Florida Department of Corrections Appoints New CIO

The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) has appointed Kenneth Kicia as its new chief information officer, officially replacing former CIO Ruth Lang.

Kicia was most recently the vice president of business relationship management and international IT operations for Leidos from 2016 to 2024. He also served as the company’s vice president of enterprise IT resources and enterprise business systems.

Before that, he held various other private-sector roles, including SAIC’s vice president of information technology, an offshore outsourcing adviser for Avion Technology Inc., vice president of sales and marketing for SkyTech Solutions LLC and director of BearingPoint.

He also served in the U.S. Navy for eight years as a submarine warfare officer and assistant branch head for naval nuclear reactors.

Kicia holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a master’s degree in industrial and systems engineering from Virginia Tech, a nuclear engineering certification from the U.S. Navy and a professional engineer’s license from the state of New Jersey.

Lang served as the department’s CIO from 2023 to 2024. During her tenure as FDC’s CIO, Lang told Industry Insider — Florida in a one-on-one interview that she was most proud of the successful implementation of the agency’s integrated data management system.

“This system has revolutionized our approach to data handling and decision-making, significantly improving operational efficiency and enabling more informed, data-driven strategic decisions,” Lang said.

She also told IIFL that the agency was looking to fund several tech projects focused on application modernization, cybersecurity enhancements, artificial intelligence and cloud computing.

Specific legislative budget requests from the department this year include:

• $17 million for officer station network connectivity
• $17 million for its offender-based IT modernization project
• $14 million for an IT resolution plan focusing on applications
• $1.8 million for IT services provided to the Florida Commission on Offender Review
• $1.8 million for Florida Planning, Accounting and Ledger Management (PALM) readiness

However, Gov. Ron DeSantis approved the following for the agency in his 2025 budget recommendations:

• $10 million for the department’s IT resolution plan focusing on applications
• $5 million for offender-based information technology modernization
• $2.3 million for a statewide agency service increase

More information about the governor’s budget recommendations for FDC can be found online.