It’s official: Jane O. Rathbun has been selected to serve as Special Assistant for Information Management (SAIM) and Department of the Navy Chief Information Officer (DON CIO).

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro announced Rathbun’s selection in a press release Nov. 3.

Rathbun, who served as Acting DON CIO upon the March 2023 departure of Aaron Weis, brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to her new role. She has held several leadership positions within the Department, from Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer (PDCIO) to the Navy’s first ever Chief Technology Officer (CTO) – which she took on while also serving as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Information Warfare and Enterprise Services (DASN IWAR).

A key player in the Department’s initiatives, Rathbun was responsible for setting the execution path for the DON Information Superiority Visi
on, leading the charge for network modernization and the implementation of cloud-based services, Zero Trust architecture, and identity, credentialing and access management capability. In addition, Rathbun remains a major contributor to DON’s Cyber Ready initiative and champions large-scale efforts that have improved – and continue to improve – how the Navy conducts day-to-day operations, including Flank Speed and development, security and operations, better known as DevSecOps.

“I am honored and humbled to serve the Navy as the SAIM and CIO,” Rathbun said in the Nov. 3 press release. “I take seriously our mission to build a modern, agile and adaptive naval information environment that can be leveraged anytime and anywhere to meet the challenges during all phases of competition, crisis and conflict. I look forward to working with the CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) and Commandant to achieving the operational and business outcomes articulated in the NAVPLAN (Navigation Plan 2022) and Force Design 2030.”

As Rathbun shared during a CHIPS interview in March, she believes the success of the DON’s efforts to modernize, innovate and defend is all about our people.

“Our people are dedicated to the mission, and they care to make the experiences of Sailors and Marines better, and deliver IT capabilities that are secure and reliable,” she said. “Everyone I encounter genuinely cares about making things better in every aspect of our portfolio, and it will be my job to ensure they have the right tools and resources to be able to continue to make a difference.”

Share your congratulations with the DON CIO on LinkedIn and follow the DON CIO at https://www.linkedin.com/company/doncio/

Original Story Posted on CHIPS. - View Story