Rising Star: Jonathan Alboum

As a newly minted deputy chief information officer at the Agriculture Department’s Food and Nutrition Service in 2007, Jonathan Alboum brought some much-needed order to the agency’s approach to overseeing projects.He led the creation of the project management office, which provides a standardized approach to managing information technology projects.The agency can now complete more projects on time and on budget with fewer resources, said Enrique Gomez, FNS’ CIO. The office identifies and quantifies critical project risks. Alboum built a business case that demonstrated the office’s benefits and justified the limited available resources needed to make it happen, Gomez said.  Alboum conducted meetings and off-site forums with senior managers agencywide to explain the value of the PMO to their programs. “This resulted in technical creditability, partnerships and a collaborative work environment with the programs,” Gomez said.