Chief Information Officer(CIO)
The senior executive responsible for an organization's IT strategy, systems, and operations, overseeing IT investments and cybersecurity.
Overview
The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is the senior executive responsible for an organization's information technology strategy, infrastructure, and governance. In the federal government, agency CIOs play a critical role under FITARA (Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act) in approving IT acquisitions, managing enterprise architecture, and ensuring cybersecurity compliance across their agencies.
Why It Matters in GovCon
Federal CIOs influence which IT investments get funded and how technology is procured. Under FITARA, agency CIOs must approve or review all IT acquisitions, giving them significant authority over contract vehicles, cloud migration strategies, and modernization initiatives. Contractors selling IT solutions benefit from understanding each agency CIO's priorities and technology roadmap.
Key Details
- FITARA: Grants agency CIOs authority over IT budgets and acquisition approvals, with annual Congressional scorecards grading agency performance.
- Federal CIO: The U.S. Federal CIO within OMB sets government-wide IT policy and coordinates cross-agency initiatives.
- Cybersecurity: CIOs oversee implementation of security frameworks including FISMA, NIST, and Zero Trust Architecture mandates.
- Cloud Strategy: CIOs drive agency cloud migration aligned with the Cloud Smart policy.
- CIO Council: The Federal CIO Council coordinates IT policy across agencies and shares best practices.
Related Terms
- Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA)
- FedRAMP
- Authority to Operate (ATO)
- Chief Technology Officer (CTO)
More Personnel Terms
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An individual with specialized knowledge or expertise in a particular area, often proposed as key personnel or consulted during proposal development.
The senior civilian official responsible for all acquisition matters within a particular military service branch.
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