Ask the CIO Podcasts

• US Mint facing its future without copper wires

  Jason Mervyn, a lead IT specialist for the US Mint at West Point, said the agency is figuring out how back end operational technology systems can continue to run without legacy telecommunications technology.

  Ask the CIO

  December 11, 2023
• Commerce is in better shape to understand cost, benefits of moving to the cloud

  Andre Mendes, the Commerce Department’s chief information officer, said through the use of Technology Business Management framework, the agency has well over 90% of their IT costs categorized properly and in the right towers, which is a huge change.

  Ask the CIO

  December 01, 2023
• Early success spurs Army to expand contract writing system MVP

  Bill Hepworth, deputy program executive officer for the Army’s program executive office enterprise information systems (PEO-EIS), said after testing out the new contract writing system with 100 users, the plan is to triple that number in early 2024.

  Ask the CIO

  November 20, 2023
• DHS’ move to agile development to buoy customer experience too

  Eric Hysen, the DHS chief information officer, and Dana Chisnell, the director of CX, are expanding their priorities areas to include more customer and employee experience goals as outlined in a new IT strategic plan.

  Ask the CIO

  November 06, 2023
• American Rescue Plan Act funding continues to pay dividends for GSA’s TTS

  Ann Lewis, the new director of TTS in GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service, said her organization’s goal is to get the right tech skills into the right place to deliver better outcomes for the public.

  Ask the CIO

  November 03, 2023
• Small agency IT executives have some help in juggling all their responsibilities

  Chris Chilbert, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s chief information officer and co-chairman of the small agency CIO council, said the Small Agency CIO and IT Executive Handbook, released earlier this summer, details a “foundational understanding of responsibilities related to IT.”

  Ask the CIO

  October 23, 2023
• Air Force applying the ‘Tom Brady effect’ to hiring cyber workers

  Air Force Lt. Col. Andrew Wonpat, a member of the Air National Guard's Cyber Operations Group, said assessing non-traditional traits of employees is proving successful in expanding the pool of qualified cyber workers.

  Ask the CIO

  October 17, 2023
• Army CIO Garciga kicks off tenure by simplifying cloud, software development

  Leo Garciga, the Army’s new chief information officer, said accelerating systems move to the cloud, improving the use of DevSecOps and managing and using data better are among his top priorities.

  Ask the CIO

  October 09, 2023
• Why some CIOs say it’s time to rethink governmentwide cyber metrics

  Andre Mendes, the chief information officer at the Department of Commerce, was one of several agency technology executives pushing for more consistency around cyber metrics under the FITARA scorecard.

  Ask the CIO

  October 02, 2023
• Pentagon works with Congress to limit new acquisition compliance burdens

  John Tenaglia, the director defense contracting and pricing at the Defense Department, said House and Senate armed services committee lawmakers asked for feedback on about 40 different potential acquisition provisions in the 2024 defense bill.

  Ask the CIO

  September 28, 2023
• State CIOs have a small, but important to-do list for their federal counterparts

  Alex Whitaker, the director of government affairs for the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, said pushing for broader adoption of the .gov domain and harmonization of federal cyber regulations.

  Ask the CIO

  September 11, 2023
• Labor, OPM, Census dialing up AI tools to crunch data, improve mission outcomes

  More than two dozen agencies have posted their artificial intelligence use case inventories as required by an executive order and by law.

  Ask the CIO

  September 01, 2023
• New top-secret cloud strategy underpins State Dept bureau’s modernization efforts

  Jimmy Hall Jr., the State Bureau of Intelligence and Research’s chief information officer and director of the Technology and Innovation Office, said he will release a top secret cloud strategy to improve the agility, security and capabilities for the department.

  Ask the CIO

  August 28, 2023
• How enterprise risk management is making the TSP more resilient

  Thomas Brandt, the chief risk officer at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, said the upcoming Association of Federal Enterprise Risk Management summit and survey will provide the latest snapshot on how agencies are doing in managing and mitigating risks.

  Ask the CIO

  August 22, 2023