition of continuing to make efforts to boost computer science education.

Apple's CEO Tim Cook pointed out that coding education should be treated as a requirement in schools. He encouraged the White House to promote it widely in the US.

(CGTN)