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GCN Home > 01/16/04 web stories

FBI gets new acting CIO from Justice

By Wilson P. Dizard III, GCN Staff

FBI director Robert S. Mueller III has appointed Zalmai Azmi as the bureau’s acting CIO. Azmi succeeds Wilson Lowery, the bureau’s executive assistant director for administration, who had been acting CIO until Mueller announced Azmi’s appointment Dec. 30. Azmi formerly was CIO of the Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys in the Justice Department, a bureau spokesman confirmed.

Mueller also appointed Stephen Schmidt, former chief of the FBI Cyberdivision’s special technologies and applications section, as the bureau’s acting chief technology officer. Schmidt succeeds Justin Lindsey, who moved to Justice as chief technology officer.

Azmi “will be responsible for the FBI’s overall information technology efforts, including developing IT strategy and planning operating budgets,” a spokesman said. His other responsibilities include developing and maintaining the FBI’s technology assets and providing technical direction for re-engineering, the memo said.

At Justice, Azmi was responsible for telecommunications as well as information systems and security for U.S. attorney offices at more than 250 sites.

During his three years at Justice, Azmi led development of several IT projects including the Victim Notification System and the National Legal Information On-Line System, which acts in concert with the department’s Enterprise Case Management System.

Sources inside and outside the bureau noted that Mueller himself has been a U.S. attorney and likely knew Azmi well during his tenure at Justice. In addition, both Mueller and Azmi are Marine Corps veterans, though Azmi served from 1984 to 1990, long after Mueller’s Vietnam-era hitch.

“It is good news not to have these chairs empty,” a bureau IT official said, adding that Azmi has not yet announced any sweeping changes.

One of Azmi’s early actions was to approve the start of the so-called Build Four of the department’s Trilogy system for managing bureau data. Trilogy comprises five builds; Build Four involves deploying additional servers, routers and other hardware, the bureau official said.





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