Reports Indicate U.S. Tech Leader To Be Named Soon

Posted by K.C. Jones on February 5, 2009 12:37 PM

District of Columbia CTO Vivek Kundra is expected to be named as a replacement for Karen Evans, becoming the United States' e-government and information technology leader in the Office of Management and Budget.

Nextgov cited unnamed sources and announced that the appointment would come as early as today.

Kundra had been named a potential candidate for the new United States CTO position that President Barack Obama plans to create.

While several media outlets have indicated that Kundra's new post would be separate from the CTO position, Obama hasn't clarified whether the person who becomes the nation's first CTO will rise to cabinet level or serve in an advisory capacity.

He did say the person would report directly to him, but there's plenty of leeway for Obama to position the CTO in any number of areas. So, few people can be sure where the position will fall in terms of the current organizational structure.

Some analysts have speculated that the CTO could serve under OMB. More recently, others have said the position is likely to fall under the Office of Science and Technology.

While Nextgov's inside source backed up claims that Kundra's position isn't the same as the CTO, Obama has made a few surprise moves since taking office.

Because of that -- and the fact that e-government and IT certainly fall squarely under the umbrella of responsibilities Obama outlined for a CTO -- I won't make any assumptions until the White House makes an official announcement.