Biden appoints Clare Martorana as federal CIO

The White House on Tuesday announced that President Biden had appointed Clare Martorana to serve as both the federal chief information officer and administrator of the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Electronic Government.

Martorana will take over the positions after serving as chief information officer at the Office of Personnel Management, a role she held for the past two years under the Trump administration. 

As federal CIO, Martorana will oversee a variety of federal information technology policies, including spending, planning for IT investments, and monitoring security and privacy across federal agencies. 

Martorana also previously served for almost five years as a member of the team at the U.S. Digital Service, working with the Department of Veteran’s Affairs to spearhead an enterprise-wide digital modernization effort. She also worked for over a decade for WebMD as a general manager and editor-at-large, and served as president of Everyday Health. 

The U.S. Digital Service congratulated Martorana on her new position on Tuesday, tweeting that “after a tour in government, you’ll never be the same,” and highlighting her “commitment to improving public services.”

Clare joined USDS in 2016 for a tour at @DeptVetAffairs. Her commitment to improving critical public services led her to join @USOPM as CIO in 2019.

Today, she was named the next US CIO.

After a tour in government, you’ll never be the same. Congratulations, @ClareMartorana! https://t.co/jrIPVvVCse

— U.S. Digital Service (@USDS) March 9, 2021

Martorana will take over from Maria Roat, who has served as acting federal CIO since last year, when former Federal CIO Suzette Kent stepped down. 

“Congrats @ClareMartorana next US Federal CIO!,” Roat tweeted Tuesday shortly after the White House announced the appointment.

Congrats @ClareMartorana next US Federal CIO! @ciodotgovhttps://t.co/7QbTUAIyfY

— Maria Roat (@RoatMaria) March 9, 2021

Martorana’s appointment will further fill out Biden’s technology and cybersecurity leadership team, and comes almost two months after Biden appointed Chris DeRusha as federal chief information security officer (CISO). 

Biden has also appointed Anne Neuberger as the deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, though has not yet announced his nominee for the newly established national cyber director position.