President George W. Bush plans to appoint Karen Evans, CIO at the Department of Energy and an experienced government IT professional, to become the new head of the administration’s e-government initiatives, the White House announced Wednesday.
Evans, a 20-year veteran of the government IT community, will succeed Mark Forman, who left the post of administrator of the Office of Electronic Government at the White House’s Office of Management and Budget in August for better pay in the private sector.
The pending appointment of Evans is getting strong support from private-sector executives.
“In the technology arena, there are those who get it and those who get it done. Karen Evans is one of those highly valued leaders who possess both essential qualities,” said Bill Conner, chairman and CEO of Dallas-based Entrust Inc. “Given her experience at the U.S. Department of Energy and leadership on the (federal) CIO Council, Karen knows firsthand what it takes to successfully execute the strategy and architecture that she played a role in developing with Mark Forman and his team.”
Prior to becoming CIO at the Energy Department, Evans served at the Department of Justice as assistant director for information services and division director for information systems management. She has also been deputy director for applications management at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
