The appointment makes Shier the fourth person to hold the acting CIO role since December 2018. Boucher held the title from February to October, which represented his second stint in the role. Paula Vrana served in the position for less than a month before Boucher took over. Vrana replaced Peter Zuyus, who followed Boucher’s first stint in the role.
The last permanent state CIO was Bill Vajda, who resigned Aug. 28, 2018.
Shier’s status was confirmed by Deputy CIO Dan DeBartolo during a phone call with Government Technology.
According to LinkedIn, Shier has worked in the Alaska Office of Information Technology (OIT) for about two years as well as serving as the interim deputy CIO from January to July.
He is also still the chief technology officer for policy and planning, an OIT position he has served in since February. Prior to the consolidation of the state IT structure, he was director of the state’s Enterprise Technology Services organization for about six months in 2017.
DeBartolo said a search for a permanent CIO is ongoing. Shier could not be reached for comment.
