Hello! I had the good fortune of addressing some legislators last week at the National Conference of State Legislatures in New Orleans. It is always a good sign when technology is on the agenda with legislators. I was on a panel with Gopal Khanna, the CIO of Minnesota and incoming president of NASCIO and David Clark the Majority House Leader of Utah. I know both of these fine gentlemen and think very highly of both of them. We engaged the audience with our topic, "Creating an Effective State IT Policy."
Gopal lead an interesting discussion about expanding the infrastructure conversation to fully embrace all information age infrastructure. Gopal also covered his key areas of transformation and measuring performance in government. It struck me as I was sitting there just how much Governor Pawlenty and Gopal have done to change the Minnesota IT landscape. They have really advanced this state in the last few years. Gopal's enthusiasm is infectious. I think he will be great for NASCIO.
Representative Clark gave a straightforward presentation about the consolidation efforts in Utah. He shared some suggestions for creating good policy by creating a strong state CIO, consolidating technology and centralizing control. He challenged my notion that states need to figure out how much they actually do spend on IT as he thinks it is almost impossible. (I am still keeping the faith!) He has been extremely supportive of IT and we wish more legislators were like him.
The session was hosted by Wisconsin State Representative Phil Montgomery. As a former EDSer, he is very interested in technology. Wisconsin has had its set-backs with some high profile IT problems. He is extremely interested in getting Wisconsin back on track. The session topic was driven by him, so watch for more from Representative Montgomery.
At the end of the session I was happy to be greeted by many legislators interested in their own state's ranking in our Digital States Survey and genuinely engaged in making technology more of a priority. Legislators are the last group to really embrace the Digital Age. I am always happy to work with them and happy to meet those who are Digital Leaders.
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