Good morning tech

White House orders review of federal technology spending: The White House announced a comprehensive plan Monday to cut government waste by making public-sector technology more efficient. Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag announced the plan in a Monday blog post, saying the federal government does not effectively use information technology and is wasting billions of dollars a year as a result. “While a productivity boom has transformed private sector performance over the past two decades, the federal government has almost entirely missed this transformation and now lags far behind on efficiency and service quality,” Orszag wrote. “We are wasting billions of dollars a year, and more importantly are missing out on the huge productively improvements other sectors have benefited from.”

Supreme Court issues narrow patent decision: The ruling in Bilski v. Kappos ruled that a business management strategy for dealing with energy bills cannot be patented. “Nevertheless,” Tech Daily Dose reports, the decision “emphasized that ‘there are reasons to doubt whether [a certain legal test] should be the sole criterion for determining the patentability of inventions in the Information Age.’ ” A software industry representative tells TDD the decision “keeps the door closed to patenting mere abstract ideas, which many ‘business method’ patent applications have been. … But just as importantly, it affirms the continued viability of patenting useful software applications.”

NUMBER PUNCH

268,000 — The number of people employed by the wireless industry, according to White House National Economic Council director Lawrence Summers, who spoke on the administration’s new wireless broadband policy yesterday.

2,400,000 — The number of jobs that are directly dependent on wireless broadband, according to Summers.

Every job — The range of positions that benefit from wireless broadband, again according to Summers.

SAID

“Naturally we will take on board again the discussion about technology. Something has to be changed.”

— FIFA President Sepp Blatter, after apologizing to England and Mexico for refereeing errors that helped end their World Cup bids. After video playbacks of the games revealed the errors, Blatter said it reopens the debate on using video technology during matches. (WSJ)

SCHEDULED

…9 a.m. PFF and the Family Online Safety Institute hold a briefing on “sending an online safety message to Congress.” National Press Club, 14th and F Streets N.W., 13th floor.

…9:30 a.m. Chamber of Commerce IP forum. U.S. Chamber of Commerce. 1615 H Street, N.W.

…10 a.m. Joint Economic Committee hearing on “Fueling local economies: research, innovation, jobs.” 106 Dirksen Senate Office Building.

…3:30 p.m. Mark up: Commerce Justice Science Appropriations Bill. H-140, U.S. Capitol.

FOR THE WATERCOOLER

PROOF: More than 80 percent of members of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers say they’ve run across evidence used in divorce cases that was gathered from Facebook and other social networking sites. (via Slashdot)