Postal Service picks acting CIO

The U.S. Postal Service has tapped an acting CIO to replace Ellis Burgoyne, who retired Oct. 1.

James Cochrane, formerly vice president of USPS's product information department, will temporarily replace Burgoyne, according to an announcement from Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe.

Like his predecessor, the Postal Service's only CIO to emerge internally, Cochrane has already had a lengthy career at USPS.

Over the past 39 years, Cochrane has held leadership roles in several departments, including ground shipping, marketing and strategy for expedited package services. He also served as associate vice president of sales for the former Northeast Region, where he was responsible for commercial sales of $12 billion annually.

It is unclear how quickly USPS will pursue a permanent CIO, but Donahoe indicated USPS's technology plans will not wait.

 Cochrane "will oversee the integration of technology and innovation in delivering more than 170 billion pieces of mail to an estimated 150 million homes and businesses nationwide," Donahoe said, and "will direct the advancement of new mail intelligence, engineering systems, information technology systems, payment technology and corporate information security to meet the changing needs of our customers."