President Donald Trump announced his intention Thursday to appoint John Zangardi, currently the acting chief information officer of the Department of Defense, to serve as CIO at the Department of Homeland Security.
“Dr. Zangardi has extensive experience in information technology and security,” the White House announcement said. “His career also includes experience in acquisition, policy, legislative affairs, resourcing, and operations.”
Zangardi takes over from acting CIO Stephen Rice, who took up the role after Richard Staropoli resigned from the post just three months after taking the job.
According to the White House announcement, Zangardi is a retired naval flight officer, and has served as the Department of the Navy’s deputy assistant Secretary of the Navy for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Information Operations, and Space and as the Navy CIO. During his time as Navy CIO, Zangardi worked to streamline IT procurement and expand commercial cloud and mobility.
A DoD spokesperson told Federal Times that Zangardi does not yet have a departure date for his acting CIO role, and the department has not yet determined his successor.
Jessie Bur covers federal IT and management.
