The United States Chief Technology Officer (US CTO ) is an official in the Office of Science and Technology Policy .[1] President and their team harness the power of technology and data to benefit all Americans.[2] [3] [4] government services with lower costs , higher quality and increased transparency and accessibility, help upgrade agencies to use open data and expand their data science capabilities, improve quality and reduce the costs of health care and criminal justice , 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.[5] [6]
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.[7] Aneesh Chopra was named by President Obama 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 , formerly the CTO of the Department of Health and Human Services. On September 4, 2014 Megan Smith was named as the CTO. President Trump named Michael Kratsios as U.S. CTO in May 2019, and he was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on August 1, 2019. As of April 30, 2025, President Biden has yet to nominate a U.S. CTO. This is the longest the position has been unfilled since its inception.
Name
President
Term
Deputy CTOs
References
File:Aneesh Chopra Portrait.jpg
Aneesh Chopra Template:Ref
Barack Obama
2009–2012
Andrew McLaughlin
[8] [9] [10] [11]
File:Todd Park.jpeg
Todd Park
2012–2014
Ryan Panchadsaram , Jennifer Pahlka , Nicole Wong
[12] [13]
File:Megan Smith official portrait.jpg
Megan Smith
2014–2017
Cori Zarek , Alexander Macgillivray, Edward Felten , Ryan Panchadsaram
[14] [15] [16] [17]
Vacant
Donald Trump
2017–2019
Michael Kratsios
File:Michael Kratsios official photo (cropped).jpg
Michael Kratsios Template:Ref
2019–2021
Lynne Parker , Winter Casey
[18]
Vacant
Joe Biden
2021-
Alexander Macgillivray, Deirdre K. Mulligan, Karen Kornbluh, Denice Ross, Austin Bonner, Lynne Parker, Wade Shen, Alan Mislove, Dominique Duval-Diop
See also Notes 1.^ ^ References
↑ Obama taps America's top techie The Register, 20 April 2009↑ "Technology | OSTP | The White House" , January 7, 2024.↑ Sargent Jr., John (June 4, 2010). "A Federal Chief Technology Officer in the Obama Administration: Options and Issues for Consideration" . https://whitehousetransitionproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Obama-CTO-Transition_062410-1.pdf . ↑ "Technology | OSTP | The White House" , January 7, 2024.↑ "President's Weekly Address Efficiency and Innovation" , April 18, 2009.↑ " Remarks of Alexander Macgillivray at the State of the Net Conference" , March 06, 2023.↑ Obama '08. "Barack Obama: Connecting and Empowering All Americans Through Technology and Innovation" . https://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2009/04/obamatechplan.pdf . ↑ Schatz, Amy (2009-04-18). "Tech Industry Cheers as Obama Taps Aneesh Chopra for CTO" . The Wall Street Journal . https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2009/04/18/tech-industry-cheers-as-obama-taps-aneesh-chopra-for-cto/ . ↑ "Nominations confirmed" , "senate.gov", August 7, 2009.↑ Ashely Southall (2012-01-27). "Top Technology Official Leaving the White House" . The New York Times . http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/27/top-technology-official-leaving-the-white-house/ . ↑ Morozov, Evgeny (2009-06-03). "Not Everyone is Happy with Obama's Pick for Deputy CTO" . Foreign Policy . https://foreignpolicy.com/2009/06/03/not-everyone-is-happy-with-obamas-pick-for-deputy-cto/ . ↑ Hart, Kim (2012-03-11). "At SXSW, Todd Park talks startups" . Politico . http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0312/73848.html . ↑ "Inside the Presidential Innovation Fellows program: A Q&A with the White House" . April 1, 2014. https://federalnewsnetwork.com/technology-main/2014/04/inside-the-presidential-innovation-fellows-program-a-qa-with-the-white-house/ . ↑ "Leadership Staff - Megan Smith" . Office of Science and Technology Policy . https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/ostp/about/leadershipstaff/smith . ↑ "White House names Google's Megan Smith the next Chief Technology Officer of the United States" . The Washington Post . https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/09/04/white-house-names-googles-megan-smith-the-next-chief-technology-officer-of-the-united-states/ . ↑ Davis, Julie H. (2015-01-03). "Adviser Guides Obama Into the Google Age" . The New York Times . https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/us/politics/her-task-weaning-the-white-house-off-floppy-disks.html . ↑ "White House Names Ed Felton Deputy Chief Technology Officer" . whitehouse.gov . https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2015/05/11/white-house-names-dr-ed-felten-deputy-us-chief-technology-officer . ↑ "Trump Finally Names a U.S. CTO" . Bloomberg. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-21/donald-trump-to-name-michael-kratsios-as-white-house-cto .
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