Ashley Bolton, who had been serving as chief data and information security officer for the city and county of Denver, has left the position to join Jefferson County, Colo., as its CISO, according to LinkedIn. A Jefferson County spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
At Denver, the chief data and information security officer roles are being split into two positions — CISO and chief data officer — neither of which has been filled yet, according to an email from Denver Chief Digital Officer Jenny Schiavone.
“With cyber and information security being such a critical need for governments, our CIO, Suma Nallapati, wanted to use this opportunity to create a CISO role to reinforce our prioritization of that part of our work,” Schiavone said. “Data has also become more critical than ever for Denver, and Suma envisions the CDO position as a data evangelist for the city.”
Nallapati has championed a human-centered approach to technology, one she brought with her from the private sector. She previously told Government Technology about the importance of data and security — the former from a transparency standpoint, and the latter as a guide when implementing emerging technologies.
A dedicated CISO role is still a relatively new position for local government; San Jose’s first CISO was appointed in 2018 and Boston’s first CISO was appointed in 2019. Implementation of a dedicated CDO role is also a rising trend for local government.
The Denver CISO position has been posted, Schiavone said, and will remain open until Friday; the CDO position will be posted soon. Both are open to all applicants.
Bolton, who served as CISO in Denver from November 2022 to July, has moved on to lead information security in one of the state’s most populous counties. She had left her prior role as CIO for the city of Littleton, Colo., when she was appointed as Denver CISO, taking over from Paul Kresser when he became deputy CIO.
“Grateful for the talented team I have joined and [the] Colorado government community I am still so fortunate to be a part of,” Bolton said in a LinkedIn post.
