US President Barack Obama named Vivek Kundra, a 34-year-old, as the federal chief information officer at the White House to advance the administration's technology agenda. In a statement announcing Kundra's appointment, Obama said, "I have directed him to work to ensure that we are using the spirit of American innovation and the power of technology to improve performance and lower the cost of government operations." In his new job, Kundra will direct policy and planning for federal IT investments, according to the White House. The CIO will also be responsible for the disbursal of $80 billion that US federal government agencies spend annually on technology, as well as ensuring information security and privacy across government. Incidentally, the appointment of Kundra to the Federal post crowns a recent trend in the US, where CTOs in four states have been of Indian origin. Minnesota, Virginia, Alaska and the District of Columbia, all have had Indian Americans as ...