Chertoff gives DHS CIO more power

Homeland Security Department Secretary Michael Chertoff this morning unveiled a plan to give significant new powers to the department’s chief information officer.“Later today, I am issuing a management directive to enhance the authority of CIO Scott Charbo,” Chertoff said in a speech this morning.The department CIO will gain new authority under the directive including:DHS technology investments already require approval by the department’s centralized investment review procedure, but this will consolidate Charbo’s power within that process.“This unification and strengthening of core management will not be easy for some components,” Chertoff said.After the morning meeting of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, Charbo said he would continue previously announced projects, including consolidating the department’s fleet of 17 major data centers into two, unifying DHS e-mail and consolidating networks. , .