Virginia taps new chief information officer

Lemuel Stewart Jr. was tapped by the Virginia Information Technology Investment Board to be the state's new chief information officer. He begins work under a five-year contract Feb. 1.Stewart was director of the Virginia Department of Information Technology under former Gov. Charles Robb. Most recently, he has been president of the consulting firm Executive Partners of Glen Allen, Va. He has more than 30 years' experience in the IT field and has worked in both the public and private sectors. As CIO, Stewart will receive a record salary in Virginia of $165,000. State officials said they had to pay that much to keep pace with pay in the private sector.The salary is comparable to what the job pays at most Fortune 1000 companies. In contrast to the CIO position, Virginia cabinet secretaries have an average annual salary of $131,370.As CIO, Stewart will oversee operation of the Virginia Information Technologies Agency. The agency, created by the 2003 Virginia General Assembly, is charged with carrying out Gov. Mark Warner's reform efforts, including consolidation of IT equipment and services and oversight of nearly $500 million in annual IT investments.Stewart's agenda includes developing plans for monitoring IT trends and advances, and for IT acquisition, management and use by state agencies.