Dive Brief:
- NASA CIO Larry Sweet announced he will retire effective November 30, 2015, the agency announced.
- Deputy CIO Renee Wynn has been named the new CIO once Sweet steps down.
- Sweet has been with the federal government for nearly 28 years.
Dive Insight:
Sweet has been credited with a number of IT improvements at NASA, including “increasing collaboration among the centers and with the other Executive Branch agencies, strengthening NASA’s IT Security posture, identifying inefficiencies, reducing costs in current programs, and maximizing the use of enterprise and shared services.”
Wynn was previously with the EPA for 25 years. During two of those years she served as acting CIO. She joined NASA in July of this year as deputy CIO.
NASA may serve as an example to other agencies and businesses in how to handle succession planning. The agency first brought Wynn on in July as deputy CIO, where she could get her feet wet with the agency. For the next three months, Sweet and Wynn will work closely together to transition knowledge and duties. NASA hopes this approach will allow it to streamline the turnover.
