Taka Ariga is GAO’s first Chief Data Scientist and Director of the Innovation Lab. As an integral part of the Science, Technology Assessment, and Analytics team, he will help GAO develop and implement advanced analytical capabilities for its auditing practices. Prior to joining GAO, he held executive positions at Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and Booz Allen Hamilton, where he worked with audit, compliance, legal, and regulated entities.

Taka earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He is natively fluent in both Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. In his spare time, Taka is a serious amateur classical chamber musician (performing on cello throughout the Washington DC region), as well as a competitive tennis player.

Deputy Assistant Inspector General for Management and Chief Information Officer

Robin A Thottungal was appointed as the OIG Chief Information Officer and to the Senior Executive Service in August 2021. He is a part of the management team responsible for providing strategic, tactical and operational technology leadership as a part of the delivery of mission-critical Information Technology (IT) services for the OPM OIG team.  

Mr. Thottungal began his Federal Career in 2015 as the first Chief Data Scientist for U.S. EPA. There he focused on creating and implementing an agency-wide vision for analytics and digital transformation for effective data-driven decision making.  Prior to joining OPM OIG, Robin was the National Gallery of Arts Chief Technology/Analytics officer focusing on bringing forward looking technology such as Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality to enhance the museum experience for its visitors as well as for improving operational efficiency of the organization. Before joining the Federal Government, Robin was at Deloitte Consulting providing strategic advising to public sector clients on different aspects of creating a culture of using data within their organization. 

Mr. Thottungal holds a Graduate degree in Computational Biophysics from Johns Hopkins University and obtained his B.S in Computer Engineering from State University of New York, New Patltz.