The United States Chief Technology Officer (US CTO) is an official in the

Office of Science and Technology Policy The Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is a department of the United States government, part of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, Executive Office of the President (EOP), established by United States Congres ...

. The U.S. CTO helps the

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and their team harness the power of technology and data to benefit all Americans."Technology , OSTP , The White House"
January 7, 2024. The CTO works closely with others both across and outside government on a broad range of work including bringing technology expertise to bear on federal policy and programs, and promoting values-driven technological innovation. The CTO and their team have historically focused on leveraging technology and technical expertise to help create jobs, strengthen privacy protections, harness the benefits and mitigate the risks of artificial intelligence, create paths to improve government services with lower costs, higher quality and increased transparency and accessibility, help upgrade agencies to use

open data Open data are data that are openly accessible, exploitable, editable and shareable by anyone for any purpose. Open data are generally licensed under an open license. The goals of the open data movement are similar to those of other "open(-so ...

and expand their

data science Data science is an interdisciplinary academic field that uses statistics, scientific computing, scientific methods, processing, scientific visualization, algorithms and systems to extract or extrapolate knowledge from potentially noisy, stru ...

capabilities, improve quality and reduce the costs of health care and

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

, increase access to broadband, bring technical talent into government for policy and modern operations input, improve community innovation engagement by agencies working on local challenges, and help keep the nation secure.

History

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Senator Barack Obama stated that he would appoint the first federal chief technology officer if elected to the presidency.

Aneesh Chopra Aneesh Paul Chopra (born July 13, 1972) is an American executive who served as the first Chief Technology Officer of the United States. He was appointed in 2009 by President Barack Obama and was at the White House through 2012. Chopra previously s ...

was named by President Obama as the nation's first CTO in April 2009, and confirmed by the Senate on August 7, 2009. Chopra resigned effective February 8, 2012, and was succeeded by

Todd Park Todd Park is an American entrepreneur and government official. He served as Chief Technology Officer of the United States and technology advisor for President of the United States, U.S. President Barack Obama. He is the co-founder and executive ...

, formerly the CTO of the Department of Health and Human Services. On September 4, 2014,

Megan Smith Megan J. Smith (born October 21, 1964) is an American engineer and technologist. She was the third Chief Technology Officer of the United States (U.S. CTO) and Assistant to the President, serving under President Barack Obama. She was previously ...

was named as the CTO.

President Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021. ...

named Michael Kratsios as U.S. CTO in May 2019, and he was unanimously confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on August 1, 2019. For the duration of his presidency, President Biden left the CTO role unfilled. On March 10, 2025, President Trump nominated Ethan Klein to be U.S. CTO.

Notes

:1. Aneesh Chopra and Michael Kratsios were confirmed by the Senate because the also held roles as OSTP Assistant Director and Director respectively. Todd Park and Megan Smith were not required to be Senate confirmed. Legislation in January 2017 formalized the role of U.S.CTO, which now includes Senate confirmation as standard practice.

References

{{EOP agencies Office of Science and Technology Policy American chief technology officers Technology evangelists Science and technology in the United States 2009 establishments in the United States Agencies of the United States government

History

See also

Notes

References