Department Of Energy CIO Retiring

Tom Pyke, CIO of the Department of Energy, plans to retire next month, he said in an e-mail sent to staff last week and acquired by InformationWeek.

Pyke has been a federal employee for 46 years, spending the last four years in his current position. In his time at the agency, Pyke has overseen some consolidation of the agency's disparate IT resources, especially those not otherwise under control of the largely independently operated national laboratories.

During his tenure as CIO, Pyke has also overseen significant improvements to the Department of Energy's cybersecurity and program management efforts. Key to the agency's current efforts are continued revitalization of cybersecurity (including deployment of an automated certification and accreditation system and increasing FISMA compliance), consolidation of infrastructure and investment in geospatial technologies, according to the agency's strategic plan.

"I am proud to be leaving the Department of Energy on a high note," Pyke said in his e-mail. He pointed to the fact that the agency is keeping pace with its spending and schedule plans with IT capital investments, has "solid" cybersecurity protection in place, and has reached an all-time high for Energy in IT service customer satisfaction, according to a survey by Gartner.

Before becoming Department of Energy CIO, Pyke served as CIO of the Department of Commerce and held numerous positions at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including CIO. Pyke created NOAA's supercomputing effort and led a science and education program for then-vice president Al Gore.

Pyke began his career as an intern at what is now the National Institute of Standards and Technology, later rising to become director of both NIST's Center for Computer Systems Engineering and the Center for Programming Science and Technology.

In another development at the Department of Energy, the agency's associate CIO for cybersecurity, Bill Hunteman, has been reassigned to lead the cybersecurity aspect of the Obama administration's smart grid initiatives.

It is unclear who will fill Pyke's shoes, but the agency's deputy CIO, Carl Staton, has long government IT experience, including as CIO of the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.