WORLD: Technology

Department of the Air Force Gets a New CIO 

By Greg Hadley

The Department of the Air Force has a new Chief Information Officer, responsible for leading the department’s wide-ranging information technology efforts. 

Venice Goodwine started the CIO job in August,  succeeding Lauren Knausenberger, who departed in June after more than two years in the position. Winston Beauchamp, deputy CIO, served as the acting CIO in the interim. 

As CIO, Goodwine will oversee a portfolio worth $17 billion with more than 20,000 cyber operations and support personnel. And she’ll be tasked with spearheading everything from improvements to the Department’s much-maligned IT networks to connectivity for the ambitious DAF Battle Network plan to connect sensors and shooters around the globe. 

Prior to taking the CIO job, Goodwine served as director of enterprise information technology under Knausenberger. Air Force IT has been undergoing a transition in recent years, with plans to outsource basic IT tasks across the entire enterprise to a contractor—dubbed “Enterprise IT as a Service” or EITaaS.

Service officials have claimed EITaaS will save money and provide faster connectivity, while freeing up cyber and information-focused Airmen from day-to-day IT tasks to focus on warfighting missions.