CIO Talk Radio

Guest: Cavan Capps Title: Chief DataWeb Systems at the U.S. Census Bureau Guest: Ellis Burgoyne Title: Chief Information Officer and Executive Vice President, USPS Big data has the potential to be used to speed up our response to health crises, provide our soldiers with superior information capabilities and enhance interagency intelligence. How are the different departments and agencies coordinating this cohesive effort to ensure the said end benefits are being realized?

Guest: Michael Armstrong Title: Chief Information Officer, City of Corpus Christi, Texas Guest: Gail M. Roper Title: Chief Information Officer and Community Relations Officer, City of Raleigh, NC; member, CIO Executive Council Mobility has the potential for more than paying for itself by increasing the amount and quality of work employees can do in the field. It can reduce government task process time from weeks to days or hours, shortening response time to customers, cutting travel time, decreasing equipment expenses, and eliminating occupancy costs. So what’s holding back some government CIOs from going full throttle? Are they not ready? Are there budget constraints? Is BYOD still an issue for Government agencies? And what about other early adopters? Have they really realized the potential after jumping on the mobility bandwagon? What is the current state of mobility in government, and what hurdles do we still need to get over?

Guest: Mamatha Chamarthi Title: VP and Chief Information Officer, CMS Energy Utilities already have to focus on maintaining their resilience in the face of natural disasters and other threats to the grid. But now smart grid is posing cyber security threats that could further affect a utility’s ability to recover. What sorts of new risk analysis and emergency framework policies need to be in place to prevent catastrophic damage to machinery, supply chain or the digital network?

Guest: Robert Steven Kaplan Title: Martin Marshall Professor of Management Practice in Business Administration, Senior Associate Dean for External Relations, Harvard Business School Guest: Keith Zecchini Title: Global Chief Information Officer, Parsons Brinckerhoff Any particular program or project that is coming to a close inevitably brings about a level of change that can be tumultuous. With a particularly long or popular program finally ending, any number of internal problems or opportunities for pushback can ensue. How does a good leader take everything in stride and get everything finished up appropriately? How does a leader alleviate internal stress as to what’s on the horizon?

Guest: Jim Smith Title: CIO, Office of Information Technology, State of Maine Guest: Colin Boyd Title: Vice President, Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, Johnson Controls Guest: Chris Moore Title: Chief Information Officer, City of Edmonton, Canada As an organization works through a new program, a number of unexpected circumstances could threaten to derail this new transition along with legacy programs. It could be scarce funding, a change of culture or of talent, too rapid growth or a shift in leadership and the respect, process and policies that go along with them. How can a leader work to keep a group stable through a period of organizational change? What needs to be done to make sure everything goes according to plan?

Guest: Mark Wyatt Title: Vice President for Grid Modernization and Distribution, Duke Energy If we want to achieve ongoing smart grid optimization, we can’t do so without actionable intelligence. It’s needed to correct deficiencies throughout the power delivery system, not just to the customer side of the meter, but to transmission, substation and distribution systems. All the real-time data points being collected across it -- generated by millions of wireless sensors and other smart interconnected devices -- is creating one of the biggest Big Data challenges out there. So what's the plan?

Guest: Susan Cramm Title: President Valuedance and Former CIO, Taco Bell Corporation Guest: James H. Sills, III Title: Cabinet Secretary and Chief Information Officer,State of Delaware When starting any new program, there’s a sense of uncertainty that comes with any disruption. Introducing something new to an existing, well-oiled workflow could throw a wrench into your people, process, policy or pocketbook components. What should a leader do to manage a new beginning as systems and relationships break down? How can a leader encourage a change?

Guest: Michael Maoz Title: VP Distinguished Analyst, Gartner, Guest: Danny Saadon Title: Vice President, EL AL Israel Airlines, North & Central America At home, work, in the airport or in the air…an airline customer can be touched in many ways: Personalized offerings, frequent travel rewards, and last but by no means least, a pleasant in-flight experience. These are what the customer expects and their delivery directly impacts customer allegiance! Are airline carriers delivering on these things? Where are the shortfalls? To what degree can technology help by positively impacting customer loyalty?

Guest: Dr. Dirk E. Mahling, CMVP Title: Chief Information Officer, Seattle City Light The current trend in going green is producing clean gas, finding renewables and maintaining energy efficiency. If the government seed money allocated for smart grid is any indication, a green smart grid may be the best approach to reducing your carbon footprint. But how do we know that this isn’t just another green technology bubble like solar energy? How can IT help to capitalize on these initiatives? What can we do now to ensure we will see our investments in this technology 20 years from now?

Guest: Francesca Gino, Ph.D. Title: Associate Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School In the face of ambiguity, uncertainty, and conflicting demands, the most important thing that leaders do is make judgment calls. The decisions and judgment calls made in the people, strategy, and crisis domains have the most impact on the well-being and sustainability of an organization. How are we doing in this area? Must we rely on the innate strengths of who we hire or groom to become the leader? What can be done so our current and upcoming leaders hone this very important skill?

Guest: Joseph D. Sniado Title: Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer, Standard & Poor’s Guest: Frank Wander Title: Author, Former CIO and Founder of The IT Excellence Institute In an organization’s attempt to cut costs and meet business demands, there’s a perceived notion that IT leaders are creating a ruthless environment in which workers are treated as cogs in a larger machine. But this culture, whether a myth or a tough reality, can ultimately undermine performance. How do we reduce the damage to our most precious human resources and still deliver profitability and shareholder value?

Guest: Ravi Pradhan Title: Vice President of Technology, Siemens Smart Grid The smart grid infrastructure will inevitably produce an explosion of data, and utility may need to have a comprehensive information management ability to handle it. While many organizations are still struggling to modernize their legacy infrastructure, isn't going digital too big a leap? What’s the strategy to meet smart grid challenges and reach the end goal? Do they have the internal capability to manage this disruptive transformation?

Guest: Harriet Tregoning Title: Director, Washington DC Office of Planning Guest: Gary Foster Title: CTO of Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA), Boston, MA Guest: Dennis Gribble Title: VP and CIO, Idaho Power Building a smart city will take real effort by businesses to meet rising populations and industries with escalating needs. Utilities, IT and telecommunications need to collaborate to provide smart solutions for the community, anything from transportation, water, waste management and building systems to address new demands. How will so many elements related to technology, sustainability and even citizen well-being be integrated into our infrastructure? How will the private sector work together with local governments to find creative solutions, and who’s going to pay for it all?

Guest: Valerie Gamache-O'Leary Title: CIO, The Ottawa Hospital Guest: Dale Potter Title: SVP Strategy and Transformation, The Ottawa Hospital Caring for a sick patient in a hospital is a long, delicate process. Physicians need to be informed of a patient’s status such that they can make decisions about their care and provide steps to recovery. The Ottawa Hospital realized that this lifecycle needed to be less cumbersome and more focused on the patient. Introducing mobility to the hospital in targeted sectors was a way to provide patient care with more efficiency and quality. But a few tablets didn’t solve all their problems. What was their journey in leveraging mobility to deliver the next level of patient care, and what lessons can they provide to other hospitals looking to make mobility a priority?

Guest: Sen. Shane Broadway Title: Interim Director, Arkansas Department of Higher Education Guest: Claire Bailey Title: Director of the Arkansas Department of Information Systems (DIS), Arkansas Chief Technology Officer (CTO) The Arkansas government recognized that students in their state were not finding easy ways to receive financial aid. The Department of Higher Education saw a public need and business value to boost engagement in their community. How did they use mobility to streamline the application process and make it more accessible and easier all around? Why is Arkansas' YOUniversal app transparent and useful in a way that other states have struggled? What lessons can they provide to make mobility a priority for states looking to connect more deeply with the public?