Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) Clare Martorana confirmed today that she will step down from her post prior to the Trump administration taking over the reins of government on Jan. 20, and that Deputy Federal CIO Drew Myklegard will remain in place at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as acting Federal CIO after that.
Speaking with MeriTalk following her keynote discussion at ACT-IAC’s CX Summit event in Arlington, Va., Martorana confirmed, “I was a political appointee in the Biden-Harris administration, so my time ends at the end of the Biden-Harris administration.”
She also said the working assumption is that Myklegard “is going to be acting Federal CIO in order to have an orderly and comprehensive transition.”
Martorana was named Federal CIO and administrator of the Office of Electronic Government at OMB in March 2021, and has made Federal customer experience and cybersecurity improvements two of the hallmarks of her tenure. The Federal CIO position is a presidential appointment that does not require Senate confirmation.
Myklegard became acting Deputy Federal CIO in April 2022 and dropped the “acting” portion of that title in October 2022. He succeeded Maria Roat as Deputy Federal CIO following her retirement in March 2022. Roat was the number two to Federal CIO Suzette Kent, who was Federal CIO from 2018 to 2020.
Advice for Successor
Asked about what advice she would have for the next Federal CIO, Martorana said cybersecurity and pushing for further Federal government technology modernization are the two biggest issues for the incoming CIO to focus on.
“Continue to focus on cybersecurity – it is absolutely essential,” she said. “The threat landscape is extraordinary, and we have to keep focused. We can’t take our eye off the ball on cybersecurity.”
“You expect the technology that we have in government to work, and be simple, seamless, and secure, but the security part is really, really essential,” she said.
Martorana cited the recent China-sponsored “Salt Typhoon” hacks of U.S.-based telecom systems along with other cyber threats and concluded that “making sure that we keep citizens and the public’s data safe is job number one every single day.”
“Secondarily, I would say continue the momentum” on modernization, Martorana said.
“We were the beneficiaries of the momentum of the Obama administration transition to the Trump administration transition to the Biden administration, we’re the beneficiaries of all of the good work that came before us,” she said.
“My intent is to leave this office in such good shape that the next Federal CIO just can continue the good work and be a champion of technology modernization across government,” she pledged.
Asked to preview any big Federal tech policy moves in story between now and Inauguration Day in January, Martorana said she was not aware of any, and pledged hard work from her office for the duration.
“We are just going to run hard through the tape, we are not taking our foot off the gas,” she said.
“We’re going to continue all of the efforts that we’ve been working on to deliver the best possible government to the American people, and then hand this over efficiently and elegantly to the next team so that they can continue that charge,” Martorana said.
Helping the Transition
Asked during her keynote discussion about advice for agencies during the presidential transition period for bringing new leadership up to speed on agency technology and digital experience capabilities, Martorana emphasized the ability to illustrate progress through showing concrete metrics.
“Know your numbers,” she said. “Everybody’s going to come in and they need to be oriented … they’re going to sit down and they’re going to want to understand the ecosystem.”
“When I joined my team, my orientation was basically an organization chart, and an org chart tells you one story, but it doesn’t tell you the entire story,” she said.
“So, data, data, data – know who your customers are, [and] be able to present that information on an executive level to someone who doesn’t know anything about your agency,” Martorana said.
“They will be tasked with coming in with a landing team that is going to try and learn … but the reality is they aren’t going to know everything,” she said. “They’re not going to know your acronyms, they’re not going to know your bureaus and silos.”
“So, make it easy for them, because as soon as you make it easy for them, and they understand what you’re trying to do, you’re off to the races, and they will continue to remember that the customer is the center of our missions, and I think that that will really help propel your efforts forward,” she said.
