President Trump Nominates Federal CIO

After sitting vacant for a year, the Trump administration has nominated a new permanent federal Chief Information Officer (CIO): Suzette Kent, currently a principal with law firm Ernst & Young’s financial services practice. The White House announced Jan. 26 the president’s intention to nominate Kent as the next administrator of the Office of Electronic Government within the Office of Management and Budget, a role most have come to know as the federal CIO. The position is charged with setting IT management policy for the entire federal government, including overseeing cybersecurity policy through the currently vacant federal chief information security officer.

Kent would be the fourth federal CIO, taking over for Tony Scott, who retired from the role at the end of the Obama administration. Since Scott’s retirement, his deputy, Margie Graves, has been filling in as acting federal CIO. Scott succeeded Steven VanRoekel, who was the second federal CIO after Vivek Kundra, who was appointed by Obama in 2009. Kent has been with Ernst & Young since late 2015, with stints at JPMorgan, Carreker Corporation and Accenture before that. Her 27-year career has been focused on financial and payment services.