US government appoints ex-Microsoft chief as new CIO

Steven L VanRoekel is set to replace Vivek Kundra

President Obama has announced that Steven L VanRoekel will be appointed as the US government's new chief information officer.

VanRoekel will succeed Vivek Kundra, who was appointed to the post by Obama in early 2009.

In a press conference yesterday VanRoekel said he would use his new role and the US government's £49bn IT budget to cut costs, according to the Washington Post.

"The productivity gap between where the private sector has gone over the last two decades and where government has gone is ever-widening," said VanRoekel.

He went on to explain that government spending on new technology "can be done in a way that actually saves money, saves resources and everything else".

VanRoekel is currently the Executive Director of Citizen and Organisational Engagement at the United States Agency for International Development. Prior to this he oversaw all operational, technical, financial and human rersource operations at the Federal Communications Commission.

VanRoekel also spent 15 years working for Microsoft, up until 2009, where he was most recently senior director for the Windows server and tools division.