Advertisement

Aaron Weis named new Navy CIO

Weis takes over a newly elevated CIO's office, leading a team dedicated to proactively improving cybersecurity and managing other digital priorities.
The Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) transits the Pacific Ocean. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Josiah Kunkle/Released)

The Department of the Navy has named Aaron Weis its new chief information officer to lead the service’s newly structured IT office.

Weis takes over a newly elevated CIO’s office, leading a team dedicated to proactively improving cybersecurity and managing other digital priorities. In this role, he will “serve as the principal staff assistant to the Secretary of the Navy on information technology management, digital, data and cyber strategy,” according to a release. The position, however, is not Senate-confirmed.

Under Weis will be two deputies — a flag officer from each the Navy and Marine Corps — and four directorate leaders: a chief technology officer, chief digital strategy officer, chief data officer and chief information security officer.

“This new DoN CIO team will not only integrate key Navy and Marine Corps Information Technology initiatives to support our warfighters, but will also provide an opportunity to strengthen information technology (IT) talent across the naval services,” Undersecretary Thomas Modly said in a statement. “They will be responsible to the SECNAV to ensure that naval IT spending is directed to the highest value opportunity areas as established in the National Defense Strategy.”

Advertisement

Weis comes to the Navy after serving in the Department of Defense Office of the CIO as a senior adviser for the past year.

The new CIO role comes at the recommendation of the Navy’s recent critical Cybersecurity Readiness Review, ordered by the secretary.

“Digital information has become the center of all we do to defend the nation, ” Secretary Richard Spencer said. “The strategic use of data and information resources represents a critical enabler of lethality and readiness. Managing and protecting our data is crucial as we confront the renewal of great power competition.”

Billy Mitchell

Written by Billy Mitchell

Billy Mitchell is Senior Vice President and Executive Editor of Scoop News Group's editorial brands. He oversees operations, strategy and growth of SNG's award-winning tech publications, FedScoop, StateScoop, CyberScoop, EdScoop and DefenseScoop. After earning his journalism degree at Virginia Tech and winning the school's Excellence in Print Journalism award, Billy received his master's degree from New York University in magazine writing while interning at publications like Rolling Stone.

Latest Podcasts