About NOAA OCIO

Who We Are and What We Do
CIO Joe Klimavicz
Deputy CIO Zachary Goldstein
Line Office Assistant CIOs
OCIO Divisions and Offices
Sub-Committee of the CIO Council

VISION

A secure and agile information enterprise with advanced computing capability that propels NOAA’s scientific and operational missions.

MISSION

To deliver information and technology services to enable NOAA’s mission.

 

An Overview of the NOAA OCIO

The NOAA Office of the Chief Information Officer and High Performance Computing and Communications (OCIO/HPCC) is responsible for all NOAA information and information technology (IT) resources. NOAA has a $1.3B annual IT Portfolio Investment budget, larger than all but four other non-defense bureaus.

The OCIO provides mission-essential enterprise-wide IT services such as email, calendar, web hosting, administrative computing, networking, security monitoring, and security incident response. Through the NOAA HPCC program, the office ensures cost-effective, enterprise-wide supercomputing support to NOAA’s research and forecasting missions.

The CIO has extensive planning, reporting, and oversight responsibilities for IT investments, IT security, Information Quality, and Privacy. These responsibilities originate in a number of Federal laws including: the Clinger-Cohen Act, the Federal Information Management Security Act (FISMA), the Information Quality Act, the Privacy Act, and E-Government Act. The CIO is supported by the CIO Council, composed of Line Office Chief Information Officers.

CIO Joe Klimavicz, and Deputy CIO Zach Goldstein, and the entire NOAA OCIO leadership and team are committed under a Shared Services Model to 1) Reduce Costs, 2) Improve Services, and 3) Protect the Mission. The Enterprise Shared Service Model will propel NOAA Science, Service and StewardShip missions through user-centric solutions. The CIO directs the improvement of NOAA-wide IT system operations and service delivery, and promotes the effective use of IT to advance the accomplishment of NOAA’s mission.

 

NOAA OCIO Organization Chart

 

NOAA OCIO Governance Chart

 

RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS:

Cyber Security

  • The NOAA Security Operations Center in West Virginia now monitors over 12,000 devices.
  • 100% of 120 NOAA FISMA systems have a valid Authority to Operate.
  • Established 4 NOAA Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) locations.
  • Partnered with industry to implement a unique secure network configuration (1st federal agency to use this type of solution)

Data Management

  • In support of the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) incident, employed Geospatial Information System (GIS) technology to make Federal response information publicly accessible.
  • Partnered with the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) to develop a searchable, online index of all NOAA DWH data and information, highlighted as a signature initiative in the DOC Customer Service Plan.
  • Implemented the NOAA GeoPlatform, a portal to direct visitors to authoritative sources for NOAA data, services, and applications.
  • Led development of Federal Geospatial Platform – a shared, cloud-based infrastructure acting as an authoritative one-stop shop for geospatial data and services.
  • First agency to support the President’s broadband initiatives, while developing a compromise to protect spectrum critical to NOAA’s mission.

High Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC)

  • In March 2012 completed its two-year Recovery Act update of R&D supercomputing making available nearly 1.5 petaflops of computing which is 7 times larger than our original systems. This implementation leveraged supercomputers at the Department of Energy and created a data center in West Virginia and an advanced nationwide research network (N-Wave).
  • Awarded a contract for the next weather and climate operational supercomputer systems (quarter petaflops per system which is about 3.5 times larger than our current systems).

Homeland Security Program

  • Led quarterly tabletop exercises culminating in the Eagle Horizon 2012 cyber security exercise.
  • Established an Emergency Notification System across NOAA.
  • Established the NOAA Operations Center for central incident command.

IT Portfolio Management

  • Assisted DOC in developing a new IT portfolio management policy driven by the White House, focused on achieving greater IT cost reductions.
  • Reduced number of desktop printers saving up to 40% on operating costs.
  • Developed Office of Management and Budget (OMB) -mandated plan to reduce number and increase efficiency of data centers.
  • Lead Federal CIO Council Shared Services Subcommittee.

NOAALink

  • In FY11, consolidated 300 potential contract awards into 70 actual awards worth $40 million in base year, resulting in $4 million savings.
  • For first six months in FY12 achieved over $19 million savings (11%).
  • NOAALink has been adopted for Department of Commerce (DOC) -wide use.
  • Supported enterprise-wide cost reduction initiatives projected to achieve $5 million in FY12

Unified Messaging Service (UMS)

  • Transitioned all old email and calendar systems to Google Apps for Government, saving $11.5M in one-time replacement costs and $500k per year in operations costs, and establishing NOAA as the largest federal agency to adopt cloud email in December 2011.
  • Delivered on time and within budget, this was the most significant Information Technology service that NOAA has delivered in the last ten years.
  • Transitioned from BlackBerry devices to iPhones, saving $600k/year by eliminating the BlackBerry Enterprise Server.

Workforce

  • Only NOAA staff office to request and receive authority for Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments (VSIP) from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
  • Established NOAA Privacy Officer position. First at the bureau-level in DOC