NYU Tandon’s Beth Simone Noveck Takes On Additional Role: New Jersey’s First Chief Innovation Officer

BROOKLYN, New York, Tuesday, August 14, 2018 – Beth Simone Noveck, founder and director of The Governance Lab (The GovLab) and professor at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, will be the State of New Jersey’s first chief innovation officer.

Governor Phil Murphy, who made the announcement on Monday, August 13, 2018, said the New Jersey native will focus on initiatives designed to make government services more agile, apply new technologies to public problems, apply high-quality data to policy, and stimulate entrepreneurship and business growth while protecting workers and consumers.

“To reclaim our innovation economy, we must have fresh, cutting-edge ideas that will not only bring New Jersey into the 21st century but also improve the lives of our nine million residents,” said Governor Murphy. “I am pleased to have Beth Noveck join our team as New Jersey’s first Chief Innovation Officer. Beth is an experienced, high-caliber professional who will make New Jersey a leader in government effectiveness.”

Noveck takes on the new responsibilities while remaining director of The GovLab at NYU Tandon and its MacArthur Research Network on Opening Governance, as well as a professor in the Department of Technology, Culture and Society at NYU Tandon.

Governor Murphy is a strong champion for using technology and innovation to seize the opportunities of the future, namely to spur economic growth, educate our children, increase health and wellness, and create new jobs. It is an honor to serve in his Administration and help advance these goals for everyone in my home state." 

— Beth Simone Noveck

An expert in governance innovation and the use of technology and policy to improve government transparency, efficiency and effectiveness, Noveck served in the White House under the previous administration as the first United States Deputy Chief Technology Officer and director of the White House Open Government Initiative. David Cameron, former prime minister of the U.K., later appointed her senior advisor for open government. Earlier this month, she was named to the U.S. Library of Congress Scholars Council, which advises the Librarian of Congress on issues of interest to Congress and the nation.

While the State of New Jersey benefits from Noveck’s deep expertise on the use of data and citizen engagement in governance, her new responsibilities present The GovLab with opportunities to work with New Jersey toward the governor’s promise to spur and expand innovation across the state and within state government. 

“Beth Noveck and The GovLab have brought innovation to governments and citizens throughout the globe, and we at NYU Tandon look forward to the opportunities Beth will now open for her home state,” said NYU Tandon Dean Katepalli R. Sreenivasan. “Our society and economy become stronger when government and academia work together to solve major challenges, and this appointment will no doubt encourage other civic leaders to take similarly bold steps.”

Noveck is a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School. She serves on the advisory boards of the Center for Open Science, Open Contracting Partnership, EPSRC Centre for the Mathematics of Precision Healthcare, and NHS Digital Academy.

She was named one of the “World’s 100 Most Influential People in Digital Government 2018” this month by Apolitical. Previously, she was selected as one of the “Foreign Policy 100″ by Foreign Policy magazine as well as one of the “100 Most Creative People in Business” by Fast Company and “Top Women in Technology” by the Huffington Post. She has written multiple books about how technology can improve governing. She tweets @bethnoveck.      

About the New York University Tandon School of Engineering

The NYU Tandon School of Engineering dates to 1854, the founding date for both the New York University School of Civil Engineering and Architecture and the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute (widely known as Brooklyn Poly). A January 2014 merger created a comprehensive school of education and research in engineering and applied sciences, rooted in a tradition of invention and entrepreneurship and dedicated to furthering technology in service to society. In addition to its main location in Brooklyn, NYU Tandon collaborates with other schools within NYU, one of the country’s foremost private research universities, and is closely connected to engineering programs at NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai. It operates Future Labs focused on start-up businesses in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn and an award-winning online graduate program. For more information, visit engineering.nyu.edu.