The United States Chief Technology Officer (US CTO) is an official in the

Office of Science and Technology Policy An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific dut ...

. The U.S. CTO helps the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

and their team harness the power of data, innovation and technology on behalf of the American people. The CTO works closely with others both across and outside government on a broad range of work including utilizing technology to improve the government and its services, while supporting national interests through the promotion of technological innovation. Specifically, the CTO uses applied technology to help create jobs, create paths to improve government services with lower costs, higher quality and increased transparency, help upgrade agencies to use

open data Open data is data that is openly accessible, exploitable, editable and shared by anyone for any purpose. Open data is licensed under an open license. The goals of the open data movement are similar to those of other "open(-source)" movements ...

and expand their

data science Data science is an interdisciplinary field that uses scientific methods, processes, algorithms and systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge and insights from noisy, structured and unstructured data, and apply knowledge from data across a br ...

capabilities, improve quality and reduce the costs of health care and

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, increase access to broadband, bring technical talent into government for policy and modern operations input, improve community innovation engagement by agencies working on local challenges, and help keep the nation secure.

History

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Senator Barack Obama stated that he would appoint the first federal chief technology officer if elected to the presidency.

Aneesh Chopra Aneesh Paul Chopra (born July 13, 1972) is an American executive who served as the first Chief Technology Officer of the United States. He was appointed in 2009 by President Barack Obama and was at the White House through 2012. Chopra previously ...

was named by

President Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

as the nation's first CTO in April 2009, and confirmed by the Senate on August 7, 2009. Chopra resigned effective February 8, 2012, and was succeeded by

Todd Park Todd Park is a Korean American entrepreneur and government executive. He served as Chief Technology Officer of the United States and technology advisor for U.S. President Barack Obama. Early life and education Park was born in 1973 in Salt La ...

, formerly the CTO of the Department of Health and Human Services. On September 4, 2014

Megan Smith Megan J. Smith (born October 21, 1964) is an American engineer and technologist. She was the third Chief Technology Officer of the United States (U.S. CTO) and Assistant to the President, serving under President Barack Obama. She was previously a ...

was named as the CTO. After leaving the role vacant for two years,

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

named

Michael Kratsios Michael John Kotsakas Kratsios (born November 7, 1986) is an American business executive and government official. He served as the fourth Chief Technology Officer of the United States at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. I ...

as U.S. CTO in May 2019, and he was unanimously confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on August 1, 2019. As of , President Biden has yet to nominate a U.S. CTO.

Notes

:1. Only Aneesh Chopra and Michael Kratsios were confirmed by the Senate. Todd Park and Megan Smith were not.

References

{{EOP agencies Office of Science and Technology Policy American chief technology officers Technology evangelists Science and technology in the United States 2009 establishments in the United States Agencies of the United States government

History

Notes

See also

References