Waiting on VA -- No Longer, CIO Named

Update: Within minutes of posting this item, the White House announced Roger Baker's appointment as CIO at the Veterans Affairs Department. It still doesn't change, however, what a tough job he has in front of him. Read below.

The chief information officer job at the Veterans Affairs Department still hasn't been filled. We had heard VA was supposed to announce it on March 26. But it didn't happen. Roger Baker, former Commerce Department CIO in the Clinton administration, is rumored to be the front runner -- and has been for nearly two months.

After today's news, which Nextgov editor at large Bob Brewin broke, Baker may have second thoughts about the job that might await him if he is nominated and confirmed.

From the White House announcement:

Roger Baker is the former President and Chief Executive Officer of Dataline, LLC, a mid-sized technology products and services company headquartered in Norfolk, VA. Previously, Baker served as the Chief Information Officer at the Department of Commerce from 1998 to 2001. Prior to joining the federal government in 1998, Baker had an extensive career with software and Internet technology firms, including leading the development of Internet and online banking systems at VISA International. He has also been a senior technology management executive at CACI International and General Dynamics. Baker left the private sector in May of 2008 to volunteer on President Obama's campaign, serving on the Technology, Media, and Telecommunications policy group. After the President's election, Baker served on the Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform (TIGR) and the Veterans Agency Review Teams for the Presidential Transition Team. Baker is active in the federal technology community, and has written extensively on improving the management and results of the government's information technology investments. He was the Vice Chair of the Industry Advisory Council's Transition Study Group, and a co-author of the group's capstone paper entitled "Returning Innovation to the Federal Government with Information Technology." He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and a Masters in Business Administration from The University of Michigan.