State Department names new CIO
Keith Jones has been appointed the new chief information officer at the State Department, with a rank of an assistant secretary of State, according to a department spokesperson.
Jones has a deep background in federal IT, including a job as deputy chief information officer for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from 2012 until 2018, according to his personal LinkedIn profile.
After leaving the federal government in 2018, Jones founded The Edgewater Group DC, an IT consulting firm. He also served as a principal consultant at Deep Water Point.
The State Department is the first of the seven agencies with politically appointed CIOs to name a permanent one in the new presidential administration. Jones’ predecessor, Stuart McGuigan, was known for supporting the department’s shift to telework during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as other IT modernization efforts.
Acting CIOs have been named at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and Department of Transportation.