This is what IBM’s CEO Wrote to President Elect Joe Biden in a Letter

Joe Biden has been projected to become the 46th president of the United States this month and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna isn’t even waiting for the certified election results to share his thoughts with America’s new leader.

Krishna sent Biden a letter this week outlining technology priorities for the new administration to consider, including the creation of a new technology talent force for national security purposes.

He noted that 70% of the tech talent in the U.S. works for the private sector, and the government needs to secure strategic access to that brain power.

Krishna also stressed the importance of building coalitions between science and government to tackle challenges in medicine and in properly leveraging new technology like AI.

In an interview with CNBC, Krishan said, “We are no political experts, let me just say that. But the networks and the various states, as they called for President-Elect Biden, IBM has historically worked with administrations of both parties in order to further our country’s economic agenda. We felt it was really important to lay out priorities which can help further where we are.”

Krishna told CNBC that conversations he recently had with what he called “four stars in the United States defense” highlighted the risk to the government in not having enough technology talent among its active members

“You call on the reserve corps when everybody in the active is being overwhelmed, in order to provide brainpower, in order to provide physical power, and in order to supplement what is already there. It’s not casting any aspersions or stones that who’s there; but it’s providing greater capacity,” Krishna said at the CNBC Evolve summit on Tuesday.

Krishna noted that 70%, “maybe even more” of the U.S. scientific manpower is in the private sector.

This concept is even more important when you consider COVID-19 according to the CEO.
“You can draw upon those people who have the kind of training and the skills, because it is those skills that can be brought to bear to solve these incredible problems we have right now, around this health crisis,” Krishna told CNBC. “Using science to fight Covid, using artificial intelligence, as well as supercomputing, to come up with better therapeutics,” he said. IBM already has played a leading role in the formation of a Covid consortium of companies.

Krishna suggests that the government also look at the creation of a National Research Cloud for AI that would help in coming up with solutions to major medical issues. quantum computing systems to help discover new medicines.

Since taking on the role of CEO at IBM, Krishna has decided to split IBM into two and separate the company’s cloud business from its infrastructure.

He has said IBM “strongly supports” re-joining the Paris Climate Agreement, as well as the DACA program and the Dreamers Act,

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.