SBA CIO Maria Roat Becomes Deputy Federal CIO

Roat had been expected to take the position since January.

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Small Business Administration CIO Maria Roat, a longtime leader in the federal IT community, has been formally named the to the position deputy Federal CIO, serving in the Office of Management and Budget under Federal CIO Suzette Kent. 

“We’re thrilled to have Maria join OFCIO and the OMB team,” Kent said in a statement on May 12, FedScoop reports. “The experience and leadership Maria brings to the role of deputy federal chief information officer will be an asset to efforts to shape a secure, modern, and data driven government.”

Nextgov first reported OMB’s plan to name Roat to the position in January.

As FedScoop notes, Roat has been CIO of SBA “since October 2016, where she took on more leadership in interagency federal IT functions like the CIO Council, where she co-chairs the Innovation Committee. She also sits on the board of the Technology Modernization Fund.” Roat has led SBA’s push into the cloud and the shuttering of the agency’s data center. 

“I am most proud of the entire IT team, the hours they have put in, and the work they’ve done that’s all about the mission and serving small businesses,” Roat recently told MeriTalk about SBA’s recent IT accomplishments. “The work they’ve done and what they’ve turned out in a short period of time is just incredible.”

Roat’s immediate successor at SBA is Guy Cavallo, who has served as deputy CIO since late 2016.

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