The 2008 NASCIO Annual Conference ended today. Government Technology Magazine did a nice job of summing up a few of the items I intended to write about, so I won't dwell on the 2008 NASCIO Award winners or Teri Takai's well-deserved selection for the annual NASCIO Meritorious Service Award.
The ceremony last night ended with several important announcements, including the introduction of the new executive committee and NASCIO President John Gillispie, CIO from Iowa, handing over the gavel to the new President, Gopal Khanna, CIO of Minnesota. As the new leader, Gopal's speech was a rousing call to action for CIOs and their staff members to make a difference and commit to improving our nation's approach to IT engagement in the public sector in all 50 states.
Overall, I thought this was an excellent conference. NASCIO remains a very strong organization with considerable power and influence with various groups across the country. As many states transition to new Governors and our nation elects a new President, it will be interesting to see how things develop in state government IT in 2009.
One very positive recent development for NASCIO was the announcement by Senator Norm Coleman (MN) on a bill to strengthen state government cyber security. Hopefully, this bill will become law. My view is that this bill is a sign of closer ties with Congress and federal government agencies in years to come.
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