Hawaii CIO Doug Murdock retires

Doug Murdock, who has served as the chief information officer of Hawaii for the last four years, has retired, Gov. Josh Green announced last week.

Murdock was appointed to the role in 2019 by former Gov. David Ige, succeeding former CIO Todd Nacapuy, who resigned at the end of 2018 after nearly three years leading Hawaii’s Enterprise Technology Services, the state’s information technology agency.

Murdock’s retirement was effective last Thursday.

Green has named Tom Ku to serve as acting CIO while the governor’s administration searches for a replacement. Ku currently serves as the IT services operations officer at ETS. He previously served as an assistant vice president for IT infrastructure networks at First Hawaiian Bank.

As CIO, Murdock was responsible for heading up the state’s technology efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, including unveiling a digital health credential for state residents to provide proof of vaccination status to restaurants and entertainment venues that required it.

He made the case for broad IT consolidation in many of the state’s departments, supporting 2022 legislation that formed a working group for technology services consolidation.

In 2015 and 2016, Murdock served as Ige’s comptroller and secretary of the Department of Accounting and General Services. He also previously served as the vice president of administrative and financial affairs at the Hawaii Tourism Authority, supporting the state’s largest industry.

Before working for the tourism board, Murdock spent two years at a corporate law firm, a stint that followed a 25-year career as a judge advocate general officer in the U.S. Air Force.

“It has been an honor and a privilege serving the people of Hawai‘i and working with the extraordinary multi-award-winning team at ETS,” Murdock said in the announcement. “I want to thank everyone, both within government and in the private sector, who supported our efforts to modernize digital government in our state. After 25 years in the Air Force, 10 years with the state of Hawai‘i, and 15 years in other positions, I am looking forward to retirement.”