March 5, 2009 By Matt Williams
It took weeks to become official, but Washington, D.C., CTO Vivek Kundra was named Thursday to the top information technology post in the federal government. It wasn't exactly the position most observers expected, however.
President Barack Obama named Kundra the "federal CIO" -- a new position that will oversee technology investments and technology spending by the federal government, according to the White House. Kundra also reportedly will serve as e-government administrator for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
In a conference call Thursday, Kundra said he would work to ensure that the CIOs of federal agencies are advancing agendas that embrace open government, revolutionize technology in the public sector and "reject the view that the public sector has to lag behind the private sector."
Kundra said Thursday he is working on launching www.data.gov, which he said would "democratize" data possessed by the federal government. As the District of Columbia's CTO, Kundra launched a similar Web site called the D.C. Data Catalog that published in feeds in real time from the district's government departments -- everything from building permits to road kill pickups.
Over the past month, numerous media reported that Kundra -- who served as a member of Obama's transition team -- would be the administrator for e-government and information technology in the OMB. But as federal CIO, it appears Kundra's responsibilities will be expanded further. "The federal CIO establishes and oversees enterprise architecture to ensure system interoperability and information sharing and ensure information security and privacy across the federal government," according to the White House.
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