It’s easy to carp about the inefficiencies of government — they are legion. And it’s not just those outside the apparatus who find fault. So when things go right in government — when the system works and your needs are met, whatever they may be — that bears mentioning, too, even if only to balance out the negativity.
It’s government’s responsibility to provide the public, including journalists, with prompt access to people and information, and the state employs scores of public information officers whose job is to do just that. It’s not newsworthy when someone does his or her job, but when things fall together just right because a PIO came through at a crucial time, it bears mention.
We were working Thursday morning to flesh out the story about whether Russian “cyber actors” had in fact “scanned” the California Secretary of State’s website, as the federal Department of Homeland Security had alleged. Secretary of State Alex Padilla issued a statement noting that it wasn’t his department whose website had been scanned; it was the California Department of Technology’s.
We needed a quote or a statement Thursday morning from someone in CDT. Within seven minutes of my email to CDT PIO Bryce Brown, I had his reply in my inbox, in the form of an official statement from the CDT. This enabled us to get the story in Thursday’s edition of Techwire.
It turns out this has been the norm in my dealings with state PIOs and communications directors and media relations managers in the last few months. While there are a couple of foot-draggers out there who are more a hurdle than a help, our experience with PIOs has been remarkably positive. In our dealings with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, PIO Krissi Khokhobashvili has come through for us more than once. Similarly, we’ve been impressed with the prompt helpfulness of Bill Maile (Techwire’s founder) of Child Welfare Digital Services, Mark Dinger of Caltrans and, most recently, CDT’s Brown.
These folks do their jobs well so we can do ours better, and the net result is a better-informed populace.
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For those who like to know what CIOs are thinking — in other words, pretty much everyone who reads Techwire — there are a couple of events scheduled in coming weeks that will offer valuable insights:
— At 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, we will host another in our Techwire Virtual Briefing series, this time with Louis Carr Jr., the CIO of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. These teleconference briefings have most recently been led by Joe Morris, the vice president of research for Techwire parent e.Republic, but he’ll be handing the reins over to me for this one. Louis, Joe and I had a preparatory phone chat this week, and you’ll be interested in his insights.
— For four days in mid-October, the CIOs from 36 of California’s 58 counties will gather in Monterey to discuss what’s ahead. Techwire will have several folks on the scene to cover the California Counties Information Services Directors Association, and we’ll be providing daily stories in Techwire.
— At 10 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18, we’ll be hosting an in-person Industry Briefing with Kevin Matsuo, CIO of the California Department of Education. Kevin is an affable guy with a lot of knowledge and an easy manner. This will also be a good one.
— At 10 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, San Diego CIO Jonathan Behnke will be the subject of another Virtual Briefing. These briefings are free and can be listened to offline after the fact on Techwire.net.
— On Nov. 9 is a big one, Techwire’s “State of Technology” industry forum in Sacramento. Speakers will include state CIO Amy Tong and Deputy CIO Chris Cruz, and topics will include technological and judicial policy as well as procurement.
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