U.S. Health and Human Services has filled three up-to-date key technology roles this month. The agency drew strength from the private sector, the White House and the department’s top artificial intelligence and digital technology positions within the division of the assistant secretary for technology policy.
- Alicia Rouault, who previously worked in the United States Digital Service at the White House, will become ASTP’s deputy deputy secretary for technology policy and chief technology officer.
- Dr. Meghan Dierks, former chief data officer at Komodo Health, will be the up-to-date chief artificial intelligence officer.
- Kristen Honey, previously chief data officer at the Office of Science and Medicine, will now serve as ASTP’s chief data officer.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
HHS brought Dierks back to the agency not only as CAIO ASTP, but also as a leader in the Office of the Chief Technology Officer.
At Komodo, Dierks led the development and evaluation of AI-powered health analytics tools for life sciences companies, healthcare professionals and patient advocacy groups, as well as company strategy and data management. According to her up-to-date agency profile, her accolades include the development of generative AI applications based on fundamental language models, knowledge graph-based machine learning and Bayesian inference systems.
Rouault assumes leadership of ASTP’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer, the first person to hold the position since Ed Simcox left the position in 2020. Simcox assumed the position on an interim basis when HHS transferred CIO Beth Killoran to the Office of the Surgeon General in 2018. .
As the agency’s chief technology officer, Rouault is responsible for advancing the mission of the leading federal health agency by supporting technological innovation through data, digital services and public-private partnerships.
According to her ASTP Leadership ProfileRouault previously worked for the White House’s U.S. Digital Service, which contacted state governments during the Covid-19 pandemic. She led the service’s financial hardship program, which spanned five agencies. Prior to the public health emergency, she led the nationwide rollout of unemployment insurance modernization under the American Rescue Plan.
Honey joined HHS in 2018 and previously worked at the White House Office of Management and Budget. Before OMB, she led the open data portfolio at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy from 2015 to 2017, according to her. biography page.
As CDO, ASTP will lead data initiatives “across HHS branches to guide departmental decisions, inform actions, and deliver results with an action-oriented mindset.”
Honey was recently announced datathonsspearheaded the HHS Human-Centered Design program and more. Notably, person-centered and inclusive design is a first priority in the federal health IT strategy that HHS and ASTP finalized in October.
reported that Dierks started on December 30, and Rouault and Honey moved into their positions this week.
A BIGGER TREND
Last July, HHS announced a broad reorganization of its artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and IT functions that included renaming the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology as ASTP and moving the 405(d) Program to the Administration’s Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection. .Strategic Preparedness and Response improving the agency’s approach to cybersecurity.
In it, the top federal IT agency took on more responsibilities and planned to restore the CTO role that Rouault currently held and expand the up-to-date CAIO role, which Dierks took over.
The reorganization “builds on these capabilities to advance all of our strategic, mission-driven policies and activities across technology, data and artificial intelligence,” Andrea Palm, HHS deputy secretary, said in an announcement at the time.
ON RECORDING
“I am incredibly proud to lead ASTP into its next chapter, leading the technology, artificial intelligence and data strategy division,” Micky Tripathi, deputy secretary for technology policy and national coordinator for health IT, said in an email Wednesday. “That’s why I’m excited to see three accomplished experts like Alicia, Kristen and Meghan join ASTP to help advance HHS’ broader vision.”