The United States Chief Technology Officer (US CTO) is an official in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. [1] The U.S. CTO helps the President and their team harness the power of technology and data to benefit all Americans. [2] The CTO works closely with others both across and outside government on a broad range of work including bringing technology expertise to bear on federal policy and programs, and promoting values-driven technological innovation. [3] [4] The CTO and their team have historically focused on leveraging technology and technical expertise to help create jobs, strengthen privacy protections, harness the benefits and mitigate the risks of artificial intelligence, create paths to improve 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]
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 December 16, 2024, 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 | Principal Deputy CTOs and Deputy CTOs | References | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Aneesh Chopra * | Barack Obama | 2009–2012 | Andrew McLaughlin | [8] [9] [10] [11] | |
Todd Park | 2012–2014 | Ryan Panchadsaram, Jennifer Pahlka, Nicole Wong | [12] [13] | ||
Megan Smith | 2014–2017 | Cori Zarek, Alexander Macgillivray, Edward Felten, Ryan Panchadsaram | [14] [15] [16] [17] | ||
Vacant | Donald Trump | 2017–2019 | Michael Kratsios | ||
Michael Kratsios * | 2019–2021 | Lynne Parker, Winter Casey | [18] | ||
Vacant | Joe Biden | 2021- | Principal Deputy CTO: Alexander Macgillivray, Deirdre K. Mulligan, Karen Kornbluh; Deputy CTO: Lynne Parker, Wade Shen; Deputy CTO, Tech Capacity: Denice Ross; Deputy CTO, Policy: Austin Bonner; Deputy CTO, Privacy: Alan Mislove, Jolina Cuaresma. | [19] [20] |
The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is a department of the United States government, part of the Executive Office of the President (EOP), established by United States Congress on May 11, 1976, with a broad mandate to advise the President on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs.
The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) is a council, chartered in each administration with a broad mandate to advise the president of the United States on science and technology. The current PCAST was established by Executive Order 13226 on September 30, 2001, by George W. Bush, was re-chartered by Barack Obama's April 21, 2010, Executive Order 13539, by Donald Trump's October 22, 2019, Executive Order 13895, and by Joe Biden's February 1, 2021, Executive Order 14007.
The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) is a council in the Executive Branch of the United States. It is designed to coordinate science and technology policy across the branches of federal government.
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Aneesh Paul Chopra 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 served as Virginia's Secretary of Technology under Governor Tim Kaine. Chopra was a candidate in 2013 for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. He is the author of Innovative State: How New Technologies Can Transform Government (2014) and co-founder and president of CareJourney. In 2015 he joined Albright Stonebridge Group as a senior advisor.
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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. He is the co-founder and executive chairman of Devoted Health.
Megan J. Smith is an American engineer and technologist. She was the third Chief Technology Officer of the United States and Assistant to the President, serving under President Barack Obama. She was previously a vice president at Google, leading new business development and early-stage partnerships across Google's global engineering and product teams at Google for nine years, was general manager of Google.org, a vice president briefly at Google[x] where she co-created WomenTechmakers, is the former CEO of Planet Out and worked as an engineer on early smartphones at General Magic. She serves on the boards of MIT and Vital Voices, was a member of the USAID Advisory Committee on Voluntary Aid and co-founded the Malala Fund. Today Smith is the CEO and Founder of shift7. On September 4, 2014, she was named as the third U.S. CTO, succeeding Todd Park, and serving until January, 2017.
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Colleen V. Chien is an American legal scholar who is a law professor at UC Berkeley School of Law, where she teaches, mentors students, and conducts cross-disciplinary research on innovation, intellectual property, and the criminal justice system, with a focus on how technology, data, and innovation can be harnessed to achieve their potential for social benefit.
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Michael John Kotsakas Kratsios 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. In this role, Kratsios served as President Donald Trump's top technology advisor. From July 10, 2020 to January 20, 2021, Kratsios was also the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
Tom Cochran is a former Obama administration appointee, having served both in the White House and Department of State between 2011 and 2016. He is a partner and the Chief Growth Officer at 720 Strategies, as well as a keynote speaker, writer, and adjunct professor at American University.
Kelvin Kay Droegemeier is an American research meteorologist, most recently having served as Director of The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Droegemeier is known for his research in predicting the development of extreme weather events, and previously served as Oklahoma Secretary of Science and Technology and the Vice President for Research at the University of Oklahoma. He currently is serving as a Professor and Special Advisor to the Chancellor for Science and Policy at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Erie Meyer is an American technologist and federal government executive. She currently serves as Chief Technologist of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and previously served as Chief Technologist of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) under FTC Chair Lina Khan in 2021. Meyer had also served as a technologist in the office of then-FTC Commissioner Rohit Chopra. Meyer is the co-founder of the networking list Tech Ladymafia with Aminatou Sow. In 2022, she was named a Tech Titan by Washingtonian magazine.
Cristin Ann Dorgelo is the senior advisor for management at the White House Office of Management and Budget. Dorgelo is the president emeritus of the Association of Science and Technology Centers, where she previously served as president and CEO. Dorgelo served as the chief of staff at the Office of Science and Technology Policy during the Barack Obama White House.
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