Note From The NASA CIO

Keith’s note: the following was sent out by NASA CIO Jeff Seaton to the OCIO workforce today: “OCIO, I want to personally thank those of you who supported the Agency in a variety of capacities during the shutdown and welcome back those of you who were unable to work. As this shutdown ends I appreciate your resilience and professionalism during this time. I know this has been challenging — both personally and professionally — and I appreciate the commitment you always show to this Agency and to public service. You are what makes NASA great.”

As we resume normal operations, I want to reinforce the Agency’s commitment to working safely and diligently. Our NASA colleagues will be working to process back pay, reimbursements, and any pending administrative actions as quickly as possible. The Agency leadership team has made it clear that approvals and backlogs are being prioritized to help everyone return to normal operations smoothly and efficiently. If you need assistance or have questions regarding retroactive pay, open enrollment, etc., please speak to your supervisor or visit our Post-Shutdown OneNASA page – if answers to your questions are not available today, we will keep working to make sure they are answered soon.

The OCIO leadership team’s focus now is on getting back up to speed, achieving stability, and continuing the forward momentum on many of our initiatives. It is paramount we work together to continue delivering on our mission and serving the American people with the excellence and integrity that define this organization.

For us, this means focusing on our mission-driven priorities. Before the shutdown the OCIO leadership met at NASA ARC to refine our priorities for this fiscal year. While the shutdown has certainly impacted our schedules, it has not changed what is most important to OCIO – enabling NASA mission success Organizational leaders will be working with you to understand impacts and adjust schedules. We are also continuing to assess budget implications and advocating for critical staffing needs. I’m asking all of our executives to work with their teams to understand impacts and identify needed actions.

In the coming days, we’ll connect as a team to review priorities, realign on critical tasks, and ensure any outstanding items are captured and addressed. Leaders will be meeting with their teams, and we will schedule our next OCIO all hands soon.

We recognize that restarting after such a long pause will take work, and we’re here to support you every step of the way. Over the next week I’ve asked our leaders to stand down on most routine meetings to allow everyone to focus on getting back up to speed. We also know that the holidays are in front of us and many of you have scheduled leave; celebrating the holidays and utilizing your leave is important and we will be working to manage our schedules and balance organizational expectations. Please reach out to your supervisor if you have any questions, and we will do all we can to make sure we provide answers.

Thank you again for your continued commitment to our shared mission.
It’s great to have everyone back –

Jeff Seaton
NASA Chief Information Officer
Office of the Chief Information Officer