From bringing on Google’s Megan Smith as the new U.S. Chief Technology Officer (CTO) to creating the new Chief Data Scientist position, filled by a Skype, PayPal, eBay, and LinkedIn veteran, the Obama administration has been taking a proactive approach towards tapping the private sector for key information technology positions.

Along these same lines, it was recently announced that former Johnson & Johnson CIO Laverne Horton Council is President Obama’s choice for assistant secretary for information and technology at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Council has also held senior positions at Dell and Ernst & Young.

She will be taking over the role from CIO Stephen Warren, who has been holding this position on an acting basis for two years. As we previously highlighted, Warren has made tremendous strides in bolstering power of IT for enhancing mission success at the agency – while overcoming significant challenges at the same time.

Warren gained recognition for implementing a metrics-based approach to delivering IT, which has helped the VA enhance its scheduling capabilities, as well as focus on information protection, especially when it comes to veterans’ personal data.

We would like to welcome Council into this new position, and look forward to seeing her continue Warren’s efforts to optimize IT for advancing mission goals at the VA.