Google and Twitter veteran to be White House’s first-ever chief digital officer

25 Mar 2015

Jason Goldman, formerly of such Silicon Valley companies as Google and Twitter, has been named the White House’s first-ever chief digital officer.

The position has been created by the White House in an attempt to connect with the American public via the internet. Goldman himself revealed the news in a post on Medium.

“A few months ago I started talking with folks at the White House about ways that the Administration could engage directly with people using online platforms,” he wrote.

“The White House is always looking for ways to listen to the American people, better understand the ways that the government can help, and create dialogue about its policies and initiatives.

“I didn’t expect to be offered a job, but when I was asked if I could come to Washington, DC, and work on strategies to connect the government with citizens via the Internet, I said yes. It’s an honour and an incredible challenge.”

The appointment is the latest effort by the White House to beef up its tech team after the recent hiring of one of Facebook’s engineering directors, David Recordon, to the also newly-created role of director of White House information technology.

Speaking on the hiring of Recodon in a statement, US President Obama said, “In our continued efforts to serve our citizens better, we’re bringing in top tech leaders to support our teams across the federal government.

“I’m pleased to welcome David Recordon as the director of White House information technology.

“His considerable private sector experience and ability to deploy the latest collaborative and communication technologies will be a great asset to our work on behalf of the American people.”

White House image via Shutterstock

Dean Van Nguyen was a contributor to Silicon Republic

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