Overview

January 28

Many government CIOs have been perceived and positioned as back-office managers. But many CIOs in recent years have successfully gotten a seat at the decision-making table. In this webinar, we’ll take a look at how they’ve achieved that shift.

What struggles have CIOs overcome to make themselves into front-office leaders? How can you best grow your own role from IT enabler to that of an innovator and business ally? How do you ensure leaders on the business side continue to consult you at every turn as their needs grow and change?

Our panel will outline the skills and strategies it takes for CIOs and other technology leaders to become an indispensable part of the budget and decision-making process. We’ll talk about how to earn a place at the table – and how to optimize your role once you’re there. We’ll also discuss smart ways CIOs can leverage private-sector partners to demonstrate value and aid in the shift to the board room.

Speakers

Bill Rials — Moderator

Senior Fellow, Center for Digital Government

William (Bill) Rials, Ph.D., is a professor and associate director (department chair) of the Tulane University School of Professional Advancement IT and Cybersecurity Program. He focuses on continually delivering and updating the program curriculum based on innovative and emerging technologies. Before transitioning to academia and higher education, he had a diverse gov tech career delivering value to state agencies, local governments, and law enforcement agencies throughout the state of Mississippi.

Teri Takai

Vice President, Center for Digital Government

Teri Takai is the Vice President of the Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. She worked for Ford Motor Company for 30 years in global application development and information technology strategic planning. From Ford, she moved to EDS in support of General Motors. A long-time interest in public service led her to the government sector, first as CIO of the State of Michigan, then as CIO of the State of California, and subsequently the CIO of the U.S. Department of Defense, the first woman appointed to this role. She then served as the CIO for Meridian Health Plan. She is a member of several industry advisory boards.

Christopher Rein

Chief Technology Officer, State of New Jersey

Chris Rein is the Chief Technology Officer for the State of New Jersey. In this position, he leads the State’s Office of Information Technology which is a 700-person team charged with operating the technology infrastructure for the Executive Branch - over 50 State departments, agencies, and offices. Mr. Rein was the former Deputy Director of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Cell. In this role, he also served as our State's Deputy CISO (Chief Information Security Officer). His background includes 38 years developing, integrating, and managing software as well as holding leadership roles with large and complex information technology projects. Prior to joining the NJ Office of Homeland Security, Mr. Rein held the position of Vice President and Chief Information Officer for CSI Technology, a New Jersey software development company serving Law Enforcement, Regulatory, and Judiciary markets. He served as the NJ State Police IT Program Manager/CIO, and earlier advanced in technical and management roles over some 20 years at the former Bell Atlantic and its technology subsidiary, Bellcore.

Steve Emanuel

Director Consulting Services, CGI

Steve joined CGI as a Director, Consulting Services in July of 2020. Prior to CGI he has held many public and private sector roles. Steve accepted an opportunity with Amtrak in 1998 as the Director, Network (Philadelphia) and was promoted in 2000 to Sr. Director, CIO of the Northeast Corridor (NEC) operations. In 2004, he was relocated to the DC Metro area to perform as the Acting Chief Information Officer (Washington DC) and awarded the position in April 2005 and departed in May 2007 after accepting a CIO position with Montgomery County, Maryland.After joining the County, he completed the first Enterprise Technology Strategic Plan to create the first enterprise view of technology, solutions and support. He also sponsored the County’s newest strategy for Public Safety identified as the Public Safety Systems Modernization plan. It was inclusive of a systems modernization strategy, a roadmap for CAD improvements and future improvements as well as the County’s Interoperability Communications Plan. Steve transitioned back to NJ serving as the Chief Information Officer for the State of New Jersey from2011 to 2016. Steve joined TenFour in 2016 as a Senior Industry Advisor for Public Sector and Regulated Industries, serving in the role through January 2019. TenFour’s model transformed the Information Technology industry and his role was to counsel public sector IT leaders to evolve their infrastructures into the Digital Age. Steve returned to the public Sector in February 2019 as the CIO for the City of Newark, NJ. He was responsible and significantly improved the City’s data resiliency through a yearlong initiative to update and fully secure the City’s data infrastructure.

Webinar

Get Out of the Back Room and Into the Board Room: Understanding Business Needs and Meeting Expectations