White House taps techies for key jobs

The Bush administration has shuffled some personnel and hired new people to fill existing and new top-level jobs in federal agencies.

John Ackerly, associate director of the White House National Economic Council (NEC), is moving over to the Commerce Department's policy shop in mid-June to become deputy director of the agency's Office of Policy and Strategic Planning. He will work on a broad portfolio of economic issues with that office's director, Donald Trigg.

A Washington-area native, Ackerly worked on high-tech issues for President Bush's 2000 campaign. He replaces Nuala O'Connor, who moved to Commerce's Technology Administration to become general counsel. She was previously the vice president for data protection and chief privacy officer at the online advertising firm DoubleClick.

Richard Russell, who has been nominated as associate director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and NEC Chairman Lawrence Lindsey are leading the search to replace Ackerly at the NEC.

In other administration news, the Office of Management and Budget created a chief architect position to manage its e-government projects and to work on the overall federal information technology framework. Bob Haycock, previously the deputy chief information officer for the Denver office of the Bureau of Reclamation, will fill the position.