Center Experts

Former Chief Information Officer of Cook County, Ill.

Key Areas of Expertise:

• Public Sector IT Strategy, Policy, Funding and Transformation Initiatives
• Broadband Communications and Computing Infrastructure
• Enterprise Computing Systems and Infrastructure

As the former chief information officer of Cook County, Illinois, Tony Hylton led the county’s overall Technology Strategy and Operations with responsibility for mainframe, desktop, server, telecommunications, security and network operations. The bureau additionally managed the development and operations of the county web portal as well as the county’s GIS operations and support. The bureau’s financial management team had an operating budget of $15.6 million, a capital budget of $21.3 million and managed countywide hardware and software contracts valued at $41.5 million. The bureau, under Mr. Hylton’s administration, submitted first round American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) applications totaling $68.5 million.

Mr. Hylton was also responsible for “Project Gold Shield”, a county-wide broadband wireless network being deployed via U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding. He was co-chair of the Department of Homeland Security, Regional Catastrophic Planning Team Tech Committee as well as the Urban Area Security Initiative Communications and Technology Committee.

Mr. Hylton is the Chief Sponsor of the Cook County Certificate of Service Authority and has twice supplied direct testimony to the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC). The most recent testimony was on behalf of Cook County in its applications for a certificate of local and interexchange authority allowing Cook County to be in a unique category of municipal governments allowed under state statue to operate as a reseller and facilities based carrier of telecommunications services.

As president of Broadband Technology Associates, founded in 2004, he acted as technology advisor to the city of Aurora, Ill. Mr. Hylton’s firm was responsible for the overall technology strategy, architecture, business plan development and budget preparation of the most strategic city-wide technology infrastructure in the city’s history. Additionally, he was technical advisor to the Northeastern Illinois Communications Consortium (NICC) whose purpose was to research and select a vendor for a regional public safety and emergency response 800 MHz radio system upgrade. His firm is also past advisor to the Kane County Board Chairman and represented Kane County, Ill., as lead negotiator for all Comcast and Mediacom Cable Franchise agreements.

His community and civic responsibilities include being an active board member of the Heritage YMCA in Aurora, Ill., as well as past president & senior advisor of the Quad County African American Chamber of Commerce.

Key Areas of Expertise:

• Economic Development
• Workforce Training
• Telecommunications
• Financial Literacy
• Community Development
• Social Networking for Government Officials & Non-Profits
• Green Economy & Green Job Development

Alan Williams graduated from Rickards High School in 1993 and earned his B.S. and M.B.A. degrees in Business Administration from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU).

In November 2008, Williams was elected to the Florida House of Representatives by the voters of District 8, encompassing parts of Leon and Gadsden Counties. Representative Williams serves on the Energy and Utilities Policy Committee, General Government Policy Council, Government Accountability Act Council, Government Appropriations Committee, the Joint Committee of Public Council Oversight, and the Joint Committee on Collective Bargaining.

In the years immediately before his election, Williams was an Aide to Tallahassee Mayor John Marks, serving as liaison between the community and the Office of the Mayor. He advised the Mayor on appointments to all city advisory boards and represented the Mayor's interests as a board member for the Tallahassee Visitors and Area Convention Bureau and the NASA Challenger Learning Center Board of Advisors.

Williams offers his time to several community charities and organizations. One of his favorites is "Voices to Action", an organization of young professionals dedicated to improving the lives of foster care children in Tallahassee. Representative Williams also serves in numerous civic capacities. He is an active and enthusiastic member of Leadership Tallahassee, Opportunity Tallahassee, Leadership Florida, area Chambers of Commerce, United Way of the Big Bend Board of Directors and the United States Commission on Civil Right Advisory Committee, to name but a few.

Key Areas of Expertise:

• Alliance Management
• Change Management
• IT Policy and Planning
• Performance Measurement and Management

George Beard is a Hatfield Scholar and the director of the PSU lean government program.

Beard has over 20 years of experience in enterprise planning, acquisition, and deployment of information technology. His professional interests center on organizational effectiveness and the adoption of technology-driven change, particularly as affected by the Internet and network models.

Beard's federal, state, and local government experience spans 13 years and includes stints with the U.S. Department of Justice, Bonneville Power Administration, State of Oregon, Multnomah County, and Santa Barbara County.

During the last 10 years, George has worked for several technology and software firms in sales, marketing, corporate communications, alliance management and consulting. In addition, he has served as an adjunct faculty member at Willamette University, the University of Oregon, Portland State University, Lewis & Clark, and Marylhurst University, teaching graduate level courses on management uses of the computer, innovation, decision-making, data management and, currently, electronic government.

Beard holds degrees from Michigan State University, the State University of New York at Albany, and Portland State University.

Key Areas of Expertise:

• State-level Strategic IT Planning
• IT Operation and Management
• Disaster Recovery/Business Continuity
• IT Support to Government Field Operations

Bob Feingold is a Senior Fellow. Bob spent 26 years in the United States Air Force retiring in 1991 as a Colonel. During his career he occupied many Information Technology operational, policy, and command positions. After retirement, Bob provided project management consulting services to various large private sector firms, Department of Defense agencies, and several non-defense Federal agencies. In 2000, Bob became the CIO for the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and in 2001 was appointed as CIO for the State of Colorado. After retirement in 2003, Bob continues to provide professional consulting services to state government and local business in Colorado. Bob was appointed by Colorado's Governor to sever as a member of the Colorado Statewide Internet Portal Authority.

Clay Jenkinson began presenting Thomas Jefferson in character in 1984 and has since made presentations in nearly every state to thousands of gatherings, including school children, supreme court justices, a gala celebration of the 250th anniversary of Jefferson's birth at a White House event hosted by President and Mrs. Clinton, and many assemblies of state legislatures.

Mr. Jenkinson is a Rhodes and Danforth scholar and winner of one of the first five National Endowment of the Humanities highest honor - the Charles Frankel Prize (now the National Humanities Medal). He has taught at Pomona College, the law school of the University of North Dakota, the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the University of Nevada, Reno.

Clay Jenkinson has served as a member of the Nevada Humanities Committee and is the founder and director of the Great Basin Chautauqua. He holds degrees in the humanities from the University of Minnesota and Oxford University.

Key Areas of Expertise:

• Government Technology Systems
• Cyber Security
• Legislative Action and Bill Tracking
• Transportation Applications

Ron May has over forty years of professional experience in information technology. During his twenty-two year Air Force Career, he was involved in the design and development of several real-time online information systems. Since then, his work as a private sector executive and in city and state government has utilized numerous advanced technology applications. Ron May is president and owner of The May Corporation, a company that for many years specialized in designing and implementing microcomputer-based information and accounting systems for small businesses. He began a legislative career in 1981 as a Colorado Springs City Councilman and focused on achieving a citywide automated data system.

During Senator May's service in the Colorado House of Representatives (1992-2000) and in the Colorado State Senate (2001-2007), he sponsored and supported numerous legislative bills to developed and implement digital systems in Colorado. From digitizing a fuel tax fraud prevention system developing procedures for cyber security, Senator May's legislative endeavors focus on improving state services. He was personally responsible for procuring and implementing a wireless information system which provides bill tracking and real time information for Colorado State Legislators. Through legislation, he created the Colorado State Internet Portal Authority (SIPA), a self-funding entity that efficiently provides eGovernment services to the public. He currently serves as a board member for the SIPA operating entity. Senator May served thirteen years on the Colorado State Information Management Commission (IMC). He has been involved in the development and implementation of numerous information systems within state government. Senator May's legislation for cyber security is now an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) model bill.

Senator May was a charter member of the United States Internet Council in 1996 and formed the Colorado internet Council, founded to prevent regulation and taxation of the internet. He was named one of the "Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers" in 2006, by Government Technology Magazine, and was honored as Colorado Software & Internet Association's (CSIA) "Advocate of the Year" in 2004. Furthermore, Senator May has been an influential part of the Colorado General Assembly receiving honors for Outstanding Use of Technology in Government in Digital Democracy from the Center for Digital Government.

Key Areas of Expertise:

• Health and Human Services IT policy and strategy;
• IT Project Management & Governance;
• State and Local Governance of IT Projects;
• Budget Policy and Funding for IT Projects;
• Data Center Operations and Funding;
• State Enterprise IT policy and strategy
• Procurement of Large Complex IT Systems and Contracts

Carlos Ramos has been a key technology leader on many of the California's technology initiatives.

Most recently Carlos served as Director of the Office of Systems Integration - with a $4.5 billion portfolio of California's largest technology projects.

Previously, Carlos was Assistant Secretary for Health and Human Services and the Agency's senior technology executive. He was the principal technology advisor to the Secretary and was responsible for the entire HHS IT portfolio. Carlos helped architect the consolidation of the state's largest data centers and the creation of California's Department of Technology Services.

Before that he was Director of the Teale Data Center - one of the largest public-sector data centers in the world with an annual budget of $200 million and over 200 government agencies as customers.

Before that, Carlos was CIO for California's Department of Social Services managing a large computing infrastructure and a statewide data communications network.

Carlos has held many leadership commissions including:

• Chair - State of California IT Strategic Plan Committee
• Chair - State of California SOA Governance Workgroup
• Executive Member - Information Technology Council
• Member - Governor's E-Government Policy Advisory Group
• Chair - Data Center Directors Policy Council