What Will Trump’s Tech C-Suite Look Like?

Federal CIO Tony Scott

Federal CIO Tony Scott Susan Walsh/AP

It’s unclear whether the president-elect will replace the chief technology officer or other positions created during Obama’s term.

For the past few years, President Barack Obama’s White House has attracted a slew of private-sector technology heavyweights, often poached from a recurring cast of Silicon Valley stalwarts such as Twitter and Google.

Part of the Obama administration’s legacy has been to create new White House-based executive roles dedicated to technology. Obama appointed the first federal chief information officer, chief technology officer and a chief information security officer, and others within other offices, such as chief digital officer and chief data scientist.

But as President-elect Donald Trump fills out his tech team—including adviser and Silicon Valley venture capitalist Peter Thiel—it remains unclear which of the Obama administration’s tech-themed C-suite appointee positions will be replaced.

» Get the best federal technology news and ideas delivered right to your inbox. Sign up here.

Incoming administrations can generally create new positions within the White House, said Martha Joynt Kumar, director of the White House Transition Project, an organization that studies presidential handoffs and provides that information to White House staffs.

“The structure of the White House is not set in law,” she told Nextgov. “You [can] have new titles, you can drop offices, create new ones. That gives the president the flexibility to focus on those issues that he thinks are important to him, and how he’s dealing with the government.”

Under Obama, the White House was creative about C-suite titles and positions. Federal CIO Tony Scott’s official title was listed as administrator of e-government and information technology in the Government Publishing Office’s "Plum Book." Federal CTO Megan Smith was an assistant to the president, and Chief Data Scientist DJ Patil was listed as the deputy chief technology officer for data policy.

"So many of the new White House technology roles have been put into place over the last 4-8 years … [and] are so closely tied and branded to the current outgoing administration,” Julie Anderson, principal at AG Strategy Group and co-lead for the Veterans Affairs Department's Agency Review Team during the 2008-2009 Presidential Transition Team, told Nextgov.

If Trump chooses to replace tech positions in the White House, “they would have a different flavor, the purpose may be adjusted, there would be different name,” she predicted.

Except for the CTO. Obama made that position permanent when he signed the American Innovation and Competitiveness Act on Jan. 6. A new nominee now faces Senate confirmation.

Trump has made a couple of notable tech appointments so far, in some cases creating new positions. Earlier this week, he named Baltimore real-estate developer Reed Cordish—formerly a partner at The Cordish Companies whose portfolio includes the Maryland Live! Casino and Hotel—assistant to the president for intragovernmental and technology initiatives. In that role, Cordish will manage inter-agency programs and "technological innovation and modernization,” according to the transition team.

And Trump filled at least one position created under Obama: chief digital officer. That role, currently held by Jason Goldman whose professional background includes Twitter and Google’s blogging platform Blogger. On Thursday, the transition team announced Gerrit Lansing, formerly chief digital officer at the Republican National Committee, will fill the same role at the White House.

For at least one industry veteran, Trump’s senior tech appointments indicate they will recognize “the importance of technology to transform the way government does its business,” Alan Balutis, Cisco’s Global Public Sector Practice director, told Nextgov.

He noted the presence of senior federal tech officials on Trump’s agency landing teams, including the General Services Administration’s former CIO Casey Coleman and former Administrator of the Office of Electronic Government and Information Technology Karen Evans, suggests Trump will prioritize a technology-forward agenda—even if he hasn’t filled out his White House tech advisers.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.