Small Business Administration picks another new CIO
The Small Business Administration has tapped Hartley Caldwell, who appears to be a longtime private-sector fintech and IT executive, as its new chief information officer, according to the agency’s website.
Douglas Robertson, the SBA’s deputy CIO and chief technology officer, had been serving as the acting CIO. Caldwell, who is also listed on the CIO.gov membership page, did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.
Caldwell’s most recent role, per his LinkedIn page, was as the CIO of global banking for Fiserv, a fintech and payments company formerly led by Frank Bisignano, the newly confirmed commissioner of the Social Security Administration. Caldwell also held positions with Citi, E*Trade and IBM.
Caldwell is at least the third CIO to serve in the SBA’s top IT position since the start of the Trump administration. Marcus Alzona, a technology company leader actively involved in Maryland Republican politics, held the role for a few weeks before references to him were somewhat sporadically removed from the SBA website.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who chairs the Senate Small Business Committee, wrote to the White House in January about IT issues and the importance of having a strong chief information officer at the agency. When asked about Alzona’s exit, Ernst told FedScoop that she is “glad [SBA] Administrator [Kelly] Loeffler is getting the best people in place to make SBA work more efficiently and effectively for small business owners.”
There has been significant turnover in the CIO role throughout the federal government. The Social Security Administration, the Treasury Department, and the Energy Department have all appointed new — and in some cases, several — new CIOs in recent weeks.
