It’s official. As rumored last week, President Obama has named Megan Smith, a Google executive and lesbian mom, to the post of Chief Technology Officer of the U.S. I consider it a good thing if I remember to backup my computer regularly. Now here’s a lesbian mom heading technology efforts for our whole country. I’m trying not to feel like a slacker.
The White House Blog says that the CTO will “lead Administration-wide efforts to unleash the power of technology, data, and innovation to help meet our nation’s goals and the needs of our citizens.” Specifically, Smith will “guide the Administration’s information-technology policy and initiatives, continuing the work of her predecessors to accelerate attainment of the benefits of advanced information and communications technologies across every sector of the economy and aspect of human well-being.”
President Obama said of her:
Megan has spent her career leading talented teams and taking cutting-edge technology and innovation initiatives from concept to design to deployment. I am confident that in her new role as America’s Chief Technology Officer, she will put her long record of leadership and exceptional skills to work on behalf of the American people. I am grateful for her commitment to serve, and I look forward to working with her and with our new Deputy U.S. CTO, Alexander Macgillivray, in the weeks and months ahead.
Smith was most recently a vice president at the secretive Google X lab. She has also led LGBT media company Planet Out, brought together innovators to tackle “some of the world’s greatest problems,” championed technical women in industry, spearheaded efforts to support women’s leadership around the world, and driven a solar car across the Australian desert. She has two sons with leading technology journalist Kara Swisher, from whom she is separated. (For more details, see my previous post.)
She will be the first woman to hold the post; the previous two officeholders were men. At a time when girls need to see more role models of successful women in STEM fields — and, let’s face it, boys also need to see successful women in STEM fields — she seems an especially apt choice for guiding all Americans into our techological future.