IT watchdog Dave Powner leaving GAO in August

Dave Powner, the Government Accountability Office’s director of IT management issues, will step down from the agency in August, leaving a large void in federal technology oversight.

Powner will be leaving the agency after16 years of service, Chuck Young, managing director of GAO’s public affairs, confirmed to FedScoop Tuesday

“Dave has done excellent work here at GAO and helped us improve government operations when it comes to IT issues,” he said. “We will miss him and wish him nothing but success.”

For the past decade, Powner has been synonymous with the government’s efforts to modernize its IT infrastructure and empower its CIOs to oversee technology adoption, policing agency implementation of reform efforts like the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act, the Modernizing Government Technology Act and data center consolidation.

Following the passage of FITARA in 2014, Powner was invariably present in House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearings on agency compliance with the law, testifying on where federal leaders strove to improve their departments and where they fell short.

He recently told Government Matters that he will join the MITRE Corp., a McLean, Va.-based federally funded research and development center.

“I greatly appreciate all the opportunities that I have been given at GAO over the years,” Powner said. “It’s a great institution with tremendous leadership and employees.”

Prior to joining GAO, Powner was director of IT and software development at Qwest Communications, before its acquisition by CenturyLink.

Young said GAO has not yet named a specific replacement for Powner.