Obama: US tech head to recruit ‘best people and ideas’

U.S. Chief Technology Officer Todd Park will be responsible for bringing the best and the brightest tech leaders into the Obama administration in his new job based out of Silicon Valley, the White House said on Thursday.

When he leaves his current post, Park will be responsible for bringing experienced programmers, innovators and developers into the fold to make government run more efficiently, the administration said in formally announcing the personnel change.

{mosads}“From launching the Presidential Innovation Fellows program, to opening up troves of government data to the public, to helping spearhead the successful turnaround of HealthCare.gov, Todd has been, and will continue to be, a key member of my administration,” President Obama said in a statement. “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.”

Despite Park’s departure from Washington, which The Hill reported last week, he will still remain in the administration by serving in a new position recruiting tech experts to serve in roles like the U.S. Digital Service, a new tech strike team created to make the government easier to access.  

The move brings Park back to his home in Silicon Valley, which the White House said has long been a plan for him and his family. The move will happen in time for his children to start school in California.

“I look forward to doing everything I can in my new role to help bring more and more of the best talent and best ideas from Silicon Valley and across the nation into government,” Park said.

Park is just the second person to hold the title of U.S. chief technology officer, and he rose to prominence by helping to fix the ObamaCare website after its disastrous rollout last year. 

The job change leaves a vacancy at the top technology post in the country. According to Fortune, which first reported that Park was leaving Washington last week, executives at Google, Twitter and LinkedIn could be in the running to replace him.