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David Cagigal, Long-Serving Wisconsin CIO, to Step Down

Chief Information Officer David Cagigal, who served in both Republican and Democrat administrations, will step down later this month. In an email to staff, the CIO said he was proud of the work his agency had done.

David Cagigal
David Kidd/Government Technology
Information technology veteran and Wisconsin Chief Information Officer David Cagigal, who spanned both Republican and Democratic administrations in the state, will be stepping down.

In an email to staff at the Department of Administration's Division of Enterprise Technology, Cagigal announced that his final day with the state would be June 19.

“It’s time. After nearly eight years, it’s time for me to move on and end my service as the Chief Information Officer for the State for Wisconsin,” Cagigal wrote to his staff this week.

Cagigal served as Wisconsin’s CIO since 2012 under then-Gov. Scott Walker. Following Walker’s re-election defeat in 2018, he stayed on in Gov. Tony Evers' administration. 

Prior to joining the ranks of state government, Cagigal spent a number of years in the private sector heading up IT programs at major companies like Amoco Corp. and Maytag.

“We have accomplished a great deal together,” Cagigal added, in the message he shared with Government Technology, ticking off initiatives like BadgerNet, which provides broadband services for state officers, schools and libraries for all of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, as well as the data center consolidations with a disaster recovery center in Milwaukee.

“I am moving onward believing that you are engaged and providing the best customer service to our agencies and residents of Wisconsin,” said Cagigal. 

In 2020, he was added to Government Technology’s list of Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers, standing out for developing cybersecurity guidelines for regional and local governments to better defend against and respond to cyberthreats.

“In this country, only a few can say that collectively we touch every U.S. citizen with our products and services,” Cagigal wrote in his closing comments to the National Association of State Chief Information Officers. “We are rare, resilient, risk takers, reformers and relish in our responsibilities to do all we can in maximizing a return on every taxpayer dollar entrusted to us.”

Cagigal was not immediately available for further comment.

Skip Descant writes about smart cities, the Internet of Things, transportation and other areas. He spent more than 12 years reporting for daily newspapers in Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and California. He lives in downtown Yreka, Calif.