Obama names Baker to be VA's CIO

Roger Baker might return to government. President Barack Obama has nominated him to be the chief information officer and assistant secretary for information and technology at the Veterans Affairs Department.

Baker served as CIO at the Commerce Department from 1998 to 2001. He was an adviser to Obama's transition team, offering guidance to the Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform and the Veterans Agency Review teams. The Senate must approve Baker’s nomination.

Baker is the former president and chief executive officer of Dataline, a technology products and services company headquartered in Norfolk, Va. He has remained active in the federal technology community since leaving the Commerce post and has written about improving the management and results of the government’s information technology investments, the administration said. He was vice chairman of the Industry Advisory Council’s Transition Study Group and co-author of the group’s “Returning Innovation to the Federal Government with Information Technology.”

Before joining the government in 1998, Baker had an extensive career at software and Internet technology firms, including leading the development of Internet and online banking systems at Visa International. He has also been a senior technology management executive at CACI International and General Dynamics.

The president also nominated John Sepulveda to be VA’s assistant secretary of human resources. He was deputy director of the Office of Personnel Management during the Clinton administration.