NASA selected Sean Gallagher as the agency’s chief information officer (CIO), making permanent a role he had held in an acting capacity since January.
In a June 23 press release, the space agency said Gallagher’s permanent role is effective immediately. He is responsible for the agency’s entire portfolio of IT products and services.
“Sean Gallagher’s leadership has been instrumental in strengthening NASA’s IT foundation and ensuring our workforce has the secure, modern tools needed to enable groundbreaking missions every day,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson.
“As CIO, Sean will continue advancing the agency’s technology capabilities to support discovery, innovation, and mission success across NASA,” Anderson said.
Prior to serving as acting CIO, Gallagher served as the deputy CIO for operations in the Office of the Chief Information Officer at NASA, as well as a senior advisor for transformation. Before that, Gallagher was the CIO of NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland. He first joined NASA in 2012 as Glenn’s deputy CIO.
Before joining NASA, he worked at Booz Allen Hamilton as a senior associate supporting a variety of federal and commercial customers. He also served as a Signal Corps officer in the U.S. Army.
While speaking at GovCIO Media & Research’s Federal Tech Leaders Summit on June 12, Gallagher said he plans to modernize NASA’s infrastructure backbone to better support complex missions.
That includes improving ground communications and network infrastructure ahead of major launches, as well as shrinking NASA’s data center footprint in favor of more advanced computing and cloud capabilities.
“When we look at IT and modernization priorities, they really have to fit two criteria: firstly, accelerating [mission] outcomes, secondly, reducing the risk for the safety and success of the missions,” Gallagher said at the summit.