Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom’s 2013 book on technology, Citizenville: How to Take the Town Square Digital and Reinvent Government, is one that IT leaders still reference today. But a key question neither the book nor the administration has yet fully clarified is exactly how it will empower the office of the state chief information officer — and whether that office could again become a part of the governor’s Cabinet.
It’s happened before. A reorganization around 2006 under former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger elevated the CIO to Cabinet level for the first time. Under current Gov. Jerry Brown, the position was moved under the purview of the Government Operations Agency (GovOps) — and were it to shift again, the California Department of Technology (CDT) said that shift would again be initiated by the governor.
“In the oversight role that the state CIO is responsible for, she’s (state CIO Amy Tong) responsible for advising the governor on the direction of the state IT resources and projects of the various departments. What authority level the state CIO is assigned is ultimately up to the governor,” said Alice Scott-Rowe, CDT communications deputy director.
In interviews, current and former federal, state and local officials said an increased visibility for the CIO could significantly benefit the creation and application of tech initiatives across the state enterprise — though not everyone agreed that returning the CIO to the Cabinet would achieve desired results.
Teri Takai, executive director at the Center for Digital Government (CDG)* and California’s first Cabinet-level CIO, said via email that she expects Newsom’s “ambitious agenda” to be supported by tech, both in service delivery to residents and making government more responsive and efficient. But accomplishing these objectives will require a CIO who can work effectively with the governor’s office and Cabinet secretaries and forge an effective governance structure to ensure cooperation and collaboration from state IT organizations. Having a seat at the table, Takai said, would further enable tech to support the state’s needs.
“Being part of the governor’s Cabinet provides a forum to facilitate collaboration between agencies, particularly in the areas of cybersecurity and use of the state’s data,” Takai said in an interview. She was succeeded as state CIO by Carlos Ramos, and it was during his tenure that the CIO post was moved under GovOps.
Christy Quinlan, who served as undersecretary for Information Technology, then interim CIO and interim Cabinet secretary when Takai departed and before Ramos was named, agreed.
“I think one of the advantages was having direct access to your peers at the Cabinet level. A lot of times IT reports through a different organization. We were able to execute the governor’s mission for technology more directly. You got buy-in at the higher level, at the Cabinet level, much more quickly and directly and you were able to work with your peers on any issues and concerns they may have,” said Quinlan, who's a CDG senior fellow and client principal for state and local government with Perspecta.
Newsom’s approach has attracted considerable interest from the private sector. Joe Panora, CEO and owner of Panora Associates Inc., which builds client partnerships with the state public sector with an emphasis on IT, said given California’s status as one of the world’s largest economies, it needs a state CIO with national recognition, visibility and respect. Being on the Cabinet, he said via email, would allow the CIO to “get the job done right and to be truly accountable for driving innovation while ensuring that the operations and security of existing IT services are maintained.”
"I think technology always needs to be customer-driven and service-oriented, being at the cabinet level allows you to be at the same table. Now they’re working with you in collaboration versus you trying to find out, after the fact, what they’re trying to do,” said Panora, a CDG senior fellow and former agency CIO with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Mike Hewitt, president of CalDorado Group, which does strategic business development for technology companies, said he thinks bringing the CIO back into the Cabinet would require another Governor’s Reorganization Plan — but it’s unclear whether the new administration is thinking along those lines. The governor-elect’s recent naming of 25 All in California ambassadors shows he understands the need for collaboration, said Hewitt, who thinks a Cabinet-level position should be created — but not necessarily one inhabited by the CIO.
“We need a position above the elements of the state, that has the ability to achieve an objective, but you almost need to have a stronger personality that’s filling that role for the state, that has the ability to build collaboration across all these entities," Hewitt said. "The CIO would be responsible for executing the state’s side of making that initiative successful, but that Cabinet-level secretary would be responsible for embracing the politicians out at the city level or out at the county level.”
In a blog post Oct. 26 on Medium titled “Dear Governor Elect,” Code For America Founder Jennifer Pahlka pointed out that the state’s next chief executive will have an “opportunity to write another chapter” in the story of how government enters the digital age. In a conversation with Techwire, Pahlka acknowledged there’s no one right answer to the question of whether the CIO should again join the Cabinet.
"In the digital world, it is really critical in this day and age to have representation at the strategy table. You can’t just make plans in the world today and then hand it off to people who understand technology. You need digital leadership voices in the room when you’re making decisions,” said Pahlka, who was deputy chief technology officer for government innovation under the Obama White House.
But Shell Culp, a CDG senior fellow and former interim director and chief deputy director in the California Health and Human Services Agency's Office of Systems Integration, said she wasn’t sure whether being on the governor’s Cabinet would make the CIO’s job — centered on serving the business needs — any easier.
“I think there are other things that would help more. If there was a way to bring the department directors on board with the vision, to help in the execution of the vision, I don’t think you’d need a Cabinet-level position. If faced with the choice of a Cabinet-level position and somebody who is charismatic and well-regarded and almost revered, I think I’d go with the person who was charismatic and could get people to see and do,” Culp said.
Ann Dunkin, CIO of Santa Clara County and former CIO of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Obama, said the issue rests on the state’s vision of IT. If California wants IT to be a service provider agency that provides “a few specific IT services,” infrastructure and related items, then high-level visibility may not matter.
“But if you actually want IT to be a strategic partner, to deliver new capabilities, a digital transformation for the state where the state really does its business differently, then the CIO needs to be a full partner," Dunkin said. "If you actually want the state CIO to truly be transformational, they have to be part of the governor’s Cabinet and they have to be an equal partner with everybody else.”
*The Center for Digital Government is part of e.Republic, Techwire's parent company.
