CDT Welcomes Nomination of Aneesh Chopra as Nation’s Chief Technology Officer

Washington – The Center for Democracy & Technology welcomes President Obama’s naming today of Virginia Secretary of Technology Aneesh Chopra to become the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer. The long awaited naming of a CTO fulfills a campaign promise and sets in motion a strategic policy framework to harness technology and innovation in unprecedented ways.

As CTO Chopra will oversee development of national strategies to guide the implementation of the $37 billion allocated in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to three high-tech areas: building of a nationwide health information technology network ($19 billion); creation of a smarter electrical grids ($11 billion); and expansion of broadband Internet access to rural and underserved communities ($7 billion).

The following statement can be attributed to CDT President and CEO Leslie Harris:

“The President’s choice of Aneesh Chopra to be the nation’s first Chief Technology Officer is simply stellar. I know Aneesh to be an amazingly dynamic and results-oriented innovation leader. His leadership as Virginia’s Secretary of Technology was outstanding and this background and experience will serve him well in the new Administration. He knows that technology helps drive our economic recovery and is critically important to improving government service for all of our people. CDT looks forward to working with him.”