Joseph Leo appointed Agriculture CIO

Joseph Leo has been named the new chief information officer at the Agriculture Department, replacing Anne Reed, who plans to retire from government in February.

Leo is the deputy administrator for management for the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, a position he has held since 1984. He has been a leader in promoting and shaping the direction of electronic benefit transfer systems in government.

Since last year, Leo has headed an effort to build a new Support Services Bureau by merging the administrative functions of three USDA organizations into one entity. Earlier this year, USDA Secretary Dan Glickman appointed Leo as the acting executive director of the Support Services Bureau, however the plan did not receive congressional funding this year.

As CIO, Leo will continue to focus on the USDA's administrative convergence initiatives and will oversee a $1.2 billion IT budget.