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Former FCC, Microsoft exec to be next U.S. CIO

Opinion
Aug 4, 20112 mins

Steven VanRoekel to succeed Vivek Kundra

The White House today is expected to announce that Steven VanRoekel, managing director of the Federal Communications Commission and a former Microsoft executive, will succeed Vivek Kundra and become the nation’s second CIO.

From a New York Times story posted this morning:

Mr. VanRoekel worked for Microsoft for 15 years, including a stint as an assistant to Bill Gates, the co-founder. Mr. VanRoekel was a supporter of President Obama, attended the inauguration, and after a conversation with Julius Genachowski, the new chairman of the F.C.C., went to work for him.

As the government’s chief information officer, Mr. VanRoekel said he planned to move ahead with the work Mr. Kundra began.

“We’re trying to make sure that the pace of innovation in the private sector can be applied to the model that is government,” Mr. VanRoekel said.

After two years of trying, Kundra is escaping to a job at Harvard.

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