Bush’s federal IT chief hopes for role in Trump administration

Karen Evans, the former head of federal IT under President George W. Bush, told CyberScoop she hopes to serve in the current administration.

“I would be honored if the Trump administration asked me to come in and work on our nation’s problems,” she said in an interview on the sidelines of the RSA security conference Tuesday.

She added that she didn’t know what roles she might be considered for. “I’ve just applied like everyone else,” she said. “I’m waiting to hear.”

Evans served between 2003-09 as administrator of the Office of Electronic Government and Information Technology at the White House Office of Management and Budget, overseeing the implementation of IT throughout the federal government. Prior to that, she was chief information officer for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Evans, who is a member of the prestigious Program Committee for the massive RSA conference, running all this week in San Francisco, is currently director of U.S. Cyber Challenge — a non-profit that runs competitions and summer camps to identify budding cyber talent at all ages.

She worked on the Trump transition team, but declined to give details, citing a nondisclosure agreement.

She believes there is an opportunity for Donald Trump’s administration to build on the work of its predecessor.

“A great foundation has been laid by [Obama administration federal CIO]  Tony Scott,” she said, adding “IT and cybersecurity are bipartisan issues. We don’t want to squander [that progress].”

Scott’s position is just one of several that Evans could be in the running for.

“There are lot of opportunities to move forward, leveraging new technologies to improve security … while moving government services into the 21st century,” concluded Evans.