Former VA IT leader Myklegard takes acting deputy federal CIO role
Drew Myklegard has stepped into the role of acting deputy federal chief information officer at the Office of Management and Budget, following the departure of Maria Roat.
Myklegard will hold the post while OMB conducts a search for the next permanent deputy federal CIO.
Myklegard is a veteran federal IT leader and has also served in the Army in intelligence and strategic planning roles. Most recently, he was executive director of product engineering at the Department of Veterans Affairs, and prior to that spent a period as senior adviser to the CIO.
He joined OMB in the Office of the Federal CIO in January as associate deputy federal CIO.
Commenting on his appointment, Federal CIO Clare Martorana said: “In just a few months with our team, Drew has already made an outsized impact in executing on OFCIO’s strategic priorities.”
She added: “He understands that in a 21stcentury operating environment if the technology doesn’t work, then the policy doesn’t work.”
Former deputy federal CIO Maria Roat left her post at the end of March, after nearly 20 years in IT management roles across government agencies.
The deputy federal CIO position has a wide-ranging portfolio of responsibilities, including the high-level management and day-to-day oversight of the federal CIO’s strategic objectives. They effectively act as a chief of staff for the federal CIO, taking on the management of keystone projects and to an extent for managing relationships with service providers.
Senior leaders at the Office of Management and Budget are responsible for selecting and appointing a new deputy federal CIO, a process that typically takes several months.
OMB began the search for a new deputy federal CIO in March, posting the open role to USAJobs.