Treasury Board Secretariat has made a major change in the leadership of its IT programs in appointing John Messina as CIO for the Government of Canada, effective Aug. 24.
The move was first reported by online publication The Public Servant, which noticed a mention on Twitter from the federal government’s IM-IT Community:
We are pleased to announce that John Messina has been appointed #CIO of the #GC, effective August 24, 2015.
— Digital Community/Communauté numérique (@IFC_CFI) August 12, 2015
Messina, CIO at the Canada Revenue Agency since 2012, will take over as Charette, who has held the Treasury Board CIO position since 2009, becomes Senior Assistant Deputy Minister of Spectrum, Information Technologies and Telecommunications at Industry Canada.
Over the course of her tenure Charette saw Treasury Board through the rise of social media, mobile apps and, most significantly, a rise in major cybersecurity attacks against the federal government while working to support the public sector’s move towards “open data” through initiatives such as the Canadian Open Data Experience (CODE). She was also involved in a major reorganization of the government’s IT resources through the launch of the Shared Services Canada organization. Last year Charette won the CanadianCIO of the Year Award at the Ingenious Awards.
A Laurentian University who has also completed the Public Sector Leadership and Governance at the University of Ottawa, Messina has overseen a staff of more than 3,000 IT professionals and IT programs across nearly 400 CRA sites. Given an estimated 900 SIN numbers were stolen from CRA via a HeartBleed exploit, Messina will no doubt be making security a high priority issue as well.
Messina confirmed the news Friday on his own Twitter account:
Really going to miss CRA but looking forward to the new role in TB as the Gov of Canada CIO!
— John Messina (@JohnMessina5) August 14, 2015