Evans heads CIO Council

The federal CIO Council elected Karen Evans, chief information officer at the Energy Department, as vice chairwoman Nov. 20. She replaces Jim Flyzik, who had served as the senior agency official on the council since 1998.

As vice chairwoman, Evans will work with the Office of Management and Budget chairman — currently Mark Forman, OMB's associate director for information technology and e-government — to coordinate the council's cross-agency policies and initiatives. These include leadership of the 24 cross-agency e-government initiatives and the development of new IT workforce classifications and training.

"It's really an honor to be serving the council in this capacity," Evans told Federal Computer Week. "It's unfortunate that I have small feet, as I have some mighty big shoes to fill. Jim has done an outstanding job and will be sorely missed. I will do my best, however, to aspire to the standard he set so high, and to continue the tradition of excellence for which the council leadership is known."

In 2001, Evans served on OMB's E-Government Task Force, which developed the 24 e-government initiatives. And she championed a similar approach at DOE, where she leads the deployment within the department of 19 cross-functional e-government "ideas."

"I think she's had a solid federal career with experience in several agencies," said Alan Balutis, executive director of the Federation of Government Information Processing Councils. "She's working in an agency where they are doing some innovative things in the e-gov arena. And I think she'll be a hands-on leader and a good partner with Mark Forman at OMB."

Flyzik is retiring from government Dec. 17 after 28 years of service. He is currently the lead IT adviser at the Office of Homeland Security.