Chan will be talking about some things vendors are going to want to hear: “In addition to providing an overview of CDFA and the major programs we support, I’ll be introducing our ... 2020-2025 Strategic Plan,” Chan told Techwire Monday in an email. “I’ll also be bringing along a few members of my management team, and we’ll be providing information on our strategic initiatives, projects we currently have in progress, completed projects, security initiatives, and information on IT CalCannabis.”
Chan heads the technology apparatus for a $556 million-a-year agency that regulates the state’s 76,400 farms and ranches, which together make up California’s $54 billion-a-year agriculture industry. That, in turn, generates an additional $100 billion-plus in related economic activity. And it’s a department with a lofty vision: “To be recognized as the most highly respected agricultural agency in the world by leading and excelling in the programs and services delivered to meet the needs for the growing local and global food and agricultural system.”
Specifically, the department’s goals are:
• Ensure that only safe, quality food reaches the consumer.
• Protect against invasion of exotic pests and diseases.
• Promote California agriculture and food products both at home and abroad.
• Ensure an equitable and orderly marketplace for California’s agricultural products.
• Build coalitions supporting the state's agricultural infrastructure to meet evolving industry needs.
With 76,400 farms and ranches, California agriculture is a $54 billion industry that generates at least $100 billion in related economic activity. Other metrics indicate the Office of Information Technology Services (OITS):
• Serves 100 locations throughout the state including district and field offices in 32 counties, two extraterritorial offices in Hawaii and Arizona, and 16 agricultural stations at the state’s borders
• Provides services to over 2,000 employees in seven major program areas as well as executive and administrative staff
• Is responsible for the maintenance and support of more than 430 IT systems
• Is responsible for keeping the “lights on” as well as implementing new systems, new functionality and enhancements
• Is responsible for ensuring the safety and security of the department’s information and information assets
Chan, who has been on the job as AIO for about six months, was featured in a Techwire story in February in which she said: “I bring in or create centers of excellence everywhere I go. I’m very big on process improvement, continuous improvement.”
As that story noted: “Chan, who landed her first job in the IT industry in 2004 — as a business analyst/consultant with Informatix — began her service in state government in 2010 with the State Board of Equalization as a project management analyst and then as an enterprise architect. She then spent two years with the California Department of Technology as a principal and then a section chief. In July 2015, she moved to the Employment Development Department, where she has served as chief of the Technology Governance Division.”
The department’s specific IT budget can be seen as a work in progress of sorts, as Chan indicated that it’s in rebuilding mode and there are many moving parts. In California, government agencies generally spend about 2 percent of their annual budget on IT. For CDFA, which has an annual budget of about $556 million, that would put the annual IT budget at about $11.3 million. (Some agencies’ numbers vary due to shared or delegated spending with other agencies.) A cursory look at the State Contract & Procurement Registration System (SCPRS) seems to indicate that CDFA’s spending is considerably below that figure -- although, as Chan noted, many factors are in flux and changes are afoot.
More information about Thursday’s briefing with Chan and her team is available online.
