Xavier Hughes

Xavier Hughes joined ICMA in 2018 as its first chief technology and innovation officer (CTIO). In creating the CTIO role, ICMA plans to expand its capabilities as an organization inside and out, bringing a forward-oriented approach to smart cities and modern e-government, as well as the latest technological developments in member services and operations.

Hughes recently served as head of global growth for Stae, a venture-backed smart cities, operational intelligence platform. In that role, he brought on numerous funding and operational partners, while working to design new features.

Prior, he served as the chief innovation officer at the U.S. Department of Labor—the first in the U.S. government—and simultaneously as senior advisor to the president, where he led the development of innovative business practices and technology applications to improve outcomes and simplify operations. As Chief Innovation Officer, Xavier led the identification, evaluation and development of innovative business process and technology applications to improve DOL outcomes and simplify government operations.

He is considered a leader in the area of open government and data liberation, having led the development and launch of several crowdsourcing data challenges covering worker safety and health, enforcement, labor statistics, disability employment, and equal pay.

Previous to joining the U.S. Department of Labor, Xavier worked for PRTM Management Consultants where acted as a senior advisor to U.S. Department of Homeland Security senior officials, and provided subject matter expertise to several private sector clients. He has over 15 years of professional experience within the public and private sector, encompassing business process improvement, strategic business planning and development, supply chain, IT platform development, and customer service.

Xavier attended the University of Miami where he received an undergraduate degree in Business Management. He is originally from San Sebastian, Spain, is fluent in Spanish.