Gov. Mark Dayton appointed a top officer of the Minnesota National Guard Wednesday to become the state’s chief information officer, taking over the beleaguered technology agency that serves state government.

Brig. Gen. Johanna Clyborne, currently director of the joint staff of the Minnesota National Guard, will become commissioner of Minnesota IT Services, known as MN.IT, while maintaining her role in the Guard.

In appointing Clyborne, Dayton looks to a military commander with significant leadership experience to turn around an agency facing public and legislative scrutiny over the failed rollout of a new drivers licensing and registration system that is a decade and $93 million in the making.

Clyborne, who will continue her private family law practice one day per week, will likely enjoy stature from otherwise hostile lawmakers, given her distinguished military career that includes a Bronze Star.

“I will not let you down,” Clyborne said at a news conference with Dayton. “And most importantly, I won’t let the people of Minnesota down,” she said.

Dayton said he is giving Clyborne four main tasks when she begins work in early February: Fixing the Minnesota Licensing and Registration System, known as MNLARS; meeting an October deadline to institute a more secure driver’s license that will meet tougher federal standards, allowing Minnesotans to continue boarding commercial airplanes with a Minnesota ID; engaging the Legislature to get more money for cybersecurity; and, integrating state technology systems that are antiquated and often don’t work well together.

MN.IT works as a massive contractor for state agencies, providing technology services, while receiving most of its $475 million budget by billing those agencies. For many Minnesota businesses and residents, state agency websites are often a key point of contact with government.

The first priority, however, will be MNLARS, Clyborne said: “There is no service that more urgently requires our time, attention and expertise than MNLARS,” she said.

Glitches and delays have trickled down to auto dealers, the insurance industry and the local governments and private business owners who run the 174 licensing offices around Minnesota.

Sen. Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson, said at a legislative hearing earlier in January that he’d lost confidence in the agency: “I have simply come to the conclusion that I no longer have any faith that the folks who currently are trying to fix this have the ability to fix it,” he said.

Clyborne acknowledged a tough road ahead: “It won’t always be pretty, but I’m committed to success,” she said.

The Dayton administration has promised a road map on fixing the MNLARS glitches by the end of January.