Postal Service Names Philo IT Chief

WASHINGTON, DC —An international leader recognized for enabling business transformation through innovative IT solutions has been named executive vice president and chief information officer of the U. S. Postal Service (USPS).

Ross Philo, who comes to the Postal Service after a long career in energy-related information services, will support the development of growth, service and administrative initiatives by ensuring that planning and development are linked with appropriate technology strategies.

Before joining the Postal Service, Philo was director of global energy solutions at Cisco Systems. Prior to that he was CEO at Visean, Inc., a provider of data transfer services to oil and gas companies. He served as senior vice president and chief information officer at Halliburton Energy Services, held a series of IT leadership roles at Schlumberger Limited, and has extensive international business experience. He holds an engineering degree from the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London.

“These are exciting times in the communications industry,” said Postmaster General John Potter. “I know Ross will help the Postal Service grow revenue, manage costs, develop people and improve service.”

Philo will lead a department that has for the fourth year in a row been named as one of the best places to work in the IT industry by Computerworld magazine, and which supports more users for less money than any other federal government agency.

In his new role, Philo will be responsible for managing and maintaining the USPS IT services that:

* connect more than 28,000 locations to critical business systems 24 hours a day, 365 days a year,
* support more than 650 applications designed to run the Postal Service on a day-to-day basis, including employee payroll and vendor payments and
* oversee the Postal Service’s extensive nationwide telecommunications network, including satellite, land-line and mobile telephone requirements.

Philo will report to the Postmaster General and serve on the agency’s Executive Committee.