Vivek Kundra

Vivek Kundra was appointed as the first United States chief information officer by President Obama and was responsible for managing $80 billion in annual technology spending, adopting game changing technologies, strengthening the cybersecurity posture of the nation and launching an open government movement which has been replicated around the world. Prior to joining the Obama administration, Kundra served as the chief technology officer for the District of Columbia and as assistant secretary of Commerce and Technology for the state of Virginia. Currently, he serves as the executive-vice president of Industries for Salesforce.com and is the chair of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on the Future of the Internet. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

The World Economic Forum selected Kundra as a Young Global Leader, representing a group of exceptional young leaders who share a commitment to shaping the global future. Kundra has been recognized as the 2011 “Government Executive of the Year” by TechAmerica; the 2009 “Chief of the Year” by InformationWeek for driving unprecedented change in Federal IT and as the 2008 “IT Executive of the Year” for his pioneering work to drive transparency, engage citizens and lower the cost of government operations. Kundra also served as a joint fellow at Harvard at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society and the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy.