Terry Halvorsen, chief information officer at the Defense Department, has started a five-day visit to information technology firms in Silicon Valley and Seattle to promote collaborations with industry through the IT Exchange Program, DoD News reported Monday.

Cheryl Pellerin writes ITEP allows personnel from private IT companies to work at DoD for a span of three months to a year to share their knowledge, best practices and skills in cybersecurity, analytics, cloud, enterprise architecture, big data and other IT areas with the agency’s employees.

Halvorsen said the department’s “cyber strategy recognizes the critical role industry plays in securing the nation’s infrastructure.”

“Expanding our industry exchange programs, like ITEP, is part of this effort,” he told the publication.

Congress approved Section 1106 of the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2014 to extend ITEP through 2018, according to the report.

Halvorsen kicked off the visit Monday, Pellerin reports.

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