CDT to Hold Virtual Vendor Forum Next Week

The California Department of Technology (CDT) will hold another in its ongoing series of virtual Vendor Forums next week, designed to help companies do business with state government.

The online forum will address procurement, progress on Cal-Secure and the Technology Modernization Fund. There will be time for forum attendees to ask questions.

CDT leaders are usually among the participants, addressing their technology needs in light of the state’s strategic plan and other frameworks.

Next week’s event will run from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday. Registration is available online.

Cal-Secure is the state’s multiyear information security maturity road map, produced by CDT and its Office of Information Security. The plan is “designed to be flexible and innovative” and to enable the state “to manage existing and future threats more effectively,” according to a preface in the report. “Cal-Secure defines a path for state entities to strengthen their cybersecurity measures so that they may continue to provide critical services without interruption.”

The Technology Modernization Fund was part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2021-22 budget, in which CDT received $25 million in limited resources “to demonstrate the state’s ability to make immediate investments in IT that will improve government services quickly.” TMF funds must be used by June 30, 2024.

Russ Nichols, deputy state chief information officer and CDT’s chief deputy director, recently addressed the TMF and how its flexibility makes it so valuable. Speaking at the recent California Public Sector CIO Academy*, Nichols said, “We don’t need a 24-month budget process for a six-month project. … We’re not looking to build a church for Easter Sunday.”

At CDT’s last Vendor Forum, in December, representatives of the state’s Department of General Services spoke about collaborating on telework in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

*The California Public Sector CIO Academy is produced by Government Technology, sister publication of Industry Insider — California. Both are part of e.Republic.