Google Exec Megan Smith Reported In Line For US Chief Technology Officer

Google Inc. Vice President Megan Smith is poised to become the next chief technology officer of the United States, or CTO, a position created by President Barack Obama in 2009 within the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Smith is a top candidate for the position, sources tell Bloomberg.

Smith, 49, was vice president of business development at Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) for nine years before she became a vice president of the company’s secret innovation lab, Google X. She is a former CEO of Planet Out, a defunct media and entertainment company for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, and was married to Wall Street Journal technology columnist Kara Swisher, the “most feared journalist" in Silicon Valley.

Smith is an alumna of MIT who has worked at several startups, including Apple in Tokyo. She joined Google in 2003. If chosen, Smith would become the country’s third CTO, following in the steps of Todd Park and Aneesh Chopra.