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Press Release

FDIC Names New Chief Information Officer

Sylvia Burns to lead agency's continuing IT modernization efforts
January 16, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) today named Sylvia Burns as the agency's Chief Information Officer and Chief Privacy Officer. Ms. Burns joined the FDIC in September 2018 and is leading the implementation of the agency's five-year IT modernization plan.

"Sylvia is a recognized leader in information technology and is well-suited to continue our strategic efforts moving forward," said FDIC Chairman Jelena McWilliams. "With many years of IT know-how, Sylvia is the perfect choice to continue our ongoing mission to protect our technical systems, modernize our infrastructure and improve the way we collect and report data to the public."

Ms. Burns joined FDIC as Deputy Chief Information Officer (DCIO) in September 2018, focusing on IT Strategic Planning, Enterprise Architecture, and Data Management. Under her leadership, the organization is shifting to cloud-based platforms and software that reduce the on-premises IT footprint and provide more responsive solutions to the FDIC's dynamic business needs. Ms. Burns continues to lead an interagency initiative under the Federal CIO Council to help federal agencies adopt zero trust architectures.

Previous to joining the FDIC, Ms. Burns served as the CIO of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) where she was responsible for the management and oversight a more than $1 billion information management and technology portfolio. In this role, she successfully led a comprehensive reorganization to improve the delivery of Information Technology (IT) services, restructuring the IT management and reporting structure to align with the requirements of the Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA).

Ms. Burns was recognized as one of the top women in technology in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area by FedScoop for three consecutive years, and among the FedScoop 50 top federal leaders in 2016. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in the special honors curriculum and geology from City University of New York at Hunter College and a Master of Science in business management and policy from State University of New York at Stony Brook. She also holds a graduate certificate in project management from George Washington University.

Last Updated: January 16, 2020