Public CIO - December 2008/January 2009 - (Page 46)

CIO CENTRAL News, Reviews & Careers BY TOD NEWCOMBE NASCIO Elects New President Gopal Khanna has been elected president of NASCIO, the organization of state CIOs. Considered a rising star among a new breed of public CIOs, Khanna — who is CIO of Minnesota — takes over for John Gillispie of Iowa. Khanna, who has been state CIO since 2005, has a background that reflects the new generation of public-sector Gopal CIOs. He has an MBA from Khanna the University of Maine, has studied economics and political science in his home country of India, and has experience in both the private and public sector, including work with the George W. Bush administration before his current position. Taking over the nation’s largest public-sector organization of CIOs in these turbulent times doesn’t daunt Khanna. Lack of funds is always an issue in the public sector, according to Khanna, who spoke with Government Technology TV (GTtv) shortly after his election during the NASCIO annual conference in September. Instead Khanna wants to see the discussion focus on enhancing the digital infrastructure at the state and national levels so that government can support the services that citizens have come to expect and provide a platform for innovative economic development. “Yes, economic times are going to be tough because many of our projects might be stopped,” he said. “However, it gives us an opportunity to be ingenious and build a new environment that P H OTO C O U R T E S Y O F W W W. N P S TC . O R G supports the leveraging of the digital infrastructure of the country and position America to the next level.” During his one-year term as NASCIO president, Khanna will be joined by Vice President Gary Robinson (CIO, Washington); SecretaryTreasurer Kyle Schafer (CTO, West Virginia); and pastPresident John Gillispie. Former Philadelphia CIO Cleared of Allegations Long-time government CIO Dianah Neff has been cleared of allegations that she violated Pennsylvania’s Ethics Act as Philadelphia’s IT executive when she took a job with a firm to which she had directed five contracts. However, Neff was fined $500 for not reporting her income sources in 2006 and failing to report foreign trip expenses paid on John her behalf in 2004 and 2005, Gillispie according to an article in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Neff was former Philadelphia Mayor John F. Street’s CIO and developed the now-troubled Wireless Philadelphia initiative. Hired in 2001, she resigned in September 2006 to join a Georgia consulting firm, Civitium, as a senior partner. As part of the wireless initiative, she had negotiated five no-bid contracts with Civitium totaling more than $453,000, according to The Inquirer. In clearing Neff of the allegations, the State Ethics Commission reported the former CIO had not begun discussions with Civitium about a possible job until more than a year after she had last participated in a contract award. Also, discussion of a job was initiated by Civitium, and the firm was one of four companies Neff was talking with, the commission said. In her city job, Neff frequently traveled across the country and overseas to speak at technology convenGary tions and promote the city’s Robinson wireless program. Neff was cited for unintentionally violating rules when she failed to disclose three trips on forms. Prior to her job as CIO for Philadelphia, Neff held senior IT positions for several local governments, including Palo Alto, Calif., and San Bernardino County, Calif. In 2003 she was named one of Government Technology magazine’s top 25, Doers, Dreamers and Drivers. Transitions, Recognitions When you have more than a halfmillion customers who rely on you for the basics of living — food, clothing, housing — then any improvement in delivering these benefits could be singled out for recognition. But Daniel Chan, CIO of the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, decided to go the extra mile, designing and launching a Web site (in just 17 weeks) that connects New York’s poorest families and the state’s community partners with temporary assistance and food stamp services through a digital government hub. For his leadership and vision, Chan received the New York state Public Sector CIO of the Year award in Daniel Chan [46]

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Public CIO - December 2008/January 2009

Public CIO - December 2008/January 2009 Contents Contributors Introduction Tense Times Insider Threat Twenty and Counting Labor of Love Putting Process Into Play Crossover Appeal FastGov CIO Central Security Adviser CIOs Pluck BlackBerry Phones From the Field Straight Talk

Public CIO - December 2008/January 2009

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