The nation’s first federal chief technology officer is leaving his post, the White House announced Friday.
“As the federal government’s first Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra did groundbreaking work to bring our government into the 21st century,” President Obama said in a statement. “Aneesh found countless ways to engage the American people using technology, from electronic health records for veterans, to expanding access to broadband for rural communities, to modernizing government records.”
Chopra is considering running for lieutenant governor of Virginia, and he has been in conversations with influential political figures and donors, said a democratic official familiar with the situation, who asked not to be named.
“The move he made today sends a pretty clear message,” the official said about Chopra’s decision to run as lieutenant governor.
Chopra was named federal CTO in May 2009 and also served as an assistant to the president and associate director for technology in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. He worked closely with private and public sector officials, such as Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and HHS CTO Todd Park to make data open and accessible to information consumers and application developers.
The White House has not said who will fill his position.
