State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Rising to the Challenge: How 3 Public CIOs Are Confronting Major Mandates

Government Technology: You can bet Illinois CIO Hardik Bhatt isn’t bored. In January Gov. Bruce Rauner signed an executive order that will consolidate the state’s IT offices into a new Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT). That’s 1,700 employees and an $800 million annual budget for IT services to be controlled by a single operating body (with input from key agencies on how best to spend the IT dollars, including alternate sources for funding, such as federal grant money, according to the Governor’s Office of Management and Budget). Rauner’s State of the State speech declared this a necessary move, calling the state “a model of inefficiency and ineffectiveness,” a statement supported by Illinois’ ranking as the third biggest IT spender paired with low marks on digital service delivery. Look no further than the most recent Digital States Survey, conducted by the Center for Digital Government, in which Illinois earned a C+.

Read article