VMware tech chief named US govt CIO

VMware technology boss Tony Scott is set to join the White House as the US government's newest chief information officer.

The White House confirmed the appointment this morning, calling the hire an “important opportunity” to further the nation’s digital agenda.

“Tony is the right person to drive the Administration’s smarter IT delivery agenda and the core objectives across the federal IT portfolio – driving value in federal IT investments, delivering world-class digital services, and protecting federal IT assets and information,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

Scott will now take up leadership of the White House’s Office of Electronic Government and Information Technology.

He had served as VMware's CIO since August 2013.

Prior to joining the virtualisation giant, Scott worked as CIO at Microsoft, and has also headed technology functions at the Walt Disney Corporation and General Motors

The administration paid tribute to the other two men to have held the relatively new IT leadership role, Vivek Kundra and Steve VanRoekel.

In the years since the US government appointed Kundra its first ever CIO, the White House claims to have saved $3 billion from its IT investments.

VanRoekel announced he would stand down in September to join the US response to the Ebola crisis.