According to a report from Bloomberg, knowledgeable sources are touting Megan Smith, currently a vice president at Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s X lab, as the top candidate for U.S. chief technology officer. Smith, 49, would become the third person to assume the CTO position, following Aneesh Chopra and Todd Park. Park just recently resigned from the job and plans to return home to California in a new role as President Obama’s technology adviser based in Silicon Valley.
President Obama released a statement yesterday announcing Park’s new position. “I thank Todd for his service as my chief technology officer, and look forward to his continuing to help us deploy the best people and ideas from the tech community in service of the American people.”
US CTO role
The U.S. chief technology officer is a senior advisory position charged with supervising the federal government’s use of technology, including finding creating jobs and increasing the use of broadband.
As U.S. CTO, Park spearheaded the successful effort to fix the poorly planned and executed Obamacare website, HealthCare.gov. park was also a key player in establishing the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, which brings government officials together with private-sector individuals on a variety of projects.
Megan Smith bio
Smith was hired on at Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) in 2003. Initially employed as a vice president of business development, she played a major role in a number of of important acquisitions such as Keyhole, the service that underlies Google Earth. She also oversaw the company’s philanthropic division, Google.org, and was a co-host for Google’s Solve for X forum, a venue for famous thinkers and scientists to brainstorm radical technology ideas with Google executives.
Earlier, Smith was CEO of Planet Out, a site for gay and lesbian Internet users. Smith received undergraduate and Masters degrees from MIT, and has been an active participant in the FIRST Robotics Competition educational initiative.
Neither Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) nor the White House would comment about Smith or possible successors to Park.
