New York City’s Chief Digital Officer Sree Sreenivasan leaves post

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Sree Sreenivasan, who joined the New York City administration in October last year as Chief Digital Officer has left the post in what Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office says is part of a larger reorganization effort. Though Sreenivasan left May 12, there was no public announcement from the Mayor’s office.

Sreenivasan joined city government after serving as Chief Digital Officer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art for three years. He was also the first Chief Digital Officer of Columbia University. He also co-founded the South Asian Journalists Association, and built it up to be a widely recognized journalists’ association that helped a generation of South Asian journalists break into and rise up in mainstream media.

As the city’s Chief Digital Officer, Sreenivasan’s mandate was to increase access to City-led technology initiatives, focus on outreach to the tech community, and direct citywide digital policy.

Last October, the Mayor hired Miguel Gamino as the Chief Technology Officer of the City, and the reorganization brings Sreenivasan’s portfolio under Gamino’s wing.

“We’re proud of the work we’ve done together to strengthen NYC’s tech ecosystem, and we wish Sree all the best,” the news outlet Government Technology (govtech.com) quotes Deputy Press Secretary Ben Serle saying in an email.  “Moving forward, it was a natural fit to centralize Digital Strategy under the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Miguel Gamiño, and we’re excited about the incredible progress that will continue,” Serle added.

Before becoming the CDO, Sreenivasan had also been a mayoral appointee on the Commission on Public Information and Communication (COPIC) since October 2015, where he assisted the public in obtaining access to City information, and helped develop strategies for the use of new communications technologies to improve access to, and distribution of, City data.

“To move our city’s digital ecosystem into the 21st century, we need to ensure our city’s resources are at the fingertips of every New Yorker,” Mayor de Blasio said at the time of Sreenivasan’s appointment. “With Sree Sreenivasan’s wealth of experience, I am confident that he will work to promote transparency, access, and progressive values with our digital tools, helping spread access across the five boroughs,” the Mayor added.

Before his work at the Met, he spent 20 years as a member of faculty of the Columbia Journalism School and a year as Columbia University’s first Chief Digital Officer. He was a founding member and contributing editor at neighborhood news site DNAinfo.