Pentagon Finally Gets Around to Clarifying the CIO Role
By
Bob Brewin
Memo gives position considerable sway over the services’ IT budgets.
In August 2010, then Defense Secretary Robert Gates shut down the office of the Assistant Secretary for Networks and Information Integration as one small piece of a budget cutting exercise, with a new and improved Chief Information Officer shop taking over many of the tasks once performed by ASD/NII.
This Monday, Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter sent out a memo that just got around to transferring the responsibilities and functions of the disestablished Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration to the Defense CIO.
That memo clarified that the Defense CIO -- currently Teri Takai -- will provide policy guidance on cyber security and gives her what looks like considerable sway over the IT budgets of the four services.
One wonders why it took so long to produce this memo.
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