SSA's Dyer takes new job

SSA's 2010 Service Vision (PDF)

John Dyer, who helped the Social Security Administration move into the Electronic

Age, has stepped down as the agency's chief information officer to become

senior adviser to SSA Commissioner Ken Apfel. Dyer, who has been agency

CIO since 1996, will be detailed to the Treasury Department to help CIO

Jim Flyzik initiate several new information technology functions. In an

interview, Dyer said it's "a great chance to see how the CIO at a large

department operates."

One of Dyer's new jobs at SSA will be coordinating the implementation

of its new 2010 Service Vision, which sets the agency's priorities for customer

service into the next decade. Dyer said he would be working on "how to think

through the process. I know all of the different processes and people. [Apfel]

figured I'd be the right guy to do this."

Dyer was one of three senior information officers on the Electronic

Government Committee, created by the CIO Council to work on projects ranging

from the government's use of smart cards to enabling the use of public and

private keys for Internet security. He will continue in that role.

Under Dyer, SSA developed its strategy for rolling out services delivered

via the Internet. Also, Congress gave SSA its highest grade governmentwide

for system security during his tenure.

Dyer has always received high marks for his work in pushing SSA to the

cutting edge of e-government. "He was instrumental in many, if not most,

of the successes, including modernization of computer systems, upgrading

of fiscal systems and a myriad of other issues," said one industry source.

Marsha Rydstrom has been named acting CIO. She is the associate commissioner

for public service and operations support at SSA.