Jason Weiss, the Department of Defense’s (DoD) chief software officer (CSO), will step down from that position on April 15, according to his LinkedIn post earlier this week.
Weiss was appointed the DoD’s first-ever department-wide CSO in October 2021, after serving as the department’s director of software modernization since January of that year. The CSO role was created in late 2021 as part of the DoD’s plans to pursue a more joined-up approach to digital warfare.
During his time as CSO, Weiss led the DoD’s efforts to modernize legacy applications and implement modern software development practices across the enterprise.
“The team has made amazing progress and has achieved so much together during the time they let me work with them,” Weiss wrote in his departure announcement. He also pointed out various initiatives – including the DevSecOps Strategy, and Cybersecurity cATO Memo – which he said shows the team’s tremendous progress.
“This week I start handing the baton back to an amazing DCIO-IE team. My resignation has been filed, and I will depart DOD on Friday, 15 April. I will watch the team’s future successes with both admiration & joy. I sincerely hope the scaffolding I leave behind is useful for a future DOD CSO,” Weiss wrote.
In his post, Weiss noted how proud he is of the groundwork he laid as CSO. And he said Congress should strongly consider making the CSO a Senate-confirmed position to give the department leader more authority to initiate comprehensive change.
