Digital Service Leader Clare Martorana Tapped as Next Federal CIO

Clare Martorana has been appointed the next federal CIO and administrator of the Office of Electronic Government at the Office of Management and Budget, according to a White House announcement.

Deputy Federal CIO Maria Roat has been serving in an acting role since previous CIO Suzette Kent left her post last summer. Guy Cavallo, principal deputy CIO at the Office of Personnel Management, will serve as acting CIO following Martorana’s departure.

“Throughout her career, Clare Martorana worked to improve and simplify the digital experiences people have when interacting with businesses and government,” the White House announcement said.

Martorana has driven technology transformation initiatives across a variety of federal agencies. During her two-year tenure with OPM, Martorana advanced digital-first services for the federal workforce by securing and strengthening agency operations. She has been an advocate of boosting the authority of agency CIOs and has supported IT working capital funds brought on through the Modernizing Government Technology (MGT) Act.

“By standing up a working capital fund with transfer authority dedicated to IT enterprise investment and CIO oversight and authority over this funding, we will create enterprise efficiencies and measurable cost avoidance,” Martorana said.

The MGT Act has been instrumental in the creation of the Technology Modernization Fund, the projects of which Roat has overseen since joining the TMF Board three years ago.

“I see first-hand the positive impacts of multi-year funding to accelerate technology modernization programs that improve the business of the agency and the Federal Government,” Roat wrote in a blog post.

Martorana’s priorities will include digital modernization initiatives amid the next phase of the pandemic response, including possible funding increases to the TMF. As part of the American Rescue Plan amid COVID-19 relief efforts, President Joe Biden proposed a $9 billion investment in the TMF to improve cybersecurity and support IT assets across federal agencies.

Before her tenure with OPM, Martorana was also a member of the U.S. Digital Service with the Department of Veterans Affairs, where she spearheaded an enterprise-wide digital modernization initiative to provide veterans with a “21st-century digital experience.”

Martorana served as president at Everyday Health before joining the federal sector. She was also the senior vice president, general manager and editor-at-large at WebMD.