Energy Department’s new CIO to start next week

The Energy Department has a new chief information officer, the first ever to be politically appointed in department history.

Michael Johnson, previously the assistant director for intelligence programs at the Office of Science and Technology Policy, will take over for acting CIO Don Adcock.

Prior to his role at the White House, Johnson served as associate deputy director of national intelligence for information sharing inside the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. He also spent time at the Department of Homeland Security, serving as the chief scientist within the Office of Intelligence and Analysis.

Johnson’s move to Energy will not be his first. He once served at Sandia National Laboratories as a a senior scientist and computer engineer, managing national security systems analysis.

Adcock, who had been serving as CIO since Bob Brese left in September, will move to deputy CIO.

Johnson will join an agency that spent $1.5 billion on IT in 2014, with a budget expected to stay in line over the next few years. That budget goes beyond the department, managing a network of national laboratories that research everything from encryption to nuclear security.

Johnson’s first day is March 9.