U.S. President Barack Obama has appointed Google Vice President for Business Development Megan Smith as new Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and senior technology advisor for the White House.
Smith becomes the third person to take the job since it was created by the president in 2009. Former CTOs were former Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra and former CTO of U.S. Department of Health and Services, Todd Park.
The CTO is responsible for handling national scientific and technological issues of the United States. Though quite similar to the chief information officer (CIO) who handles organization issues by acquiring existing technologies and the chief science officer (CSO) who manages research and development, the CTO has a different role. The CTO is in charge of overseeing the development of new technologies and product development.
VentureBeat narrated that Chopra focused mainly on creating a legal framework that would support open data policy and develop techniques on making government data accessible to the public. Park, on the other hand, streamlined these policies and established programs that will help in giving more access to data related to energy, public safety, health, and education.
According to the Washington Post, Obama expects Smith to maintain the U.S. lead on technological innovation and to resolve existing problems brought by the Web.
"Megan has spent her career leading talented teams and taking cutting-edge technology and innovation initiatives from concept to design to deployment. I am confident that in her new role as America's Chief Technology Officer, she will put her long record of leadership and exceptional skills to work on behalf of the American people. I am grateful for her commitment to serve, and I look forward to working with her and with our new Deputy U.S. CTO, Alexander Macgillivray, in the weeks and months ahead," President Obama said in a statement.
Smith has spent nine years at Google and has led new business development and early-stage partnerships across Google's global teams. Through her leadership, the tech giant acquired Keyhole for Google Earth, Where2Tech for Google Maps and Picasa. She is also a board member of the MIT. News about her being a top choice for the U.S. CTO post sparked August 2013.
