White House deputy CTO leaves, will target state and local collaboration

Andrew McLaughlin is resigning from his job as deputy White House chief technology officer to start two companies, one of them to develop collaboration tools for state and local governments, Kim Hart writes in Politico.

McLaughlin was appointed to the job in 2009, after working as chief global public policy for Google. He also was a senior adviser to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, working on the early development and implementation of ICANN’s policies.

In addition to developing collaboration tools, McLaughlin told Politico he would be launching another company to support start-ups in developing countries.

McLaughlin’s White House appointment had raised eyebrows among Google’s critics, who claimed that his relationship with the company could unduly influence the White House’s position on things such as net neutrality, Politico reported. In his job as deputy CTO, McLaughlin worked on Internet policy issues.

He also was reprimanded earlier this year after he reportedly used his Gmail account to contact former colleagues at Google, which violated the Obama administration’s directive that White House employees avoid former employers and clients for two years.