The CIO Council is chaired by the Department’s Chief Information Officer, and it is the CIO’s principal forum to promote effective IT practices throughout the Department and to share information of a cross-cutting nature. The CIO Council provides all of the Commerce CIOs with an opportunity to leverage their and their colleagues’ experience by sharing best practices, insights, ideas, and innovative solutions to problems. The Council meets monthly and is composed of the operating unit CIOs. The CIO Council has the authority to establish standing committees and working groups as necessary to address areas of concern of the Council (e.g., Enterprise Architecture Advisory Group, Consolidated Infrastructure Team, Information Technology Security Steering Committee).