The Navy’s chief information officer, Terry Halvorsen, will replace Teri Takai as the Pentagon’s acting CIO on May 21, according to DoD spokeswoman Lt. Col. Valerie Henderson.
Halvorsen has served as the Navy’s CIO since 2010. Prior to that, he was the deputy commander of Navy Cyber Forces.
As Pentagon CIO, Halvorsen will oversee for several major initiatives started under Takai. As part of its vision for a Joint Information Environment (JIE), the Pentagon has aggressively pursued mobility, data center consolidation, network upgrades, cloud computing, new security standards and the integration of commercial-off-the-shelf technology.
The job manages 15,000 network enclaves, 2,000 data centers, upwards of 600,000 mobile device users and a nearly $40 billion budget.
Halvorsen has been a strong proponent of data security.
“Data goes into dangerous places too,” Halvorsen said as Navy CIO in March at a MeriTalk Data Center Brainstorm. “What is the risk around the data?”
When asked how he can ensure the commercial sector’s contributions to defense IT uphold rigorous security standards, Halvorsen said that was the one thing he couldn’t outsource.
“I own the security and protection of that data,” he said.
Takai resigned on April 28 after nearly four years as CIO without providing a reason. Her deputy, David Devries, has been acting CIO in the interim. Devries will resume his role as director of JIE implementation.
The Pentagon initially did not put out a formal announcement about Halverson’s appointment, but it was shared with staff in a memorandum. On May 16, the Pentagon released a formal statement, clarifying that the Halvorsen’s appointment did not mean he was guaranteed the job.
“Mr. Halvorsen will lead the DoD CIO organization until a permanent DoD CIO is selected by Secretary Hagel,” Henderson wrote in the statement.