Former Defense CIO to join Samsung

Former Defense Chief Information Officer Terry Halvorsen has been hired at Samsung Electronics Co. to help expand the company’s global B2B mobile business.

Halvorsen, who left the Pentagon in February after serving more than two years as its top IT chief, will serve as an executive vice president and global enterprise adviser to JK Shin, the president and CEO of IT and mobile communications at Samsung, the company said Friday.  In that new role Halvorsen will “advise customers and partners on how to implement effective mobile enterprise strategies within their mobile workforce,” Samsung said.

“Mr. Halvorsen’s vast experience and technical knowledge around cyber security in the global defense industry will complement our strategy to ensure we meet the complex needs of businesses, end users and partners by providing increased productivity without sacrificing security,” Shin said in a statement.

Before serving as DOD CIO, Halvorsen spent time as Navy CIO and deputy commander of the Naval Network Warfare Command.

While at the DOD Halvorsen set ambitious goals for the department, leading it on a path to migrate all systems across the Pentagon and the military services to Microsoft Windows 10 by January 2017. He also set a goal to eliminate DOD’s common access card in two years.

Halvorsen also faced challenges in his role managing such a large IT enterprise, particularly in helping it consolidate its many data centers. When speaking to reporters in January before leaving government, he said “it’s the one area that if you asked me where I give myself the lowest mark, not the team but myself, because in the end it’s my responsibility, is data centers.”

“We did not get as many closed as I would have liked to get closed,” Halvorsen said of data centers, but he did note that the department had made some progress.

During his tenure both as DOD CIO and as Navy CIO, he also worked to bridge the gap between the department and innovative West Coast companies through annual trips, which he expanded this year to include officials from NATO and some allied countries.

“I am excited to join Samsung as it continues to help revolutionize how businesses leverage the benefits of mobility and the Internet of Things in today’s increasingly connected world,” Halvorsen said in a statement. “Connected devices offer numerous advantages and conveniences, but they also raise critical new security considerations. With Samsung’s global scale and long-standing commitment to security, I look forward to helping create new and secure experiences for our customers.”