Kaye Howard
Doug Cossa of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is among the Chief Information Officers (CIO) handpicked by the Potomac Officers Club (POC) to speak at the 5th Annual CIO Summit. He is set to discuss how public and private sectors can leverage emerging technologies to initiate new strategies and navigate the changing digital landscape.
Get to know more about the DIA’s Chief Information Officer and his professional journey here.
An Introduction to Doug Cossa
Mr. Douglas Cossa, or Doug among colleagues and friends, assumed the position of Chief Information Officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency in July 2021. He manages over 4,000 employees and over $1 billion worth of resources to provide a comprehensive spectrum of IIT capabilities across the DIA and the Intelligence Community (IC).
Before taking the reins as the CIO, Cossa served as the agency’s Deputy Chief Information Officer from June 2018 to July 2021. In this capacity, he honed his competence to develop and implement overall IT, budgetary, and staffing strategies across the agency.
Previously, Mr. Cossa served as the Deputy Director of the Mission Integration Division (MID) in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).
Doug Cossa completed his Bachelor’s degree in Computer and Information Sciences from James Madison University and his Master’s degree in Systems engineering from Johns Hopkins University.
Doug Cossa: Morning Keynote Speaker at the 5th Annual CIO Summit
The Potomac Officers Club chose Doug Cossa to deliver the morning keynote address at the 5th Annual CIO Summit on April 17, 2024. It is one of POC’s most anticipated events in 2024.
Featuring the foremost CIOs from the government and private sectors, the summit aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how the latest modernization strategies and emerging technologies can enable collaboration and foster innovative solutions to catapult digital transformation.
Register here to attend the upcoming 5th Annual CIO Summit 2024.
Related article: 3 Ways IARPA Is Addressing Cyber Threats Across the Intelligence Community
Doug Cossa’s Notable Industry Contributions
Among Doug Cossa’s most significant industry contributions as the Defense Intelligence Agency’s CIO is his leadership over the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communication System (JWICS) initiative.
The Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communication System is a top-secret information technology intranet network utilized by the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community to secure confidential and sensitive compartmented information.
According to Mr. Cossa, the DIA is making a major effort to upgrade the hardware, integrate zero-trust into the framework, build redundancy across the system, and bolster cybersecurity and automation features for JWICS.
“So if and when equipment does fail, we have a second stack of equipment at our core nodes that we can failover to… and in many cases, more than a second stack. We’ve got full redundancy across all the critical network components. That’s really been our focus over the past year, building that up around all of our functional areas that rely on JWICS,” Doug Cossa said.
You might also want to read: DIA Awards JWICS Top-Secret Network Modernization Contract; Katie Lipps Quoted
