On Friday, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson appointed Yessica Jones to be the Director of the Department of Information Systems (DIS). Jones served as Deputy Director of DIS before being named Interim Director after the departure of Mark Myers in November of last year.
Jones took over the role after Mark Myers was forced out of his position as director in November. Officials in the governor’s office declined to comment on the circumstances of his departure at the time, beyond saying that he was asked to leave.
Jones is a member of the Open Data and Transparency Task Force, Arkansas Homeland Security Executive Committee, Arkansas Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Board, Information Network of Arkansas (INA) Board and Arkansas Interoperable Communications Executive Committee.
Prior to joining DIS, Jones was an assistant professor in Harding University’s Department of Management Information Systems, where she taught data management, database design and business applications programming. She has also served as a solutions developer for Little Rock-based Acxiom and as a database developer for Pennzoil. Jones also served as Gov. Hutchinson’s outreach liaison to the Hispanic community.
“Yessica’s leadership and knowledge of the technology sector has made her a tremendous asset to DIS over the last year, and I look forward to working with her as we continue to improve our state’s digital services,” Governor Hutchinson said in a statement on her appointment.
