IIT Mumbai alumni and Microsoft veteran Bharat Shyam has been appointed the new chief information officer (CIO) of Washington state.

Shyam's appointment was announced by Washington Governor Chris Gregoire on Monday.

"I am incredibly impressed with Bharat," Gregoire said in a statement.

"With nearly 20 years of experience at Microsoft, he brings a deep understanding of software and technology. And his level of enthusiasm for the position is unmatched. I welcome him to this role, and know the citizens of Washington State will benefit from his service," Gregoire said.

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Shyam said he was honoured to serve the people of Washington State as part of Governor Gregoire's team.

"I adopted Washington as my home two decades ago and my family has benefited enormously from working and living in this state. That's why I'm thrilled to give back by ensuring we spend money wisely on information technology," he added.

"Home to some of the most vibrant IT companies, combined with rapid change in IT and a dedicated state workforce - Washington State has the potential to be the best government in the world when it comes to information technology.

I intend to use our state assets - and make our state nimble while delivering the best services to citizens at the lowest costs," Shyam said.

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While at Microsoft, Shyam successfully reduced costs of software publishing and servicing, while delivering higher quality and a more agile system, an official release said.

Shyam earned a degree in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay, before attending Stanford University, where he graduated with a master's of science in computer science in 1993.

He began his career at Microsoft in 1993 as a software design engineer, developing early prototypes of one of the nation's first smartphones.

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He later became a lead software engineer for Internet Explorer and Windows 98 and 2000, and was a creator of the billing system for several services in Microsoft - including XBOX Live.

He most recently served as general manager for Windows Azure.

On October 1, 2011, the office of the chief information officer became an official part of the restructured Office of Financial Management and Washington state government.

The OCIO's unique role in state government is to create clarity and alignment for IT investments by: Shyam's appointment became effective November 15.

Shyam will earn an annual salary of $147,154.