White House CTO Calls It Quits

President Barack Obama is losing his chief technology officer.

Aneesh Chopra, who guided technology policy at the White House, has resigned effective February 8.

Chopra was the federal government’s first chief technology officer, reprising a role he played for the state of Virginia.

He will be missed.

Obama issued a statement thanking Chopra for his “outstanding service.”

“Aneesh found countless ways to engage the American people using technology, from electronic health records for veterans to expanding access to broadband for rural communities to modernizing government records. His legacy of leadership and innovation will benefit Americans for years to come,” the president said.

Robert Holleyman, president and CEO of the Business Software Alliance, said Chopra “has set a very high bar for future CTOs.”

“Chopra looked at every challenge with a focus on how technology can increase efficiency, transparency, and government service to U.S. citizens,” Holleyman said. “We see that in the expanding role of technology in health care, in the government’s growing use of cloud solutions, in increased broadband access across the U.S., and in the rapidly growing smart grid.

“I encourage President Obama to seek another leader who will bring the same level of energy, innovation, and passion to the role of CTO,” Holleyman said.

No word yet on who that CTO will be.

Chopra, meanwhile, may run as a Democrat for lieutenant governor of Virginia, according to the Washington Post. He still lives in Richmond.

Before joining the public sector, Chopra was a managing director at the Advisory Board Co., a Washington, D.C.-based research, consulting, and technology firm.

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Kent Hoover is the Washington bureau chief for bizjournals.