Darren Ash

Chief Information Officer
Farm Service Agency
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Washington, D.C. 

Darren Ash was selected to serve as the Chief Information Officer for the Farm Service Agency in March 2016.

As CIO, he will lead and set the strategic direction for FSA’s Information Technology Services Division while working in partnership with numerous USDA agencies to provide information resources for policy and decision making.  In this position, Ash is responsible for the overall strategic direction of the agency’s IT program, providing guidance and oversight to technology and business system’s modernization projects as well as development and acquisition of new information technology systems and services for the agency.

Prior to this position, Ash served nearly nine years as the Chief Information Officer for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). He also served as NRC's Chief Freedom of Information Act Officer, senior agency official for Records Management, and senior accountable official for Open Government.  As CIO, he co-chaired the senior-level IT Investment Board with the Chief Financial Officer and was a member of NRC’s Executive Resources Board.

Ash worked as the Department of Transportation's (DOT) Associate Chief Information Officer for IT Investment Management from 2005 to 2007. For close to two years, he led DOT's information assurance and security, privacy, enterprise architecture, capital planning, and information resource management activities. Ash began his government career with the Internal Revenue Service where he supported the agency's modernization program, with a focus on project management, economic analyses, and capital planning..

A native of California Ash received a Bachelor of Arts degree in international studies from The American University, a Master of Public Administration from Syracuse University and a Master of Science in information systems technology. He and his family reside in Potomac, Maryland.

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