FBI Names Bureau Veteran Gordon Bitko as New CIO
FBI Director James Comey appointed Gordon Bitko as the agency's new CIO, following a search that started in early January, according to multiple reports.
The FBI has been without a permanent CIO since Jerome Pender stepped down from the post in August 2015. Brian Truchon, a 30-year FBI veteran had been serving as interim CIO, FCW notes.
Bitko's appointment was first reported by Federal News Radio, with the public saying that an FBI spokesman confirmed Bitko’s hiring on April 15. Bitko has been with the FBI for more than eight years, and had led the Support Services Transformation Office since 2015, according to Federal News Radio. As FedScoop notes, Bitko is also a scholar at the RAND Corporation and has written about radio frequency identification.
What wil be at the top of Bitko's agenda? The FBI funding request for fiscal 2017 offers some hints. As FedScoop reports: "The FBI has asked for an additional $38.3 million in the 2017 budget to fund anti-encryption technology and research — more than doubling last year's $31 million request to nearly $70 million. They are also asking for $85 million for the bureau’s overall cybersecurity program."
