Most recently, Mr. Annunziato served as the CBP Director of Business Transformation and Innovation, where he led collaborative efforts among domestic and international government agencies, industry stakeholders, and technology partners to identify and implement emerging technologies in global trade. In this role, he oversaw 10 working groups of trade and government subject matter experts to perform gap analyses on modernizing CBP’s Automated Commercial Environment (ACE); advised on the Green Trade Initiative to create a path forward on CBP’s role in environmental protection; and guided Robotics Processing and Harmonized Tariff development to improve the speed in which operators can process their work.
Mr. Annunziato directed CBP efforts in distributed ledger technology, driving U.S. world leadership in standards and efficient business practices for a globally transparent supply chain. He paved new ground in using modernized tools such as distributed ledger technology and JSON-LD, implementing two proofs of concept and launching five Silicon Valley Projects in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate.
In his previous position as Director of Cargo Control and Release, Mr. Annunziato led the successful implementation of the Partner Government Agency (PGA) Single Window within ACE. This landmark modernization effort generated $2.9 billion in cost savings and reduced trade and government processing time by 11 million hours due to the automation of trade processes. Earlier, as Branch Chief for Cargo Control and Release, he standardized and designed the PGA message set in coordination with the International Trade Data Systems community and CBP leadership, establishing the foundation for the single window on ACE’s $180 million platform. Prior to this, he had served as the ACE Project Lead for the Free and Secure Trade (FAST) program.
Internationally, Mr. Annunziato has consulted on international Single Window and modernization efforts. This included the Border 5 (US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand), Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), World Customs Organization (WCO), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Mr. Annunziato holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Hofstra University. His honors include the DHS Under Secretary’s Award for Igniting Innovation and multiple CBP Commissioner’s Awards for Trade Facilitation and leadership.