Craig Orgeron, who served as Mississippi's chief information officer for nearly a decade, will return as the state's chief information officer starting Monday, replacing David Johnson, who is retiring at the end of the month.
Orgeron will return to his familiar role at the Mississippi Department of Information Technology Services (ITS) as executive director and state CIO, both roles he held from 2011 to 2020. This time around, the veteran executive said he will take a collaborative approach to IT services and innovation.
“I am committed to driving innovative solutions and fostering collaboration at all levels of government and the private sector,” Orgeron said in a news release. “Together, we can create a dynamic, responsive IT environment that supports our state's growth and prosperity and provides excellent services to our residents.”
ITS Board Chairman Mark Henderson expressed confidence in Orgeron's leadership and an optimistic outlook for the department's future.
“I am pleased to welcome Dr. Orgeron back to ITS,” Henderson said in a statement. “With his impressive background in information technology and proven track record of innovative leadership, Craig is the ideal person to lead ITS and the state of Mississippi as we continue to strengthen our IT infrastructure and services.”
Orgeron left ITS in August 2020 to become a government executive advisor for Amazon Web Services (AWS). After working at AWS for about two years, he became a professor of management information systems at Millsaps College.
The CIO has worked in a variety of roles at ITS since 1997, starting his career as an IT planner and working his way up through roles such as emerging technology coordinator, enterprise architect and strategic services director before leading the division.
He was appointed president of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers for a one-year term beginning in September 2013, and has served on the executive committee of the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center. In 2016, he was named one of Government Technology's “Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Champions.”
Orgeron earned his BS in MIS and MA and PhD in Public Policy and Administration from Mississippi State University, is a graduate of the Senator John C. Stennis State Executive Development Institute and the International Digital Government Institute, and has completed courses in Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and CIO Leadership through the Executive Education Series at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
