TRIUMF is pleased to welcome Ms. Shari Wallace as its new Chief Information Officer (CIO) on December 14, 2020.
Davis Swan, TRIUMF’s CIO over the past 5 years, will be retiring in mid-February and over this transitional period will be offering his guidance and support during Shari’s onboarding process.
As TRIUMF’s new CIO, Shari will advocate for and lead the ongoing modernization of TRIUMF’s extensive IT infrastructure and ensure that our automated processes and solutions support the needs of the cutting-edge research being performed at the lab.
Shari arrives at TRIUMF with over 30 years of business and technology experience in both the private and public sectors in Canada and the UK. Prior to joining TRIUMF, Shari was CIO at the City of Burnaby and was responsible for all aspects of IT, including strategic planning, program delivery, IT investment and portfolio management, business transformation, policy development and compliance, and cybersecurity and risk management. Previously, Shari also held several progressive positions across IT teams with the City of Vancouver and Telus.
Shari obtained her M.A. from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and, among other activities, serves as a member of the Board of the Vancouver chapter of the CIO Association of Canada. She has also served as the chapter's President.
We caught up with Shari to ask her a few questions about joining the lab:
Why TRIUMF? What interested you about the lab?
I am passionate about working in organizations that have direct impact on Canada's place in the world and the well-being of its citizens. TRIUMF’s vision is compelling – and it was clear how committed every member of the TRIUMF team is to the organization’s mission. It was also clear that the hiring committee was looking for a CIO who would be both a good fit for the team and equally committed to working towards the strategic outcomes in the plan. The clincher was the site tour – at that point I realised the scope and scale of the facility and the level of innovation taking place at TRIUMF, as well as some of the technical challenges ahead. I’m incredibly excited to have been invited to be part of the TRIUMF journey!
What are you most looking forward to about working at TRIUMF?
I’m looking forward to getting to know the TRIUMF team and learning more about the organization and underlying technology, as well as working with stakeholders to build an IT plan that maps to TRIUMF’s strategic goals. Because of COVID, the getting-to-know-everyone process is going to look very different. Video-conferencing is not a complete substitute for those quick conversations around the coffee pot but I’m sure we can make it work.
What’s a fun fact about yourself that you’d like to share with the TRIUMF community?
My undergraduate degree was in Mediaeval History, so my path to IT leadership has been more of a hands-on apprenticeship. The evolution from history to IT isn’t as odd as it might appear –
I’ve always been interested in how advances in technology shape the human condition. Working for an organization on the leading edge of scientific research and innovation, ties the two together perfectly!
Welcome, Shari!