Justice taps Burek for senior IT post

Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. today appointed Linda Burek to head the Justice Department's information resources program.

In her new role, Burek will serve as deputy chief information officer and deputy assistant attorney general for information resources management. She had held those positions in an acting capacity since February, following the departure of Mark Boster, who left the Justice Department for a position with Science Applications International Corp.

Burek previously served as the director of the Justice Management Division's Systems Technology Staff and oversaw the rollout of the Justice Consolidated Office Network II program. The JCON II program seeks to put in place a common set of networks, desktop hardware and software throughout Justice. It replaces the original JCON program, which Burek called "a poorly architected system."

Before joining the Justice Department in 1997, Burek worked for four years at the Patent and Trademark Office, where she directed re-engineering efforts for patent systems.

She said her priorities in her new job will include data-sharing initiatives, such as improving the flow of data between systems operated by the department's bureaus. Until now, many of the department's systems have been managed in isolation, Burek said.

Burek also said she aims to improve the department's use of Internet and intranet technologies as well replace Justice's e-mail system, which now consists of several disparate systems.

"She brings the right technical skills to the job," said Stephen Colgate, the assistant attorney general for administration. He called Burek "collegial" and said she has "an outstanding ability" to deal with Justice bureaus, which include agencies such as the FBI, the Bureau of Prisons and the Immigration and Naturalization Service.