State Agency Tech Leaders Speak Out in 2023

The perspectives of public-sector technology leaders are always of high interest to Industry Insider — Texas members. One-on-One, IITX’s interview series spotlighting public-sector CIOs, CISOs, chief technology and innovation types, and IT executives whose titles may not have a “C,” is consistently among its most-read articles. Here is a look at those from five state agencies having a daily impact on millions of constituents, ordered by largest IT budget.

The Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) provides oversight and administrative support for Health and Human Services and the Department of State Health Services. Combined, the agencies support 40,000 customers and provide services to about 7.5 million Texans. With a portfolio of 120 websites and 376 applications — 183 designated as mission-critical — the agency's responsibilities are wide-ranging and depend on data. Programming includes Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Women, Infants and Children, among telehealth and mental health programming such as supporting the national 988 Lifeline.

Ricardo Blanco, HHSC deputy executive commissioner and CIO, spoke to Industry Insider — Texas in February about his work and the technical responsibilities of his agency.

“I’m responsible for our agency’s IT assets, which include the infrastructure, tools and applications that support our business operations and allow customers to access our services,” he said. “I also act as a consultative partner to our program areas, ensuring IT’s projects and initiatives provide business value and are connected to the overall agency strategy.”

The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) connects 266,491 square miles with 197,000 lane miles and more than 55,000 bridges. The agency has projects in public ports, airports, railroad crossings and transit systems, alongside the state’s highways and byways. Under the safety and innovation heading, TxDOT has almost 4,000 data-driven safety projects, maintains a safety data portal and is working to automate and connect Texas’ vehicle systems.

Anh Selissen, TxDOT CIO and director of the Information Technology Division, spoke to Industry Insider — Texas in August about her work and the agency’s tech side.

“I am most proud of the work we have done to transform the customer relationship at TxDOT. When I started in this role, the IT Division had many improvement opportunities,” she said. “Over the last four years, we have worked hard to rebuild trust and respect in the organization by building a team that focuses on excellent customer service, collaborates with business customers to achieve tangible technology results and is trusted to be an effective partner.”

The Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) works with communities to promote safe and healthy families and protect children and vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect and exploitation by providing services, referrals and prevention programs. Programming includes adult and child protective services, neglect and abuse investigations, intervention and prevention outreach, and 24-hour statewide intake of those in danger of abuse, neglect and exploitation. Statewide Intake, or SWI, took about 600,000 calls, 177,913 e-reports and more than 24,000 mailed and faxed inquiries in 2022. It is called the “front door of the front line” and operates 24/7.

Drew McGrath, DFPS CIO, spoke to Industry Insider — Texas in May about his work as a collaborator, technologist and leader of the agency, which is planning its modernization.

“We took a conservative approach to our legislative asks for the next biennium. For IT, we focused mainly on increasing funding so we could keep up with our state data center obligations, funding to help manage some of our technical debt, additional funds to speed up interoperability as it relates to Community-Based Care (CBC), and a few strategic IT projects like digital signatures,” he said. “We did include a request for funds and FTEs to help with planning for modernizing our case management system.”

The Department of Information Resources (DIR) manages a technology cooperative program that includes about 800 contracts, including use by more than 566 out-of-state municipalities. These contracts provide a way for Texas municipalities and educational institutions, among others, to purchase technology that is vetted for safety and security while providing discounted cost and seamless purchasing. A large portion of agency work includes cybersecurity — helping entities maintain awareness, receive training and locate resources in case of security breaches. DIR reaches far and wide with about 3,900 entities using its services.

Nancy Rainosek, DIR’s CISO, spoke to Industry Insider — Texas in February about the whole-of-state cyber stance in Texas.

“My office has implemented programs to assist local government entities in improving their security and responding to incidents,” she said. “This includes establishing the Texas Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (TX-ISAO) to share critical security information to both government and private-sector members in Texas; establishing DIR’s first Regional Security Operations Center (RSOC) in partnership with Angelo State University to serve local governments and K-12 in West Texas; and establishing a volunteer incident response team to respond in case of a declared cybersecurity disaster.”

The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) knows that water is life and maintains data and provides funding for water supply projects across the state. The agency chair said last year that the agency had committed more than $32 billion to projects since the 1950s and implemented a new project management system around 2022. Cybersecurity is one of the agency’s top priorities, and it has a large footprint in the cloud requiring a zero-trust approach. Maintaining these systems and services first requires a positive, customer-focused workforce, according to leadership.

Darrell Tompkins, TWDB CIO, spoke to Industry Insider — Texas in April about creating a culture to lift up the organization in order to provide best-in-class customer service.

“Leadership first, technology second. Lead by example and work hard to establish a people-first, customer-centric culture, and don’t ever let up. It takes time to foster a deep-rooted culture, but it doesn’t take long for it to crumble. A good, strong culture lifts everyone up and can help overcome a lot,” he said. “Focus on the basics and build up from there. The impact of implementing shiny new technology solutions will be greatly diminished if your systems support team isn’t meeting service-level agreements and providing good service to customers or if you don’t have strong information security and data governance programs, policies and procedures.”

Do you know an IT leader our readers should hear from? Contact Industry Insider — Texas staff writers Rae DeShong and Chandler Treon.