State Department Chief Technology Officer and Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer Charlie Wisecarver tells us he is retiring at the end of this week after 31 years of public service.
Wisecarver has served as State CTO since 2005 and held roles in information technology for more than half of his career within the department.
“I plan to do some part-time consulting work after a little time off,” Wisecarver said before Tuesday night’s AFFIRM meet the CXO panel at the National Press Club, “but in general I hope this is a real retirement where I can get to relax after a lifetime of hard work.”
As CTO, Wisecarver supported a customer base of over 50,000 users around the world fulfilling diplomatic missions and the protection of US citizens abroad. In this capacity, he oversaw worldwide technology operations including digital networks, computers, telephones and radios with an annual budget of $500 million.
Previously he was the Director of the State Messaging and Archive Retrieval Toolset (SMART) Program Office that established a single centralized system for all types of documents including telegrams, memoranda, e-mails and Diplomatic Notes.
Prior to Y2K he oversaw the modernization of all consular computer systems around the world and served in Ecuador and Mexico managing the Embassy’s computer systems and telecommunications networks. He originally started with the State Department as a dependent spouse as his wife, who he met while part of a Peace Corps mission in Niger following college, in Indonesia.