VanRoekel steps down at USAID

Steven VanRoekel, the chief innovation officer at the U.S. Agency for International Development, has left his role with the agency, a USAID spokesperson told FCW on March 19.

The agency declined to provide further details concerning his departure or a possible replacement. VanRoekel told FedScoop, which first reported his resignation, that he was leaving the position to spend more time with his family.

VanRoekel stepped down as U.S. CIO in September 2014 to help USAID address the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. As chief innovation officer at USAID, VanRoekel said he hoped to use his experience with IT and technology against the contagion.

VanRoekel worked with government agencies in Africa, via the White House's "Fighting Ebola Challenge" to decide how to bring in promising diagnostic technology, as well as get more cell network coverage in the affected countries.

VanRoekel's first post at USAID was in 2011 when he helped coordinate the agency’s digital communications efforts in response to the drought in the Horn of Africa. A former Microsoft executive, he joined the Obama administration in 2009 at the Federal Communications Commission as managing director, and moved to OMB in August 2011.