Delaware taps former EPA, 18F technology leader as CTO

The Delaware Department of Technology and Information announced Tuesday that Greg Godbout, a former federal technology leader, will serve as chief technology officer. 

Godbout has more than two decades of technology leadership experience in government and industry. He served as CTO and U.S. Digital Services Lead at the Environmental Protection Agency, helping to launch its in-house digital services outfit in 2015, and co-founded of the federal government’s 18F digital services team. 

He currently serves as a board director and chief revenue officer of Global Clean Energy Inc.’s artificial intelligence division. He previously was CEO of Flamelit, a data science and AI consultancy, and worked at AI for Natural Disasters, which was acquired by GCEI.

Godbout’s designation comes just two months after Tina Donbeck was announced for the job. An official from DTI said she decided to step down for personal reasons. Donbeck also had extensive federal experience, which included serving as former chief information officer, chief data officer and chief AI officer at the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. She also held tech leadership roles in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the Department of the Navy. 

Delaware’s technology leadership has shifted a lot in recent years, through both the expansion of digital services and pursuance of IT modernization. Greg Lane, who became CIO in 2023 after serving as CTO, resigned in January. Gov. Matt Meyer later nominated former Virginia IT chief Bob Osmond to lead the department as chief information officer.  

Godbout assumed the role of CTO on Oct. 5, and reports to Osmond.

“We are excited to have an innovator like Greg join DTI,” Osmond said in a news release. “Greg’s experience with artificial intelligence, federal digital services and private-sector technology leadership makes him an exemplary leader to transform DTI technology services to the next level.”

Godbout was a 2013 Presidential Innovation Fellow and a Day One Accelerator Fellow, and his honors include the GSA Administrator’s Award, the Federal 100 award, and the FedScoop 50 award.

“I’ve spent most of my career working on how government can use technology to serve people better, and I’m glad to bring that work to Delaware,” Godbout said. “DTI already has a strong team, and I’m looking forward to working with them to help make state services simpler, secure, and easier for residents to use.”