Commerce Dept. Appoints New CIO

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In a return to government service, Steve Cooper is joining the Commerce Department as the next chief information officer, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed.

Cooper left the government in January 2013 and has since served as an advisor to CEOs, CIOs, and executive teams of companies doing business with the federal government, according to his LinkedIn profile. He currently holds several professional titles, including principal at consulting firm Deep Water Point, partner at The Strativest Group, LLC, and executive advisor at the Mason Harriman Group.

Cooper's most recent government post was with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), where he was named deputy CIO in October 2011. Cooper had joined the FAA in September 2009 as the CIO of its Air Traffic Organization (ATO). While at the FAA, Cooper led the development of the agency's first three-year IT strategy and established a new IT governance structure.

[GAO cites troubled federal IT projects: GAO Spotlights 190 Troubled IT Projects.]

Prior to his position at the FAA, Cooper served as CIO and senior VP of IT at the American Red Cross, a position he took in May 2005. He was there during Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, and introduced the use of a call center for service delivery. Cooper left the Red Cross in June 2007.

Cooper served as the first CIO of the Department of Homeland Security (DHA), where he spearheaded the development of the department's IT strategy and oversaw the creation of an enterprise architecture.

After the DHS, Cooper joined the board of a nonprofit organization called Comcare to work on interoperability standards among emergency responders.

At the Commerce Department, Cooper will replace Simon Szykman, who will remain in the CIO post until Cooper officially begins. Szykman joined the Commerce Department as CIO in May 2010. While in that role, he was responsible for providing leadership, establishing policy, and overseeing the IT portfolio of the department's dozen bureaus.

Szykman also served as CIO of the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for more than three years and has worked at the DHS as its first director of cyber security research and development.

More details on Cooper's appointment and Szykman's departure will be available next week, the Commerce spokesperson said.

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