Postal Service CTO to retire

Robert Otto, the U.S. Postal Service’s chief technology officer and a vice president, will retire Oct. 1, the agency formally announced today. Otto sent a memo July 12 to all USPS information technology employees that announced his plans to step down. “The Postal Service and its employees mean everything to me,” he wrote in the memo. “I want to thank each of you for working with me to make a difference in the organization and for providing your support over the years that helped make the Information Technology department what it is today. I know that I will miss my job, but I will miss all of you far more.” Otto is responsible for information technology support to 325,000 USPS employees in addition to hundreds of national applications critical to daily operations, including the payroll for more than 700,000 USPS employees and millions of payments to contractors. He is also responsible for the world’s largest intranet, which connects 38,000 post offices through out the country. Since January 2003, Otto has held the position of CTO while maintaining the responsibilities of chief information officer, a position he has held since 2001. He began his career with USPS in 1980 as the person in charge of nationwide computer security. “From his position as vice president, chief information officer, in 2001 and then his appointment as chief technology officer in 2003, Bob fostered a spirit among his management and technical staff that IT would be the single-source provider of computer and technical services within the Postal Service,” said John Potter, USPS’ postmaster general, in a statement. Neither a permanent nor acting replacement has been appointed, said a USPS spokeswoman. It has also not been decided whether one or two people will be hired to cover Otto’s myriad responsibilities related to the CTO and CIO positions, she added. Otto has won numerous awards for his IT management, including two Vice President’s Awards, an Inspector General’s Award and a Board of Governors Award. “Bob’s drive and hard work have enabled the Postal Service to be ranked by Computerworld magazine as one of the top 100 Best Places to Work in IT, the only government agency to receive this recognition for four consecutive years,” Potter said. “I want to personally extend my appreciation to Bob in establishing a first-class IT organization.”