BREAKING: David Powner leaving GAO

David Powner, director of IT issues at the Government Accountability Office, is leaving government. Powner told Government Matters he is leaving GAO after 16 years, to join the MITRE Corporation. Powner has been a fixture in the federal IT community for more than a decade, spearheading oversight issues like the Federal IT Acquisition Reform Act, data center consolidation and optimization, and the move away from legacy IT systems in government. “I greatly appreciate all the opportunities that I have been given at GAO over the years,” Powner told Government Matters. “It’s a great institution with tremendous leadership and employees.” Before joining GAO, Powner worked as an IT executive at Qwest Communications. According to AFFIRM, Powner has testified before Congress more than 80 times in his career, and has been recognized twice as an FCW Fed 100 Winner, as well as FCW’s 2016 Government Eagle Award in 2016. Powner is also a graduate of the Senior Executive Fellows Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. His last day at GAO will be in mid-August. To watch some of Powner’s interviews with Government Matters, click this link.