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Chief Technology Officer of the United States

Key technology policy advisor to the President of the United States

Key technology policy advisor to the President of the United States

The United States chief technology officer (US CTO) is an official in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The U.S. CTO helps the president and their team harness the power of technology and data to benefit all Americans. 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. 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.

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 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. For the duration of his presidency, President Biden left the CTO role unfilled. On March 10, 2025, President Trump nominated Ethan Klein to be U.S. CTO.

No.NameStartEndRef.President
1[[File:Aneesh Chopra Portrait.jpg75px]]
2[[File:Todd Park.jpeg75px]]url=https://www.politico.com/story/2012/03/incoming-cto-talks-startups-at-sxsw-073848title=At SXSW, Todd Park talks startupsauthor=Hart, Kimwork=Politicodate=2012-03-11access-date=2012-03-13}}
3[[File:Megan Smith official portrait.jpg75px]]url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/eop/ostp/about/leadershipstaff/smithwork=Office of Science and Technology Policytitle=Leadership Staff - Megan Smithvia=National Archivesaccess-date=2017-01-18}}
Acting[[File:Michael Kratsios official photo (cropped).jpg75px]]
4url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-21/donald-trump-to-name-michael-kratsios-as-white-house-ctotitle=Trump Finally Names a U.S. CTOwebsite=Bloomberg Newsagency=Bloombergaccess-date=2019-05-23}}
[[File:No image.svg75px]]None
(Principal Deputy CTOs: Alexander Macgillivray, Deirdre Mulligan)
5[[File:No image.svg75px]]Ethan Klein

Notes

:1. Aneesh Chopra and Michael Kratsios were confirmed by the Senate because the also held roles as OSTP Assistant Director and Director respectively. Todd Park and Megan Smith were not required to be Senate confirmed. Legislation in January 2017 formalized the role of U.S.CTO, which now includes Senate confirmation as standard practice.

References

References

  1. [https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/04/20/aneesh_chopra_us_cto/ Obama taps America's top techie] The Register, 20 April 2009
  2. [https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/ostp/ostps-teams/technology/ "Technology. OSTP. The White House"], January 7, 2024.
  3. Sargent Jr., John. (June 4, 2010). "A Federal Chief Technology Officer in the Obama Administration: Options and Issues for Consideration".
  4. [https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/09/04/18/Weekly-Address-Efficiency-and-Innovation/ "President's Weekly Address Efficiency and Innovation"], April 18, 2009.
  5. [https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/ostp/news-updates/2023/03/06/remarks-of-alexander-macgillivray-at-the-state-of-the-net-conference/ " Remarks of Alexander Macgillivray at the State of the Net Conference"], March 06, 2023.
  6. Obama '08. "Barack Obama: Connecting and Empowering All Americans Through Technology and Innovation".
  7. Schatz, Amy. (2009-04-18). "Tech Industry Cheers as Obama Taps Aneesh Chopra for CTO". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
  8. [https://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/one_item_and_teasers/nom_confc.htm "Nominations confirmed"], "senate.gov", August 7, 2009.
  9. Ashely Southall. (2012-01-27). "Top Technology Official Leaving the White House". The New York Times.
  10. Morozov, Evgeny. (2009-06-03). "Not Everyone is Happy with Obama's Pick for Deputy CTO". [[Foreign Policy]].
  11. Hart, Kim. (2012-03-11). "At SXSW, Todd Park talks startups". Politico.
  12. (April 1, 2014). "Inside the Presidential Innovation Fellows program: A Q&A with the White House".
  13. "Leadership Staff - Megan Smith". [[Office of Science and Technology Policy]].
  14. "White House names Google's Megan Smith the next Chief Technology Officer of the United States". [[The Washington Post]].
  15. Davis, Julie H.. (2015-01-03). "Adviser Guides Obama Into the Google Age". [[The New York Times]].
  16. "White House Names Ed Felton Deputy Chief Technology Officer". [[whitehouse.gov]].
  17. "Trump Finally Names a U.S. CTO".
  18. https://x.com/USCTO47/status/2014788250339053908
  19. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sarahhess1_congratulations-to-my-friend-ethan-klein-activity-7418011161960431616-XFpN
Info: Wikipedia Source

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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
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