Kristin Ruiz, who oversees the Transportation Security Administration’s $2.2 billion IT spend, will be speaking on a panel at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2024 Homeland Security Summit on Nov. 13. Don’t miss your chance to meet, learn from and network with Ruiz and other senior homeland security leaders from DHS, TSA, CBP, CISA and more. Join the conversation at the 2024 Homeland Security Summit.
Who Is Kristin Ruiz?
Kristin Ruiz is the deputy assistant administrator and deputy chief information officer at TSA. In this role, she’s responsible for the strategic direction and oversight of the agency’s IT functions and for the agency’s multi-billion dollar IT spend. Ruiz assumed her current role in May 2023.
Prior to her time at TSA, Ruiz was the first associate CIO for the Department of Transportation’s Office of Applications and Digital Solutions. In this capacity, she spearheaded the implementation of a DOT’s $600 billion bipartisan infrastructure law enterprise grants management system as well as a $3 billion Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection Program grants system.
Earlier in her career, Ruiz spent nearly four years at the Department of Agriculture, where she served as IT portfolio management director for the Food Nutrition and Consumer Services Agency.
As an IT expert, Ruiz is known for her work in DevSecOps, cybersecurity and operations and maintenance, among other crucial areas.
Kristin Ruiz’s Priorities
In her role at TSA, Ruiz is focused on modernization and digital transformation. During the Potomac Officers Club’s 2023 Homeland Security Summit, Ruiz spoke about where the agency is concentrating its modernization efforts.
“We are at a pivotal point in our history where we are still young enough where we’re not as mature as we’d like to be in some areas, and we have legacy systems in the others that are ready for modernization,” Ruiz told the audience.
“Our biggest focus now is building that foundation to be able to harness our data, build our open architecture, and allow us to be able to leverage the technology both on the OT and IT side to be able to meet the needs that we have,” she said.
TSA launched a data mesh architecture initiative at the end of 2023 with the goal of helping the agency’s users access their data more easily without sacrificing security.
“We first have to catalog this data, protect it, govern it for its use and storage, and then we have to share it,” said Ruiz. “And we have to make it available across the enterprise, as technical complexity and security requirements are constantly changing, and new emerging technologies and threats are out there.”
TSA’s Budget
TSA’s budget request of $11.8 billion addresses a 4.5 percent growth in passenger volume between 2014 and 2019. Some of the notable areas of investment for TSA’s budget include:
- $89.6 million for additional systems within the Checkpoint Property Screening System program
- $9.3 million to procure systems within the CAT program
- $174 million for increases to the screening workforce in order to support increased passenger volume
- $377 million to annualize TSA’s compensation plan adjustment
- $18 million for ongoing research and development with TSA’s partners
Don’t miss your chance to meet Kristin Ruiz in person on Nov. 13! Register for the 2024 Homeland Security Summit to stay ahead of the curve in the homeland security landscape.
