Accenture hires retiring USDA CIO to bolster tech agenda

Christopher Smith will join Accenture Federal Services on April 9 as chief technology and innovation officer, the company announced today.

Smith will retire April 7 from the Agriculture Department, where he served as CIO since 2009, leading one of the largest federal government migrations to cloud computing and large-scale data consolidation efforts.

Reporting to Kay Kapoor, who leads Accenture’s federal business, Smith will be responsible for developing the technology agenda for the company’s federal business and overseeing services provided to federal clients in strategic areas such as secure cloud computing, big data, logistics and supply chain and cost reduction.

His federal government experience also includes senior positions with the General Services Administration and the Internal Revenue Service, and he served 25 years with the Air National Guard as a communications officer.

Smith served as co-chair of the Best Practices Committee for the Federal CIO Council and as government chair of the American Council for Technology/Industry Advisory Council’s Executive Leadership Conference.

He also is a 2012 Fed 100 winner, given annually by Federal Computer Week.

He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in public administration from the University of South Florida and he earned a master’s degree in management information systems from George Washington University.

Accenture, of Dublin, Ireland, ranks No. 33 on Washington Technology’s 2011 Top 100 list of the largest federal government contractors.