US federal chief information officer Greg Barbaccia to leave government
The US federal government’s chief information officer Greg Barbaccia has announced that he will leave government at the end of August.
In an email to the US federal Chief Information Officers Council, Barbaccia said he had made “the difficult decision to leave government, and my time as federal CIO is coming to an end”.
Barbaccia joined the Trump administration in the top IT official role in January 2025, and has also served as the US federal government’s chief AI officer.
Barbaccia – who attended a number of Global Government Forum events in his tenure including Innovation and Government Service Delivery and contributed to GGF’s digital capability research – had focused on helping develop a “one government” approach through coordinating and streamlining services.
He set the objective that the federal government should provide “the same experience” across different parts of government.
“It’s jarring to the public when one agency’s [digital] experience is completely different than another agency,” he said in February, highlighting the different design elements of different federal websites.
Read more: US National Design Studio will help create ‘one government approach’ to services
Barbaccia also focused on helping government become better at buying technology.
He called on suppliers to government not to submit “balloon quotes” when bidding for government contracts, and said procurement incentives should be changed to save taxpayer dollars.
In a LinkedIn post in October last year, for example, Barbaccia gave the example of a “household-name vendor” that had provided a quote to an agency for a “simple system”, only to drop the price by 40% the following day after the price was questioned.
“That isn’t a discount. That’s an admission that the first price was made up,” he said.
“This is the game too many vendors play in government contracting: start high, see if anyone blinks, then ‘magically’ discover they can cut the price almost in half when challenged. In the private sector, that’s called a negotiation tactic. In government, it’s unacceptable. Why? Because every inflated dollar means fewer taxpayer resources for mission outcomes.”
Following this, the US federal government reached a series of “landmark agreements” with suppliers to provide services across the entire government.
Read more: US federal CIO urges vendors to offer government ‘best-and-final-first pricing’
Barbaccia also participated in Global Government Forum’s ‘Future-proofing government digital capability: Six foundations for success’ research, which explored how government organisations can ensure they have the right people, skills and partners to deliver on their digital visions.
The report identified six common foundations that underpin digital capability across governments, and how to make sure these foundations are resilient in a fast-changing environment.
Download the report
Future-proofing government digital capability: Six foundations for success
Barbaccia’s departure comes just months after former Department of Education CIO Thomas Flagg was appointed as his deputy. Flagg would be the default acting official following Barbaccia’s departure, a government chief information officer told FedScoop on the condition of anonymity.
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