Archana Vemulapalli resigns as CTO of DC

D.C. Chief Technology Officer Archana Vemulapalli is stepping down after the first of the year.

In a letter shared with Office of the Chief Technology Officer staff this morning, Vemulapalli stated she will end her tenure in the District government’s top tech job on Jan. 5, 2018.

“After two impactful and fantastic years as the CTO of Washington DC, I have decided to transition back to the private sector,” she wrote. Details about Vemulapalli’s next role weren’t immediately available.

This am, @dccto Archana Vemulapalli shared her resignation w/ staff effective Jan 5, 2018. Under her leadership, OCTO was recognized for #SmarterDC efforts, improved IT solutions & leading innovative cost-saving and data driven projects to improve resident services. Best wishes! pic.twitter.com/1TF2TKkz8G

— DC Office of the CTO (@OCTODC) November 28, 2017

“We are grateful for Chief Technology Officer Archana Vemulapalli’s contributions to the District and the Bowser Administration and we wish her every success in her next opportunity,” Deputy City Administrator Kevin Donahue said in a statement. “During Archana’s tenure, the Office of the Chief Technology Officer launched SmarterDC establishing the District globally as a leading smart city, as well as ensuring the District’s long-term cyber security. As a champion for diversity in technology, we look forward to Archana continuing to actively lend her voice to promoting inclusion in the field.”

Vemulapalli was appointed to the role by Mayor Muriel Bowser in 2016, coming from from facilities management consulting company Pristine Environments. Over her 20-month tenure, she’s been a leader in efforts to bring smart-city technology to the District.

In recent months, D.C. rolled out an “open by default” data policy amid an effort to revive the District’s open-gov leanings. OCTO was involved in efforts to launch a text to 911 service, publish traffic crash data every 24 hours and launch an app to provide alerts when people are suffering a heart attack in an area.

Vemulapalli also represented District government — which touts D.C. as a home of inclusive innovation — in the tech community, speaking at events like General Assembly’s Women in Tech Breakfast and Byte Back’s recent community day.

During her tenure, the Office also got engaged outside the District. In October, D.C. became the first East Coast expansion city for the Startup in Residence program.

“OCTO is in a position of strength, all due to your hard work and commitment,” she wrote in the letter. “You each have a responsibility to continue to lead by example, to nurture and protect what is good at OCTO, and to remember that our business is to leverage technology to make the government more resilient, efficient, effective and transparent.”

Details on a successor weren’t immediately announced. The letter states that the mayor’s office “will be conducting an extensive search for the next OCTO Director both interim and permanent.”