The following announcement was written by David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States:
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Mike Wash as NARA's Open Government Executive/Chief Information Officer (CIO) effective March 27, 2011.
In Charter for Change and Charting the Course, I spoke of creating a visionary IT organization - one in which traditional technology planning and policy functions are brought together with the business of social media, open government, and digitization programs to anticipate staff and customer needs. Such an IT organization is key to our ability to lead the federal government in adapting archival theory for practice in the digital, web, and social media environments as well as advancing Open Government values of transparency, citizen engagement, and collaboration.
Mike Wash exemplifies leadership qualities needed to guide this vision-solid technical skills, a track record of innovation, political savvy, and the ability to translate user needs into practical applications of technology.
As the Open Government Executive/Chief Information Officer, Mike will be responsible for leading innovative projects and programs, and developing information systems and tools that will help customers discover NARA's holdings. One of his top priorities will be to collaborate with NARA's Chief Records Officer, the Digital Access Strategist, and Corporate Records Management program to lead an integrated approach to managing electronic information. In addition, he will oversee our IT security and applied research initiatives.
Mike brings to his new assignment 7 years of experience as the CIO of the U.S. Government Printing Office, where he provided principal guidance for strategic information system initiatives at the agency. While there he led the team that researched, developed, and launched the agency's Federal Digital System (FDsys), which is a secure digital content management system for millions of federal documents from every corner of the government, increasing transparency and creating business value. Mike was also instrumental in leading a collaborative effort with the Office of the Federal Register that developed and launched Federal Register 2.0 last summer. Partnership for Public Service selected him as the Federal Player of the Week for his work in making tens of millions of federal documents available in FDsys.
Before joining the federal government, Mike worked for 26 years in the private sector with the Eastman Kodak Company, directing the company's digital photo finishing equipment systems division and developing the platform that delivered Kodak Perfect Touch Processing to consumers in North America and Europe.
Mike says, "I am thrilled to join the NARA team and look forward to applying my government and photographic market experience that keenly instilled a value of making data and memories easily and permanently accessible."
I thank Charles Piercy for serving as Acting CIO since this past July. On March 27 Chuck will resume his duties as Deputy CIO until he officially becomes the Executive for Business Support Services.
Please join me in welcoming Mike to NARA.
DAVID S. FERRIERO
Archivist of the United States
