Sen. Carper Reacts to Departure of Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra

WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security, released the following statement reacting to federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra’s announcement that he will leave his post in August:  

“The news of Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra’s decision to leave the Obama Administration later this summer is bittersweet. On the one hand, I am happy for my friend Vivek to have this new opportunity and challenge; on the other hand, his leadership over the past two years in enhancing the federal government’s transparency and technology efforts has been remarkable, and he will certainly be missed.  

“Under Vivek’s leadership, and at the direction of President Obama, the Administration has embarked on an ambitious effort to bring the federal government’s use of technology into the 21st century and ensure that we’re operating federal technology in the most cost-effective and secure manner possible.  

“Because of Vivek’s efforts, over $3 billion in federal information technology-related cost savings have been realized. His departure makes it all the more important that we pass the Information Technology Investment Act that I recently introduced with Senators Lieberman, Collins, and Scott Brown. The bill takes Vivek’s reforms and pushes them even further to make sure we are getting the best results for taxpayers’ dollars.  

“Vivek and his team have made a lot of progress in this effort and they deserve our thanks and appreciation. Vivek leaves a legacy that he can take enormous pride in, having made great strides in curbing waste and inefficiencies in federal technology, while also harnessing the power of new technology to improve government transparency and services for the American people.  

“Although Vivek is moving on to new challenges, the work he championed over the last two and half years remains and we must continue to be vigilant in our efforts to get better technology results for taxpayers’ money.”  

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