Federal Chief Information Officer resigns

Vivek Kundra served for two and a half years as CIO in the Obama administration and oversaw the implementation of cloud system at federal departments.

In a post Jack Lew, director of Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has confirmed Kundra’s resignation and acknowledged that Kundra’s effort has saved taxpayer's $3 billion.

Switch to better technologies

During Kundra's tenure, the U.S. government spent $80 billion a year, which was used to launch projects such as Data.gov to make government data available to software programmers for developing better application.

Kundra also announced the shut-down of many underutilized government data centers as he believed it will save tens of millions of dollars annually.

Kundra presented a 25-point implementation plan with more emphasis on shifting to cloud based computing wherever possible, which interested many government IT contractors and private companies including Amazon and Google.

Kundra also relaxed regulations related to consumer devices such as smartphone, iPads, iPhones use by government employees at work.

In an interview to The Washington Post Kundra said, "People have better access to information technology at their homes than they do at work, and that's especially true in the public sector."

"If you look at the average school kid, he or she probably has better technology in his or her backpack than most of us do in government offices."

Government to continue the transition

According to reports, his Data.gov model has faced criticism during his tenure where critics questioned the security of sensitive data kept online but has been used by 16 countries.

In his post, Lew stated, "We are planning for a smooth transition, continuing these remarkable gains in changing the way the federal government manages [information technology] 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."

In a statement Urs Gasser, executive director of the Berkman Center said, "We look forward to working closely with him on cutting-edge issues where the complexities of cloud computing intersect with law, institutions and data."