Yessica Jones will serve as the new director of the Department of Information Systems, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Friday.
Jones had served as interim director since the governor asked former Director Mark Myers to resign in November.
"I am honored to be selected by Governor Hutchinson as the permanent director of DIS," Jones said in a statement. "I am excited about the future of the agency and what we are going to achieve on behalf of our colleagues in the public sector and the citizens of Arkansas."
Janet Wilson, a spokesman for the Department of Information Systems, referred questions to the governor's office.
Jones was a professor in Harding University's Department of Management Information Systems. She also has served as a solutions developer for Little Rock-based Acxiom and as a database developer for Pennzoil.
She has a bachelor's degree in computer science and a master's of business administration from Harding University.
Jones also served as Hutchinson's outreach liaison to the Hispanic community. She currently earns $115,000 a year. Her director's salary couldn't be determined Friday afternoon.
In a statement, Hutchinson said Jones's experience would help her better provide technology services to state government.
"I am confident that she will lead the agency with vision and innovation to meet the demands of the rapidly-evolving technology industry," he said.
"That's a personnel matter, and that's where we'll leave it," J.R. Davis, a spokesman for Hutchinson, said at the time of Myers' departure.
The Department of Information Systems is in the midst of a project to provide high-speed Internet to each of the state's school districts and some charter schools.
Progress on the new network -- maintained by the Department of Information Systems and built by about 20 telecommunications companies -- is on track for a July completion date, Wilson said in February.
Metro on 03/18/2017