The White House has just hired a new employee under a newly made position. DJ Patil will now take on the role of Chief Data Scientist and Chief Technology Officer for Data Policy.

The official description that the White House has released on the new high level position is of a person who will assist in shaping practices and policies that will allow for the United States to remain at the forefront of technology and innovation.

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In addition, the White House also announced that he will also assist in fostering partnerships to responsibly maximize the nation's interests in public data.

Newly appointed US Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith offered that Patil will be working on the Precision Medicine Initiative that uses data to help physicians in providing better care to patients while also protecting the patient's privacy.

The care that Patil's endeavours will be able to provide physicians is in providing clinics with new tools, knowledge, therapies, and treatments that could work better for each individual patient.

Smith also added that Patil will also help maximize the nation's return on the investment it is now placing in data. The move can also help attract brilliant minds in data science to better serve the public peoples.

Previously, Patil was a data scientist for eBay, Skype, and Paypal while also spending some time in the academe.

He also assisted the Department of Defense in studying social media networks in an effort to predict the next threats from happening.

Patil's hiring comes as no surprise as one of Obama's directives on his tenure is to utilize public data and make it available and useful for everyone.

The Wallstreet Journal said that offering Patil the position reflects the importance that big data will be playing as a "buzzword and a useful instrument in the management toolbox".

TagsDJ Patil, Chief Data Scientist, Chief Technology Officer for Data Policy