Commerce CIOs on the move

Roger Baker, former chief information officer at the Commerce Department, is now executive vice president and manager of the Network and Telecommunications Business Group at CACI International Inc.

Baker, who began his new job this week, was CIO at Commerce for nearly three years until he resigned from his position in April. Before entering government, he worked in industry including at the META Group Inc. and at Visa International Service Association.

Baker said he is excited about the business potential in the federal market. "There are a lot of networks in the federal government and a lot of outsourcing," he said. "Running a nationwide or global network is a difficult thing for a single government agency to do." Those agencies would be prime candidates for outsourcing and the "sweet spot" for the group he now heads, he said.

CACI and the Network and Telecommunications Business Group count the Federal Aviation Administration, the Air Force, the Coast Guard and the Army among its customers. "I've been more impressed than expected with the level of attention to quality and customer satisfaction" at CACI, Baker said.

Meanwhile, Tom Pyke, former CIO at the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is the new Commerce CIO, according to several sources. Pyke also is still acting CIO at NOAA until a permanent successor is found.

In related Commerce news, Phillip Bond, former head of Hewlett-Packard Co.'s federal public policy programs, was approved by the Senate Oct. 23 as the next undersecretary for technology at the Commerce Department. In this role, he manages the three agencies in the department's Technology Administration: the Office of Technology Policy, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the National Technical Information Service.