Treasury hires Hobbs for CIO

The Treasury Department has named Ira Hobbs, a well-known and highly respected information technology executive in the federal government, to be chief information officer, filling a post left vacant by the departure of Drew Ladner about two months ago.

Hobbs, who is deputy CIO at the Agriculture Department and in the past has served as acting CIO there, is expected to begin his new job mid-June.

A career government employee who has worked at USDA for 22 years, Hobbs will manage a $2.6 billion information technology budget and oversee high profile programs such as the Internal Revenue Service's modernization projects.

He is expected to continue his efforts as co-chairman of the CIO Council's workforce committee. Over the years, he has championed many cross-agency initiatives to improve the way the federal government operates, Treasury officials noted in the announcement.

Mike Parker, deputy CIO at Treasury, has been acting CIO since Ladner returned to the private sector. It was believed that Ladner, a political appointee, left in part when he did because Treasury had plans to change the CIO position into a career position, which it has since done.

Ladner was credited for advancing e-government, improving IT security and introducing a new approach to IT governance in the department. During Ladner's tenure, the Treasury CIO's office gained the authority to approve all IT spending.

Hobbs holds a bachelor's degree in political science from Florida A&M University and a master's degree in public administration from Florida State University.

O'Hara is a freelance writer in Arlington, Va.