Am I the only one amazed that they weren't already doing this long ago?
After all, this has been bandied about for decades as an essential space technology. And it's not as if the required technology is rocket science exactly.
Next you're going to tell me that the space station doesn't have a rotating wheel to simulate artificial gravity...
Interesting tidbit you apparently missed from that Wikipedia article:
"According to the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index, however, Germany is currently ranked 20th in the world in terms of press freedom."
For reference, the US is ranked 48th, well behind pretty much all or Europe (most of which are in the top 20), and trailing places such as Costa Rica, Namibia, Ghana, Uruguay, Nicaragua, etc...
IT is an important issue, but I d think there is plenty of non-I T to warrant a real CTO.
Solar energy, wind energy, "clean" coal, carbon sequestration, biofuels, hybrid and electric cars, nuclear energy, the hydrogen economy - all issues that are likely to play a huge role in the coming years. And that's just in the energy sector alone!
Add to that things like GMO's, unregulated and unresearched chemicals in consumer goods (bisphenol-A, anyone?), adulterated or contaminated foods, NASA, space commercialization, you name it...
You need a "Renaissance man" to be able to talk coherently on all those widely different areas of expertise, not just a computer wiz.
The difference between reality and unreality is that reality has so little to recommend it. -- Allan Sherman
