CIO Council changes its org chart

The Federal CIO Council has a new reorganization plan following a directive released Aug. 9 that drastically narrows the group's focus.

Established by an executive order after enactment of the 1996 Clinger-Cohen IT reforms and written into law six years later, the CIO Council has widened its focus to myriad issues through six committees and almost 30 subcommittees.

Not anymore, according to a blog post on the CIO Council's website announcing the restructure.

Moving forward, the council will operate primarily through three core committees: Innovation, Portfolio Management, and Information Security and Identity Management.

These committees will oversee short-term projects and deliverables and long-term federal IT initiatives, reporting to a 14-member executive committee headed by U.S. CIO Steven VanRoekel.

The revamped council also now includes three communities of practice – Accessibility, Privacy and IT Workforce – with room for more as the council sees fit. The Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative (FDCCI) Taskforce survived the reorganization and subcommittees with focuses on TechStat, FDCCI and IT best practices suggest the council will have increased responsibilities in carrying out federal IT initiatives.

"Over the past six months, the CIO Council has been working to reorganize itself to better address the Obama administration's priorities, changing tech trends, and evolving needs of Federal CIOs," the blog states. "Under the new structure, the CIO Council will become more agile in its approach to supporting key administration priorities and will continue to develop valuable tools, resources, and data for Federal CIOs and their staffs.

As outlined in its reorganization plan, the council's main objectives will be to:

• Align council resources, support, and operations with vision of Federal CIO.
• Increase ability of council to deliver high priority projects.
• Provide tools and services to Federal CIOs.
• Maintain groups of expert practitioners dedicated to informing the council on key issues in federal IT.

Leadership responsibilities within the council have shifted with the restructuring.

The Information Security and Identity Management committee will be headed by Luke McCormack, CIO at the Department of Justice, and Rob Carey, deputy CIO of the Defense Department. The committee will meet monthly, with priorities on continuous monitoring, extending the Federal Identify, Credential and Access Management roadmap across all security domains.

The Innovation committee will be led by General Services Administration CIO Casey Coleman and Margie Graves, acting CIO at the Department of Homeland Security. The Innovation Committee will focus initially on open data policies, with additional structuring and prioritization to come.

Bernie Mazer, CIO at the Department of Interior, and Bob Brese, CIO at the Department of Energy, will head the Portfolio Management committee. Priorities will include enhancement of government-wide shared services, FDCCI and enabling standards-based acquisition.

"The reorganization of the Council comes at a crucial time in Government. Budgets are tight and mission goals require Federal agencies to leverage technology to the highest extent possible to deliver more efficient and effective services to the American people," the blog states, "By working within a structure that combines formal committees, short-term agile working groups, and communities of knowledge experts, the Council will help to address the most relevant and pressing IT issues across the Federal CIO community."

While VanRoekel will continue to hold the top spot on the CIO Council, a council vice-chair has not been named. The council has been without a vice-chair since Richard Spires, former DHS CIO, left government in March. On the CIO Council's org chart, the council vice-chair is labeled simply as "TBD."