USDA Chief Information Officer Steps Down

USDA Chief Information Officer (CIO) Sam Berry is stepping down from his post to join the department's modernization program. A USDA spokesperson confirmed this to Nextgov/FCW on Monday. Sam Berry officially started at USDA last September, succeeding the agency's longtime CIO Gary Washington. Prior to that, he served as a departmental advisor on cost-cutting for the Department of Government Efficiency.

Sam Berry will now assume a new role at USDA, where his work will focus on implementing the "One Farmer One File" initiative. The department announced this technological modernization program in February to create a single, streamlined file that follows a farmer throughout the USDA system. In April, the agency awarded a $300 million contract to Palantir, partly to support the implementation of this initiative.

As Federal News Network reported on September 8, USDA Chief Information Security Officer Tony Brannum will serve as acting CIO. The department has not disclosed the exact nature of Sam Berry's new position under the "One Farmer, One File" initiative, though in recent weeks the agency has approached other internal IT specialists about working on the project.