Mr. Nitin Pradhan was sworn in on July 6, 2009 as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the US Department of Transportation (DOT). In his role of CIO, Mr. Pradhan provides information technology vision, strategy, planning and oversight for DOT's information technology budget. He is also the chief advisor to Secretary Ray LaHood in matters relating to information technology.

Nitin Pradhan is a business strategist, technology expert, coalition builder and change agent with over twenty years of experience including eleven years at CXO level in government, startups, non-profits and private industry. Mr. Pradhan is a strong proponent of building public- private partnerships.

Prior to joining DOT, Mr. Nitin Pradhan was the Chief IT Architect and the Director of the Office of Technology Planning and Assessment and part of the executive leadership of the IT department at Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), the 12th largest school district in the USA. The FCPS IT department has been ranked in CIO Magazine's top 100 IT organizations, as well as ComputerWorld's 100 best places to work in the nation.

Prior to joining FCPS, Mr. Pradhan was the Managing Director of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology (CIT), where his targeted focus was on mentoring and growing technology startups and building research and innovation capabilities and capacity. He has also been the co-founder and interim CEO of a wireless startup.

Mr. Pradhan's educational qualifications include a BS degree in engineering and an MBA in marketing from India, as well as an MS in accounting from the Kogod College of Business at The American University, in Washington DC. He lives with his wife, son and daughter in Northern Virginia.