The former strategy assistant to Microsoft boss Bill Gates will take over as CIO of the US government later this year, the New York Times reports.

Steven VanRoekel, 41, spent 15 years working for Microsoft, and held executive positions including platform strategy director and head of the server business. He left the software giant in 2009 to become managing director of regulatory body the Federal Communications Commission. Last year, he became executive director of the US goverment’s development agency USAID.

VanRoekel will replace Vivek Kundra, the US government’s first ever CIO, who resigned in June after two and a half years in the post. Kundra is going to Harvard to take a joint position at the Kennedy School and the Berkman Centre for Internet and Society.

Under Kundra, the US government began a consolidation program with the aim to close 800 of its 2,000 data centres over four years. He also headed an open data project which has put almost 400,000 data sets online, covering health care, environment and crime.

VanRoekel told the New York Times that he planned to carry on the work which Kunra began.