By Alexandra Kelley, Staff Correspondent, Nextgov/FCW
The Small Business Administration recently named a new chief technology officer, selecting a technology veteran of its nearly US$1 trillion pandemic-era business loan programme.
Agency representatives confirmed to Nextgov/FCW that Douglas Robertson has been selected to serve as the SBA’s CTO, effective Aug. 27.
“Serving as a key member of the OCIO leadership team, his technical expertise focus on establishing enterprise-wide technology standards and serving on multiple high-impact initiatives to achieve overall goals,” the SBA said in a statement to Nextgov/FCW.
Robertson hails from a private sector background, but was recruited by the SBA in 2020 and worked on the COVID-19-related Paycheck Protection Programme, leading a product team responsible for standing up systems to process US$15 billion and 140,000 PPP first round loan applications, according to his LinkedIn profile.
While at the SBA, he also oversaw contracts for agile software project management, which parlayed into helping upgrade the SBA’s content management system and spearheading the implementation of the Veterans Certification Programme.
Among his responsibilities as CTO will be steering SBA’s technology function, formally defining the agency’s technical vision, institutionalizing security programs and leveraging current tech trends for improved programming and performance within agency operations.
