Terry Halvorsen joins Samsung

Former Department of Defense CIO Terry Halvorsen is taking a senior role with Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung.

The longtime federal technology executive is joining the firm as an executive vice president, charged with advising JK Shin, president and CEO of IT and Mobile Communications, according to a company release. Halvorsen will work on mobile enterprise strategies and help navigate government and regulatory business.

"Mr. Halvorsen's vast experience and technical knowledge around cyber security in the global defense industry will complement our strategy to ensure we meet the complex needs of businesses, end users and partners by providing increased productivity without sacrificing security," said Shin in a statement.

Halvorsen served from two years as DOD CIO and was also CIO of the Department of the Navy and a leader in other Navy IT sections, specializing in network management and cybersecurity.

As Navy and DOD CIO, Halvorsen was known for his hard charging leadership style, adopting aggressive goals for closing and consolidating data centers. He helped lead the development and execution on the DOD-wide network modernization effort known as the Joint Information Enterprise. He oversaw the deployment of some of the more tangible aspects of the JIE plan, including the Joint Regional Security Stacks.

In one of his final reporter roundtables in January, Halvorsen touted the work being done to push the DOD to rely more on commercial technology, rather than rolling its own.

"Changing and getting more agile and relying more and more on our commercial capabilities, all of those things will continue," Halvorsen said.

In another recent talk with reporters, Halvorsen noted that the push to launch commercial health record software at the Military Heath System is indicative of the new, closer bonds between DOD and commercial technology providers.

"Cerner's customers and my customers are the same – we have to get that understanding," Halvorsen said. "That's going to be culturally groundbreaking as we wrap that up and learn from it."

Before he left DOD, Halvorsen also pushed to eliminate the CAC card from the Pentagon IT security arsenal and to upgrade millions of individual PCs to Windows 10 well ahead of the planned retirement of Windows 7.

At Samsung, Halvorsen expects to take a special interest in the growing market for connected devices.

"I am excited to join Samsung as it continues to help revolutionize how businesses leverage the benefits of mobility and the Internet of Things in today’s increasingly connected world," Halvorsen said in a company statement. "Connected devices offer numerous advantages and conveniences, but they also raise critical new security considerations. With Samsung’s global scale and long-standing commitment to security, I look forward to helping create new and secure experiences for our customers."

For now, Principal Deputy CIO Dr. John Zangardi is running the IT show at the Pentagon. In a February press conference, Halvorsen joked, "I broke a lot of stuff, and now he gets to clean it up."