Speculation: Meyerrose to Leave ODNI

Word around the beltway is that Dale Meyerrose will officially step down as chief information officer at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, allegedly planning a move to the private sector.

While his office neither confirmed nor denied news of his pending departure, which came from a qualified industry source, a public affairs representative with ODNI said he “has not stepped down,” and that the claim “is not something we are going to comment on further.”

The departure of Meyerrose would serve as quite a blow to the intelligence community. Since his appointment by President George W. Bush as the first associate director of national intelligence and CIO in December 2005, he has been a champion for more strategic data exchange across federal government by advocating a “need to share,” rather than a “need to know,” philosophy. He has also worked closely with John Grimes, CIO of the Defense Department, to establish better collaboration between the agencies. The two CIOs signed a memorandum in July 2007, in fact, that established a shared vision for information sharing between defense and intelligence agencies.

Meyerrose served in the military for 30 years, retiring from the Air Force as a major general in November 2005.