Utah Names New CIO

A former Utah lieutenant governor who's been a managing director at PricewaterhouseCoopers for the past three years will become the Beehive State's next CIO. Gov. Mike Leavitt cited Val Overson's success in addressing complex challenges as the reason for his nomination, which requires Senate confirmation. "His private sector experience and rich public-sector background make him a perfect candidate for implementing my vision for online government," Leavitt said in a statement.

The governor charged Overson to follow-up on the recommendations of his predecessor, Phil Windley, who resigned last month, for improving the state's information structure and operation. These include working with the legislature to improve IT governance, reducing fragmentation of the state's technical infrastructure, building common data storage and exchange standards, and developing budgeting and funding models that reward and encourage joint applications development.

Since 2000, Overson served as a PricewaterhouseCoopers managing director and lead of the knowledge-management function for the state and local tax group. In 1998, Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin named Overson as the national taxpayer advocate for the Internal Revenue Service. He oversaw 2,300 employees in 74 locations across the country, reported independently to Congress on problems facing taxpayers, and recommended administrative and legislative solutions to prevent the problems from recurring. Overson is credited with reorganizing and consolidating the taxpayer advocate program across the nation.

From 1993 to 1998, Overson served as the chairman of the Utah State Tax Commission. He was elected Utah's lieutenant governor for two terms, from 1984 to 1993, and served as state auditor from 1981 to 1985.