Trump announces pick for administration's first chief technology officer

WASHINGTON, March 21 (Xinhua) - U.S. President Donald Trump will nominate Michael Kratsios to be the country's chief Technology officer, a post that has been vacant since the beginning of the administration, the White House said Thursday.

Trump will tap Kratsios, 32, to be an associate director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and designate him to be the U.S. Chief Technology Officer upon appointment, according to the White House.

Kratsios currently serves as the Deputy U.S. Chief Technology Officer and Deputy Assistant to the President for Technology Policy.

He has represented the administration as head of delegation at multiple international fora, including the G7 Technology and Innovation Ministerials in Turin, Italy, and Montreal, Canada, and the G20 Digital Economy Ministerial in Salta, Argentina, the White House added.

The South Carolina man graduated from Princeton University in 2008 with a degree in political science and a certificate in Hellenic studies. He was a visiting scholar at China's renowned Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Prior to joining Trump's transition team in late 2016, Kratsios was a principal at Thiel Capital, a San Francisco-based investment management firm, and served as chief of staff to entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

U.S. Congress established the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in 1976 to offer advice on the scientific, engineering, and technological aspects of the economy, national security, homeland security, health, foreign relations, the environment and the technological recovery and use of resources, among other topics.

The U.S. Chief Technology Officer was created within the office by Trump's predecessor, Barack Obama.