CIO Council invites GITEC

ORLANDO, Fla. — The Government Information Technology Executives Council's president is welcome to attend CIO Council meetings, announced Karen Evans, the Office of Management and Budget's administrator for e-government and IT.

The presence of GITEC's president as a liaison to the CIO Council ensures that agency chief information officers' agendas "get beyond the council," Evans said. Council meetings are closed to the general public.

Evans made the announcement today during her address to attendees of GITEC's annual conference. It "was a surprise to us this morning," said departing GITEC president Margaret Binns. Linda Cureton, GITEC's current vice president, assumes the presidency later this week.

"We are enthusiastic about it, we think it better helps us know what their priorities are and support their direction," Binns said. "But Linda's going to need to sit down with Karen and with the council and sort out what it represents."

A GITEC representative at CIO Council meetings will not affect the Industry Advisory Council's role, Evans said. "It doesn't diminish anything that IAC is doing."

The two councils fall under the umbrella of the American Council for Technology, but they have different memberships, Evans said. GITEC "is another government council working directly with the CIO Council, so that there's two government councils now moving forward," she added.