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Speaker Bio
Beth Cappello retired in March 2024 as the Department of Homeland Security Deputy Chief Information Officer with more than 34 years of government leadership and management expertise. With more than 240,000 federal employees, DHS is the 3rd largest cabinet agency. Ms. Cappello served as the senior career information technology executive within DHS leading transformative initiatives and securing, operating, and maintaining enterprise infrastructure. She arrived at DHS OCIO in August 2019 and served as the Acting CIO from November 2019 – May 2020, responding to DHS technology requirements during the COVID crisis. While at DHS Headquarters, Ms. Cappello initiated and implemented the DHS Network Operations Security Center (NOSC) and the Cyber Security Provider (CSP) Programs improving
service delivery and ensuring consistency across DHS cyber operations. Ms. Cappello also directed the development of a comprehensive acquisition strategy and plan for the DHS primary Data Center to recompete a 12-year-old contract worth $2B and the transition of the Department’s $5B telecommunications contracts to modernize the enterprise infrastructure. Additionally, Ms. Cappello finalized the exit from the second DHS enterprise data center furthering cloud adoption initiatives. Prior to DHS HQ, Ms. Cappello served as the Acting CIO and Deputy CIO for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). While at ICE, Ms. Cappello led several large technology initiatives to meet growing capacity and performance requirements while reducing cost. Ms. Cappello entered the Senior Executive
Service in 2011 as the Executive Director, Field Support Directorate within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Information Technology providing direct technology services to the largest federal law enforcement agency. Ms. Cappello began her federal service as a U.S. Marine and then served in the legacy U.S. Customs Service at the National Data Center and at field offices in Southern California. Ms. Cappello is a graduate of the Harvard University Senior Managers in Government and the National Defense University Advanced Management programs and earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in management from Johns Hopkins University.
service delivery and ensuring consistency across DHS cyber operations. Ms. Cappello also directed the development of a comprehensive acquisition strategy and plan for the DHS primary Data Center to recompete a 12-year-old contract worth $2B and the transition of the Department’s $5B telecommunications contracts to modernize the enterprise infrastructure. Additionally, Ms. Cappello finalized the exit from the second DHS enterprise data center furthering cloud adoption initiatives. Prior to DHS HQ, Ms. Cappello served as the Acting CIO and Deputy CIO for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). While at ICE, Ms. Cappello led several large technology initiatives to meet growing capacity and performance requirements while reducing cost. Ms. Cappello entered the Senior Executive
Service in 2011 as the Executive Director, Field Support Directorate within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Information Technology providing direct technology services to the largest federal law enforcement agency. Ms. Cappello began her federal service as a U.S. Marine and then served in the legacy U.S. Customs Service at the National Data Center and at field offices in Southern California. Ms. Cappello is a graduate of the Harvard University Senior Managers in Government and the National Defense University Advanced Management programs and earned a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in management from Johns Hopkins University.