Vivek Kundra is the federal chief information officer at the White House. President Barack Obama appointed Kundra in March 2009. As federal CIO, Kundra is responsible for directing policy and planning for IT investments at the federal level and providing oversight for IT spending throughout the federal government.
Before beginning his role as federal CIO, Kundra served at chief technology officer for the District of Columbia in Mayor Fenty’s cabinet. As CTO, Kundra was responsible for technology strategy and operations for more than 80 agencies.
In 2008, Kundra was named IT Executive of the Year and has been named in the top 25 CTO’s in the nation. Kundra has also served as assistant secretary for commerce and technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia. He is a strong proponent of cloud computing and has helped to move a number of federal agencies toward the cloud-computing model.
Kundra attended the Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership at the University of Virginia and has a master’s degree in IT from the University of Maryland.