On Wednesday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a cohort of new technology initiatives before heading out to promote the District in Austin’s SXSW festival. The Mayor spoke about launching a collaboration with Howard University from the University‘s Founders Library that would provide affordable office space for venture capital firms interested in investing in local businesses. Bowser plans on building a 10,000-square-foot office space on the Howard campus that could house firms for up to three years.
My administration is working to support innovative sectors & invest in tech-focused training centers & workspaces. pic.twitter.com/omkdlyEQWF
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) March 11, 2015
After briefly speaking about her interests in promoting the 7th Street and Georgia Avenue Digital DC Tech Opportunity Corridor — an initiative built by former Mayor Vincent Gray — Mayor Bowser announced D.C.’s new chief technology officer, Tegene Baharu, along with a new chief performance officer and director of CapStat, Tony Saudek. The news came at a particularly interesting time, just days before the mayor would effectively lobby to further the city’s vibrant tech sector growth at SXSW.
Here's what we've learned about the two new tech hires for DC.
CPO — Tony Saudek
Before completing graduate school at the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, Saudek graduated Wesleyan University in 2003. His professional career began when he accepted an advocacy coordinator position with The SHARE foundation, a non-profit institution supporting the empowerment of impoverished and marginalized Salvadoran communities.
His first position with the District began in 2008, when Saudek became a Strategic Development and Evaluation Officer for the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services — he was awarded the Outstanding Criminal Justice Program award for his services to address crime-related issues in the community.
Before being nominated by Mayor Bowser, Saudek most recently occupied the position of Special Assistant to the Undersecretary for Veterans Benefits at Department of Veterans Affairs — where he started working in 2013. He led several VBA efforts to improve regional operations and was a primary author of the agency’s FY15 campaign plan for backlog elimination.
CTO — Tegene Baharu
Baharu completed an AA at local community college, Montgomery College, in 1993. He then pursued a bachelor's degree at the University of Maryland College Park, which he graduated from in 1996. His professional career began with a senior network engineering position at Winstar Communications in 1997. Winstar was a notable example of the internet and telecom market bubbles of the late 1990s. When at its peak, less than a year before its collapse in 2002, the company had a market capitalization in excess of $4.4 billion. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in April 2001.
Then in 2003, Baharu accepted a position — senior network engineer DCWAN — with an organization that he still remains involved with today, the Office of the Chief Technology Office (OCTO). OCTO is the central technology organization of the D.C. government; it develops, implements and maintains D.C.’s technology infrastructure. While providing technology services and support for District agencies, Baharu has contributed to policy and the development of technology solutions to improve services to businesses, residents and visitors. Most recently, Baharu is listed as the city’s deputy CTO of ICT (an umbrella term that includes any communication device or application).
Over the last four years, Tegene has served in the Deputy CTO capacity with oversight of Infrastructure Services, Citywide IT Security Operations, Telecom Governance, and the DC-Net program. He is a recipient of the White House’s coveted Champions of Change award.
