Overview

July 29

Find out how Texas state government responded to the COVID-19 epidemic, and how state leaders there are now adapting to the needs of a very different future. Texas CTO, John Hoffman, joins experts from the Center for Digital Government and RSA on July 29 for an inside look at important lessons learned, current initiatives and plans going forward.

-- The state’s current remote work strategy and how it may evolve in the future
-- New security-as-service offerings rolled out by the state to address growing cyber threats
-- How the pandemic is reshaping technology and cyber security priorities for Texas state and local agencies

Speakers

John Hoffman

Chief Technology Officer, Interim State of Texas Chief Information Officer

John Hoffman serves as the Chief Technology Officer for the Texas Department of Information Resources. John joined the DIR team in 2010 and has held various roles within the agency in network and security. He is responsible for providing comprehensive strategic planning for the state's technology efforts as well as the agency. John oversees DIR's reporting such as the State Strategic Plan for Information Managers, the Biennial Performance Review. John and the CTO team also ensures strategic development of contracts and services which DIR offers including enterprise architecture, application management, innovation, and technology implementation. John brings over 30 years of experience in the technology sector. He has held positions in operations, program management, planning, acquisition, integration, real estate and sales. John holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri and a Master of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University. John currently serves as the interim Chief Information Officer for the State of Texas.

Robert J. Carey

Vice President / General Manager – Global Public Sector Solutions, RSA

Mr. Robert J. Carey currently holds the position of VP/GM – Global Public Sector Solutions at RSA. He integrates Sales, Marketing, Engineering and Operations teams to connect cybersecurity technologies to solve customer transformation challenges in the Global Public Sector. As a recognized leader in enterprise cybersecurity, he engages senior leadership in the public sector across Federal, State, Local and around the world to define solutions for them. A seasoned public speaker, he also serves as the RSA senior government executive sponsor with federal and state executives and he represents RSA on Capitol Hill and with Dell Legislative Affairs. Previously he held the position of Vice President, Cybersecurity, Cloud, and Unified Capabilities Solutions within the Global Solutions Division of General Dynamics Information Technology where he created and successfully led a cybersecurity growth group which won over $1B of contracts in 2018. Prior to this role, he worked for CSC and Vencore leading operational business units supporting the DoD and the Intelligence Community. He retired from the Department of Defense in March 2014 after over 31 years of distinguished public service to the Nation. His last assignment was a 3 ½ year tour as the DoD Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer where he provided oversight of a $38B IT budget, championed the transformation to the Joint Information Environment, strengthened cybersecurity, and acceleration of mobile solutions for the warfighter. Mr. Carey holds a BS in Engineering (1982) from the University of South Carolina and a Master of Engineering Management (1995) from the George Washington University. He has been awarded the Department of the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award (twice) as well as the Superior and Meritorious Civilian Service Awards. He received the prestigious Federal 100 Award in 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2012 recognizing his significant contributions to Federal information technology. Mr. Carey was named the Defense Executive of the Year for 2009 by Government Computer News. A native of West Chester, PA, Mr. Carey retired from the United States Navy Reserve at the rank of CAPTAIN in the Civil Engineer Corps. He was recalled to active duty for Operation Desert Shield/Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom where, in 2006-2007, he served in the Al Anbar province with I Marine Expeditionary Force.

Deborah A. Snyder — Moderator

Senior Fellow, Center for Digital Government

Deborah is accomplished C-level influencer, with a broad range of experience in government, policy, cyber security, privacy and information technology. An experienced and highly-respected thought-leader who has held executive roles for over two decades. She recently retired from her position as New York State’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), after over 35 years of public service. In that role, as part of New York State's information technology transformation and consolidation initiative, she helped redesign how the state protects its data. As State CISO, she directed the State’s comprehensive cyber security governance, risk management and compliance program, providing strategic leadership and vision, and assuring business-aligned, risk-based investments that maximized business opportunity and minimized cyber security risk. She also directed the NYS Cyber Command Center, hotline, procedures for reporting and response to cyber-threats, and digital forensics. https://www.govtech.com/blogs/lohrmann-on-cybersecurity/an-inside-look-at-new-york-state-government-cybersecurity.html She holds multiple industry certifications including Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), SANS Strategic Planning, Policy, and Leadership (GSTRT) Global Information Assurance Certification, and Project Management Institute certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Webinar

Lessons from the Pandemic: A Discussion with Texas CTO