April 18, 2009

First Ever Federal Chief Technology Officer Named

President Barack Obama has named Aneesh Paul Chopra as his choice for Chief Technology Officer. Chopra currently serves as Virginia’s Secretary of Technology, and has previous acted as the Managing Director for the Advisory Board Company, where he advised executives on health care operations.

The CTO will be an assistant to the President, and the Associate Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He will work to develop and implement the President’s technology agenda.

During his time as Virginia’s Secretary of Technology, Chopra championed several technology initiatives, including partnering with Cox and Comcast to broadcast free GED classes to Virginian residents; integrating iTunes U with Virginia's state education assessment framework; and creating a Ning-based social network to connect clinicians working in small health care offices in remote locations.

Chopra was recently recognized by Government Technology Magazine for excellent use of technology to improve government, and he was awarded Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s 2007 State Leadership Advocacy Award.

For more information on Chopra, see Tim O’Reilly’s post Why Aneesh Chopra is a Great Choice for Federal CTO.

[via TechCruch]

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