Michael W. Carleton

General Services Administration
Michael W. Carleton
Chief Information Officer

"I like to describe myself as a recovering budget analyst," Michael W. Carleton said during a radio interview in 2002. "I started working with the Department of Health and Human Services back in the late '70s, mainly doing budget analysis." He next worked on Social Security reform and systems modernization, and finally made the full transition to "the technology side" in 1996, when he became deputy director of HHS' Office of Information Resources Management.

Carleton then served as chief information officer for the HHS Office of the Secretary until June 2000, when he moved to the General Services Administration. He briefly worked as assistant CIO and acting CIO for the Public Buildings Service before being named CIO in September. In his current role, Carleton must have a long to-do list. He oversees a broad portfolio of technology projects, not only for the agency, but also for its customer agencies, vendors and contractors, and, in a few cases, private citizens. These projects include five of the Office of Personnel Management's e-government initiatives, for which GSA was named managing partner, to work in collaboration with other agencies.

Carleton also heads a task force on IT systems for the GSA reorganization, which will merge the Federal Supply Service and the Federal Technology Service into a single acquisition group.

The broadest reaching of the e-government initiatives for which GSA is taking the lead is USA Services, which aims to provide a single access point for government services through GSA's Office of Citizen Services and Communications. A Web portal for government services, FirstGov.gov, launched in 2000. Another project, called E-Authentication, will provide a secure and efficient way for agencies, businesses and citizens to verify identity when conducting business with the government online.