General Services Administration hires Dan Lopez as director of Login.gov

The General Services Administration has named Dan Lopez as director of the U.S. government-backed secure sign-in service Login.gov.

An agency spokesperson confirmed his appointment to FedScoop and said the technology leader started work in the new role on Sept.12.

According to LinkedIn, Lopez was previously director of software engineering for the city of Philadelphia and before that held a variety of private sector engineering leadership roles including at educational technology company Instructure and gatherDocs.

Following his appointment, Lopez will oversee the technology as an increasing number of federal agencies turn to the identity management platform. He takes over the role from outgoing Login.gov director Amos Stone.

In April, the Department of Veterans Affairs received an infusion of $10.5 million from the Technology Modernization Fund to support its transition to Login.gov.

An increasing number of government agencies have adopted the government-operated ID verification tool amid concerns over the use of opaque facial recognition technology by private sector companies.

For example, the Internal Revenue Service in February said it was committed to Login.gov as a user authentication tool after abandoning a requirement that taxpayers provide biometric data to verify their identify through a third-party platform.

In recent weeks, lawmakers have floated legislation that if passed could make it easier for technology like Login.gov to be shared between agencies at the federal, state and local levels.

News of Lopez’s appointment was first reported by Federal Computer Week.