The White House has tapped former Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chief Technologist Ed Felten as Deputy CTO of the Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Felten, who is a professor of computer science and public affairs at Princeton University, will work with federal CTO Megan Smith, a former Google executive. Unlike Smith and federal CIO Tony Scott, who hailed from VMWare, Felten does not come from a private sector tech background.
A White House blog penned by Smith and Alexander Macgillivray cited Felten's “expertise in the intersection of public affairs and computer science” and noted that he “joins a growing number of techies at the White House” who will “further President Obama's vision to ensure policy decisions are informed by our best understanding of state-of-the-art technology and innovation.”
