Megan Smith, engineer and Google executive, will be leaving her job at the giant tech firm to take up a new post as the US chief technology officer (CTO) at the White House.
Smith is currently the vice president at Google [x], the division responsible for projects such as the Google driverless cars and Project Loon. Smith also led Google’s WomenTechmakers initiative that works to encourage gender diversity in tech.
She takes over from former CTO Todd Park and will be joined by former Twitter lawyer Alexander Macgillivray as her deputy. Smith’s job as CTO will entail guiding the Obama administration’s information-technology policy and initiatives.
Smith posted this tweet to announce her new job.
Honored to join @WhiteHouseOSTP w @AMac. http://t.co/dmP5k74fZB Thanks @Todd_Park for incredible service+legacy. Let’s go #InnovationNation!
— Megan Smith (@smithmegan) September 4, 2014
“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,” President Obama said in a statement.
The CTO job was created in 2009 by Obama, with Aneesh Chopra as the first person to fill the position.
[Source – CNET. Image – Flickr CC Jol Ito]
