CTO Bryan Sivak leaving HHS

Bryan Sivak, chief technology officer for the Department of Health and Human Services, is leaving his post.

Sivak confirmed his move in an email to FedScoop over the weekend. HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell sent a letter to staff Friday announcing his departure at the end of April.

Since joining HHS as CTO in July 2012, Sivak led the department’s open data and innovation efforts. While he played roles in many of HHS’ bigger projects, such as consulting during the development of Healthcare.gov and helping with the technology side of the department’s implementation of its DATA Act pilot, Sivak’s crowning achievement was the creation of the
HHS IDEA Lab to promote a more modern and effective government. As CTO, Sivak was also very supportive in incubating the HHS Buyers Club, lead by Mark Naggar.

“Bryan has been a force for promoting innovation across the Department, designing and deploying initiatives that improve the performance of the Department for those we serve, and for our employees,” Burwell wrote in her note.

“I want to thank Bryan for the commitment and energy he brought to his position. His willingness to tackle big challenges, and always see the opportunities embedded within them, has improved the Department’s operations, and the way we go about fulfilling our mission,” she says.

Technology was Sivak’s main focus as CTO, but he took a novel approach to it as a tool for change rather than a solution, something beginning to spread throughout government. “Technology is still important, but we look at it as not the solution to a problem, but as the catalyst to help you get to your solution,” he told FedScoop last June.

Prior to his service at HHS, Sivak was chief information officer of Maryland under Gov. Martin O’Malley and CTO of the District of Columbia. He also spent a decade in the private sector as an entrepreneur, founding InQuira Inc., a knowledge management software company acquired by Oracle in 2011.

Sivak was honored in 2014 as a winner of the FedScoop 50 Federal Leadership award.