Department of Education (DoE) Chief Information Officer (CIO) Jason Gray is preparing to leave the agency – possible for other technology pastures within the Federal government.
Gray, the Education Department confirmed, is stepping down as CIO after six years of service overseeing the agency’s IT and cybersecurity operations.
“I and all the dedicated public servants at the U.S. Department of Education are grateful to Jason for his years of loyal and exemplary service to this agency and to our nation’s students, families, and taxpayers,” said U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten.
“Because of his tireless leadership of our information technology efforts, our agency’s information security posture has never been stronger,” she said.
Gary Stevens, who is currently serving as Deputy Chief Information Officer at the Education Department, will serve as the Interim Chief Information Officer when Gray leaves.
As for Gray’s future plans, Federal News Network reported today that he will take over as CIO at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). A spokesperson for USAID was not able to confirm that information today.
During his tenure at Education Department, Gray and his team delivered telework and related solutions amid the COVID-19 pandemic that saw the agency move quickly to telework-based operations.
He explained the details of that work during an indepth interview as part of MeriTalk’s CIO Crossroads series that explained how Federal technology leaders adapted to the pandemic environment.
“Prior to the pandemic, we were averaging 20 to 25 percent VPN utilization for the whole department,” Gray said “Now, after COVID hit and we moved to 100 percent telework, we are in the upper 90 percent range for VPN utilization. That was a massive jump, and it literally happened over a weekend.”
