Terri Ware serves as the Deputy CIO for Policy and Business Management (OPMB) where she is responsible for planning, managing, tracking and executing the CIO’s Budget, and providing effective oversight of the Departments major IT initiatives. In FY18 Terri spearheaded the effort to host the Department’s first “Information Technology (IT) Expo” in partnership with the Cybersecurity Expo. Her team is also responsible for IT workforce management, acquisition/procurement coordination, DOC CIO Council administration, IT policy and governance and internal controls management. Terri was formally the Program Manager for the Commerce IT Review Board (CITRB) which is responsible for the effective management, oversight, and risk management of the Department’s $2.6Billion IT Portfolio and major IT initiatives. Before coming to Commerce, Ms. Ware worked at DHS/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) where she served as the Executive Officer (XO) to the CIO. She conducted overall strategic planning, risk management and helped implement FEMA’s Project Management Office (PMO). Terri also served as a PM on several IT systems and served as the CIO’s liaison for IT regional coordination.

Prior to DHS/FEMA Ms. Ware was appointed the first CIO for Prince George’s County government. She served as the CIO and Director of Communications which included management of the County’s 911/Emergency Operations Center. She was responsible for transitioning operations to a multi-service (combined police, fire, and sheriff) configuration and upgrading the 911 IT System. She provided IT strategic services and support for the 22 Departments of the County Government to include Police and Fire Departments, Legislature, States Attorney and Circuit Court. Ms. Ware also managed the County’s cable TV franchise. During her tenure the County implemented a new Courts Case Management System, and new Permits Processing System.

Prior to the County, Ms. Ware spent 12 years as a civilian with the Department of the Navy-Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR). During her last assignment with SPAWAR Terri served as a Logistics Engineer supporting SPAWAR’s mission critical, Navy EHF SATCOM Program which was deployed on all ships, submarines and shore sites. She additionally set up EHF SATCOM training at three Navy Training Centers, located in San Diego, CA, Groton, CT and Norfolk, VA. Prior to the Navy Ms. Ware worked as a Systems Engineering consultant and Acoustical Engineering consultant with several commercial technology firms in the Washington DC area.

Terri has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Engineering from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Maryland. She also received her Advanced Masters Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University and is a certified Project Manager from the Project Management Institute (PMI), FAC-COR Level III and FAC-P/PM Level III. She is a recipient of the Department of Commerce Bronze Award in 2012 and is a recipient of the DOC Secretarial Silver Award in September 2016.