Mr. Higgins serves as the Department of Commerce (DOC) Acting Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief AI Officer (CAIO) as of January 1, 2024.  Previously, Mr. Higgins served as the DOC Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Deputy Chief Information Officer (DCIO), where he provided leadership for the DOC cybersecurity program to establish policies and procedures for the Department and its Bureaus in accordance with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) of 2014, implement enterprise cybersecurity functions, and coordinate incident response activities on behalf of the Department.

Prior to his position at the DOC, Mr. Higgins held a variety of leadership roles within the Department of Justice (DOJ) including Assistant Director for Administration at the United States Trustee Program (USTP), as well as several roles within the Justice Management Division (JMD) Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), including Acting Director for Policy and Planning, Acting Director for Service Engineering, and Assistant Director for Cybersecurity Services.

Mr. Higgins is a graduate of the University of Maryland University College, the University of the District of Columbia, the Federal Executive Institute (FEI) Leadership for a Democratic Society Program, and the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) Executive Education Program.  Mr. Higgins is also a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).