Avi Bender

Director, NTIS

Avi was appointed Director of NTIS by the Department of Commerce Under Secretary for Standards and Technology Willie E. May in June 2016. Avi joined NTIS to lead it on its new direction in finding innovative ways to expand access to the Department’s and the broader Federal Government’s data resources, with emphasis on data concerning the nation’s economy, population, and environment. Bender was formerly the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at the U.S. Census Bureau (2010-2016) and the Director for Enterprise Architecture at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (2006-2010). He was instrumental in spurring key IT innovation and modernization efforts at the Census Bureau and IRS. He has previous executive leadership experience with other federal agencies and with several global commercial IT technology and management consulting service providers.