IE11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

Editor's Notebook: Jumping In With Both Feet

As hard as it can be to say goodbye, sometimes it’s equally tough to say hello. Introducing oneself can be humbling and awkward. Nevertheless...

As hard as it can be to say goodbye, sometimes it’s equally tough to say hello. Introducing oneself can be humbling and awkward. Nevertheless...

This is the first in a series of regularly appearing Friday columns we’ll be running. The topics are as much up to you as to me. Given that my career until now has been in daily newspapers large and small, I’m trying to adapt to my new role by learning a cloudy new language and a new alphabet — one with lots of RFPs and ERPs and CIOs and SaaS'. In time, it may seem like I know what I’m talking about.

But until that happens, I’d rather focus less on talking and more on listening — as any self-respecting journalist would. And the last few weeks have afforded plenty of opportunities for that. I’ve been on a “Meet the CIO/AIO” tour, visiting as many state AIOs and CIOs and deputies as time allows, as well as bigshots in the private sector, with many more to come. It’s been enlightening and fun. Among the things I’ve learned:

**

The best venue so far to meet people in this industry was last week’s California Tech Forum, held in Sacramento and sponsored by Government Technology and Techwire, publications of parent company e.Republic. Hundreds of vendors, state workers and others affiliated with IT gathered for a series of talks and breakout seminars on a variety of topics. State CIO Amy Tong and her deputy, Chris Cruz, were part of the keynote afternoon panel, along with Sergio Gutierrez, AIO of CalEPA — a conversation led by Joseph Morris, VP for research of e.Republic.

When it came time for audience questions, none other than the CHP’s CIO, Scott Howland, jumped up and helped wrangle the microphone. That in itself may not fully illustrate the conversation’s theme of “One IT Community,” but it did show some pretty high-powered esprit de corps among the state’s top IT folks. When the top tech guy for the state’s largest law enforcement agency is your mic wrangler, you know you’re in some highfalutin company.

Featured prominently at the event was a Techwire mini-studio, with bright TV lights and video cameras and host Steve Towns, e.Republic’s deputy chief content officer. Steve interviewed more than a dozen people over the course of the day, and excerpts from those interviews have been featured in Techwire as part of our ongoing coverage. There was just too much good stuff to pack into one or two days’ editions, so we’ve been parceling it out. More videos, stories and photos will be published in coming days in Techwire.

**

One of the big stories we covered this week in Techwire and Government Technology was the announcement by Pondera Solutions that it had landed a VIP for its board of directors. Malcolm Sparrow — a Harvard professor, author and leading authority on detecting waste, fraud and abuse in government — was recruited to the Gold River-based startup by co-founder and CEO Jon Coss.

In describing just what a coup this was to bring Sparrow on board, Coss — who has roots in North Carolina — likened it to a teenage basketball player meeting Michael Jordan, a former Tar Heel who went on to have some professional success in the NBA and the footwear industry.

-30-

 

 

 

 

  

Dennis Noone is Executive Editor of Industry Insider. He is a career journalist, having worked at small-town newspapers and major metropolitan dailies including USA Today in Washington, D.C.