FDIC names Geoffrey Nieboer as chief data officer

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has named Geoffrey Nieboer as chief data officer.

He takes over the role from incumbent CDO Jacques Vilar, who according to sources will step down at the end of May after more than 12 years at the agency.

FDIC has also appointed Brian Whittaker acting chief innovation officer, replacing Sultan Meghji who quit the agency in February.

At the time of his departure, Meghji penned a blistering op-ed published by Bloomberg News in which he dismissed government attitudes to technological change as “hesitant and hostile.”

Prior to his latest appointment, Nieboer was chief data officer at the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, according to his LinkedIn profile. Earlier in his career, he was a commanding officer for engineering within the Air Force.

Whittaker previously was chief experience officer at the FDIC and earlier in his career held management roles at the General Services Administration, including as acting executive director of 18F and as the deputy executive director for GSA’s IT Modernization Centers of Excellence program. He has also held senior trade association roles and was customer experience government co-chair at ACT-IAC, and a federal innovation council member at the Partnership for Public Service.

A spokesperson for FDIC confirmed the appointments but declined to comment further.