Former colleagues laud new White House deputy CTO for innovation

People who have worked with Chris Vein, the new deputy chief technology officer for government innovation, say he is an innovator well-suited for the position. Most recently Vein was chief information officer and executive director of the technology department for the City and County of San Francisco, the 12th largest city in the country. He was the brains behind DataSF, a clearinghouse for sharing city data with the public, which is similar to Data.gov at the federal level. Colleagues believe he will help the White House implement its lofty open government goals. The day after taking the oath of office, President Obama called for agencies to institutionalize public participation in policymaking and collaboration with outside organizations.