Today President Obama has appointed D.C. Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra to the new post of Chief Information Officer. In this new position, he will direct policy and strategic planning for federal information technology investments alongside the not-yet-named Chief Technology Officer (CTO). In his previous role as CTO of Washington’s municipal government, he was named one of the 25 top chief technology officers by InfoWorld magazine.
Obama said in a statement, “Vivek Kundra will bring a depth of experience in the technology arena and a commitment to lowering the cost of government operations to this position. I have directed him to work to ensure that we are using the spirit of American innovation and the power of technology to improve performance and lower the cost of government operations. As chief information officer, he will play a key role in making sure our government is running in the most secure, open, and efficient way possible.”
Earlier it was reported that Kundra would become the Office of Management and Budget’s administrator for e-government and information technology. I’m not clear if there’s been a change here or if there’s just been a title change to more accurately reflect the role of the OMB’s technology administrator. I’ll dig into that and update this post when I find the answer.
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There’s a great post on the Tech President blog by W. David Stephenson, who is working with Kundra on a book about Democratizing Data. It goes into detail about what we might expect from Kundra based on his past practices: http://techpresident.com/blog-entry/what-expect-vivek-kundra