CyberThreats 2026 – Cybersecurity in the AI-Enabled World – Federal Government (Day 1)

Chief Information Officer

Judith Conklin is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Library of Congress. She serves as the primary advisor to the Librarian of Congress on all technology matters, and is a member of the Library’s Executive Committee. Ms. Conklin represents the Library of Congress on the inaugural board of directors of Artificial Intelligence for Libraries, Archives and Museums (AI4LAM). She is the Library’s Senior Agency Official for Records Management and previously chaired the Legislative Branch CIO Council.

With more than four decades of technology experience, including over 28 years at the Library, Ms. Conklin was appointed CIO in 2021, after serving over six years as Deputy CIO. As CIO, she is responsible for providing the vision and leadership necessary to ensure technology is aligned with the Library’s strategic mission and empower the success of the agency. She also establishes and enforces unified Library standards for technology resource management, policies, and programs. Additionally, Ms. Conklin oversees IT design, development and service operations to assure agency IT systems and processes meet the mission needs of the Library and its stakeholders.

Since 2015, Ms. Conklin has led the centralization of Library technology activities under the Office of the Chief Information Officer and spearheaded efforts to optimize and modernize the Library’s IT infrastructure and critical business systems. With a background in network and telecommunications, she oversaw the Library’s successful $57 million Data Center Transformation effort, which transformed the agency’s IT foundation with a modern, flexible, hybrid hosting solution; and championed the adoption of IT Service Management (ITSM) and Technology Business Management (TBM) at the Library to make technology governance and the delivery of IT services more transparent and user-centric. A cybersecurity expert, Ms. Conklin also served as the first agency-wide Authorizing Official and has been recognized twice by FCW as a Federal 100 winner – one of the top federal IT professionals – for her work as CIO and restructuring and significantly strengthening the Library’s IT security posture. She was honored as a CIO of the Year for the Capital CIO ORBIE Awards in 2023 in recognition of her vision for Library of Congress technology and commitment to guiding the agency into a more accessible and digitally enabled future.

Joining the Library in 1997 as a network manager overseeing agency telecommunications systems, Ms. Conklin led the design and implementation of the Library’s first in-building cellular system and played a leading role in several multi-agency Legislative branch initiatives, including the assessment of the Legislative Branch Capitol Hill network and the implementation of the first joint Legislative Branch data center. In her time at the Library, she has also served as the Information Security Officer for the Congressional Research Service; the Chief Automation Officer for the Library’s Integrated Support Services Directorate; and the Chief of the Library Services Automation Planning and Liaison Office.

Ms. Conklin began her career in the U.S. Army, serving in progressive technical leadership roles in the U.S. Signal Corps, including as a J-6 Joint Staff Officer directly supporting the technology needs for the Commander in Chief, U.S. Forces Korea. She retired from the Army as a Major. In private industry, Ms. Conklin has served as a technical consultant specializing in network engineering, information security and telecommunications with AT&T, Booz Allen & Hamilton and Raytheon.

Ms. Conklin holds a Master of Science degree in computer information systems from Webster University and a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She completed the U.S. Army’s Communications Security Course and the Communications-Electronics Staff Officer Course. She holds numerous industry technical credentials, including the Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certifications.