Jose Arrieta, chief information officer of the Department of Health and Human Services, announced plans to increase the agency’s partnerships within the government to boost innovation, Nextgov reported Wednesday.
Arrieta took office as HHS’ permanent CIO on May 28 after serving as the agency’s associate deputy assistant secretary for acquisition. He said that his initial priorities will focus on changing the functions of the CIO and utilizing emerging technologies.
His office is working to launch pilot programs to bring new tools to HHS. Arietta said he is in talks with the Defense Information Systems Agency to develop a wearable or mobile device as a new way of authentication. The Army and Air Force are also working with the CIO to integrate an HHS infrastructure accelerator into their operations. Another area on Arietta’s priority list is the internet of things.
“It’s all about building relationships at a level where you can actually partner with federal organizations that want to make change,†he said. “I think the innovation will occur in private industry, but government taking the first step is a big thing.â€