DOD CIO John Sherman Named to 2022 Wash100 for Leading Pentagon’s Cybersecurity, Digital Modernization Strategy Execution

John Sherman, chief information officer for the Department of Defense (DOD), has been named a 2022 Wash100 Award winner, the most acclaimed award in all of government contracting (GovCon), for his leadership in multiple roles that are monumental to the implementation of the Pentagon’s cybersecurity and digital transformation strategies.

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Executive Mosaic is pleased to recognize DOD CIO John Sherman as a first-time Wash100 winner for the first time in his long career in the federal sector. Visit Wash100.com to cast a vote for John Sherman as one of your TEN votes to advocate for your favorite leaders in the federal and government sectors.

President Biden nominated John Sherman to serve as the Chief Information Officer for DOD back in Sept. 2021. Sherman was confirmed for the role and sworn in at the end of Dec. and brings nearly 25 years of innovation and national security experience across DOD and the intelligence community while leading modernization efforts in the areas of collaboration, cybersecurity and cloud computing.

Most recently, Sherman was also named acting chief digital and artificial intelligence officer on Feb. 3rd. He will provide oversight of DOD’s strategy and policy development efforts for data, AI and analytics. Sherman will oversee the Joint AI Center, Defense Digital Service and DOD’s chief data officer and serve as DOD CIO and CDAO as the Pentagon continues its search for a permanent chief.

Additionally, it was announced the very next day that John Sherman would assume responsibility for the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program from the office of the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment as part of a realignment effort.

“The CMMC team, led by Stacy Bostjanick, will be aligned under the Deputy CIO for Cybersecurity to increase the program’s integration with other Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity programs,” Sherman said in a statement.

John Sherman also voiced his opinion on Feb. 16th regarding that he wants to renew his focus on clarifying requirements and increasing engagements with small to medium-sized companies in hopes of raising the overall “waterline” of the Pentagon’s cybersecurity defenses.

“This is basic hygiene to raise the water level to make sure we can protect our sensitive data so that when our service members have to go into action, they’re not going to have an unfair position because our adversary’s already stolen key data and technologies that’ll put them at an advantage.”

In addition, Sherman expressed recently that the Department of Defense must take space into consideration while developing a zero-trust security framework across its enterprise. Sherman said the adoption of a zero-trust framework is “very much prominent right now with the president’s [cybersecurity] executive order of last year.”

“I want to extend [zero trust] to not only when you think of terrestrial domains and traditional networks,” Sherman explained. “I think the space piece has got to be a critical part of this discussion. And I look forward to engaging the Department of the Air Force and our Space Force colleagues as we see how this can be applied.”

Potomac Officers Club will feature DOD CIO and 2022 Wash100 winner John Sherman during its upcoming CIO Forum on April 26th. During POC’s third Annual CIO Summit will bring together chief information officers from across the federal landscape to exchange invaluable insights on the current challenges, priorities and future goals they face as they continue to spearhead innovation strategies.

Visit PotomacOfficersClub.com to learn more about John Sherman’s upcoming keynote address during Potomac Officers Club’s third Annual CIO Summit on April 26th. Register now!

Executive Mosaic is proud to recognize John Sherman for being named a 2022 Wash100 Award recipient. As a first time winner of the most coveted award in GovCon, Sherman has demonstrated a level of success and recognition that can only be recognized by the Wash100 Award and the GovCon community.

Visit Wash100.com to vote for John Sherman and who you believe deserves the recognition as the most significant leader to the GovCon community and federal landscape.