Chief Technology Officer of the United States facts for kids

The United States Chief Technology Officer (US CTO) is an official in the Office of Science and Technology Policy. The U.S. CTO helps the President and their team harness the power of data, innovation and technology on behalf of the American people. The CTO works closely with others both across and outside government on a broad range of work including utilizing technology to improve the government and its services, while supporting national interests through the promotion of technological innovation. Specifically, the CTO uses applied technology to help create jobs, create paths to improve government services with lower costs, higher quality and increased transparency, help upgrade agencies to use open data and expand their data science capabilities, improve quality and reduce the costs of health care and criminal justice, 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 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, formerly the CTO of the Department of Health and Human Services. On September 4, 2014 Megan Smith was named as the CTO. After leaving the role vacant for two years, President Trump named Michael Kratsios as U.S. CTO in May 2019, and he was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate on August 1, 2019. As of December 21, 2024, President Biden has yet to nominate a U.S. CTO.

Name		President	Term	Deputy CTOs	References
	Aneesh Chopra	Barack Obama	2009–2012	Andrew McLaughlin
	Todd Park		2012–2014	Ryan Panchadsaram, Jennifer Pahlka, Nicole Wong
	Megan Smith		2014–2017	Cori Zarek, Alexander Macgillivray, Edward Felten, Ryan Panchadsaram
Vacant		Donald Trump	2017–2019	Michael Kratsios
	Michael Kratsios		2019–2021	Lynne Parker, Winter Casey
Vacant		Joe Biden	Vacant