GSA's Johnson to retire after 33 years of service

John C. Johnson, assistant commissioner for the General Services Administration's Integrated Technology Service, will retire on May 2, after 33 years of federal service.

Ed O'Hare, currently chief information officer at Federal Acquisition Service, will replace Johnson.

In a conference call today with reporters, Johnson announced his retirement. He said he was proud of his accomplishments at ITS, and he was confident in the team currently in place. Johnson did not disclose his future plans, but said he intends to work in the IT industry.

Johnson was assistant commissioner since 2006, the year GSA merged the Federal Technology Service and the Federal Supply Service to form FSA. During his tenure, he oversaw the merger and supervised the development of a number of huge IT contracts, including the Networx telecommunications contracts, the Alliant program and the Veterans' governmentwide acquisition contract.

"I'm really proud of the fact some of the things we talked about years ago are starting to take form, putting in place the vehicles and networks to build a seamless, secure, interoperable environment," Johnson said. "We should be able to adopt the latest Web 2.0 technologies as they move forward."

He also oversaw the Trusted Internet Connection Initiative, a program to reduce the number of Internet nodes in government to better secure federal networks. In addition, he pushed green IT initiatives.

Johnson held off on his retirement until after awarding the Alliant technology contract, which had been delayed for more than a year because of a protest.

"Serving in the government is quite an honor and serving the public is quite an honor," he said. "I'm thrilled to have done that, to have had that opportunity."

"John's commitment to ensuring the federal government has access to cutting-edge technology has been critical to securing our nation's IT infrastructure at the best value possible," said FAS Commissioner Jim Williams. "His work will pay dividends to the federal government and the American taxpayer for years to come."

Johnson's replacement, O'Hare, is "very pragmatic and very IT-savvy," said Ray Bjorklund, senior vice president and chief knowledge officer for consulting firm FedSources in McLean, Va. "He's pragmatic as in no nonsense -- let's figure out how to get this done. That can be very useful."