Kundra stepping down as federal CIO

Federal CIO Vivek Kundra is leaving for Harvard University in August, the Office of Management and Budget has announced.

"I want to congratulate [Kundra] on his move to Harvard in mid-August to serve as a joint fellow at the Kennedy School and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society," wrote OMB Director Jack Lew in a statement. "We are planning for a smooth transition, continuing these remarkable gains in changing the way the federal government manages IT, and Vivek’s impact on cutting waste and making government work better for the American people will continue to be felt well beyond his departure from federal service."

Kundra, appointed as the first federal CIO, is the most high-profile technology executive in the Obama administration. He has spearheaded many major initiatives in management and technology, including the recent 25-point plan for federal agencies to reform how they make major acquisitions of IT. He also has played a central role in open government and transparency, cloud computing, innovation and IT reform and has been instrumental in initiating programs including Data.gov, the Federal IT Dashboard and Challenge.gov.