The Department of Water Resources awarded contracts to Kovarus, Aurora Systems Consulting, CDW-Government and Allied Network Solutions between July 1 and Sept. 30 for its five largest purchases of IT goods.
The California Department of Water Resources, which views education as a significant aspect of its mission, seeks a new database to further that area of work.
Four state departments are seeking to fill several key roles, including chief technology innovation officer, assistant deputy director, section chief and office manager.
In a budget change proposal, the California Department of Water Resources seeks to fund the Joint Operations Center relocation project, a state-federal partnership. Technology would be a major focus of the project's final eight months.
The report charges, generally, that the California Department of Water Resources’ forecasts related to climate change are lacking and its reasoning on some water releases may be unclear — but it also illustrates IT work accomplished and what may be needed in the future.
Experts say the challenges are numerous. Many of the systems in California and nationwide are still operating with outdated software, poor passwords, aging infrastructure and other weaknesses that could leave them at risk.
A variety of technologies aid this work, including airborne electromagnetic surveys to monitor and map groundwater and those that help predict and prepare for future drought periods.
The California Natural Resources Agency and numerous affiliated entities worked with Juniper Networks to modernize its architecture across the enterprise.
The state Department of Water Resources and the California Employment Development Department are recruiting for these positions.
The state department spent just more than $5 million in the second quarter of 2022 on IT services that include an emergency mass notification system.
DWR’s five largest purchases of IT goods in the first three months of 2022, totaling $6,128,049, included e-signature and security solutions as well as Ethernet hardware.
The California Department of Water Resources is conducting airborne electromagnetic surveys via helicopter to map aquifers and improve groundwater management.
Kevin See is deputy chief information officer at the California Department of Water Resources (DWR), a position he has held since August 2016. He was previously director of enterprise infrastructure at DWR, and before that, was chief information officer at the California Department of Conservation for more than eight years of a nearly 10-year interval at that entity. See’s state career spans approximately 18 years – punctuated by more than five years as principal consultant for the National Council on Teachers’ Retirement – and also includes more than six years at the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, where his roles included project director and director of web development.
The California Department of Water Resources made more than 50 IT goods purchases last month and spent in the mid-seven figures on its five costliest.
State legislators have proposed laws that could alter the process and procurement of IT projects, generate digital equity in education and highlight the importance of cybersecurity.
In a new invitation for bid, the California Department of Water Resources calls for responses from IT vendors to help it in the area of data.
Requirements for the various positions include expertise in infrastructure and systems engineering, drones and data.
“The state technology community holds Pam in high regard,” state Chief Information Officer Amy Tong told Techwire via email. “Throughout her career, she has taken on many difficult roles to advance California’s technology efforts. We welcome her appointment and look forward to her success.”
The Department of Water Resources is seeking an agency project management officer to serve the department and its parent entity, the California Natural Resources Agency. Separately, the California Department of Technology is recruiting for an assistant chief of its Acquisition and IT Program Management section.
Departments with active recruitments in these areas include the Financial Information System for California, Covered California, the Office of Systems Integration and the Department of Water Resources.
