March 28, 2022 – Cast your vote now for California’s most innovative technology projects and influential leaders nominated for this year’s State Scoop 50 Awards. Government Operations Secretary Amy Tong was nominated for State Scoop’s top honor, the Golden Gov, for her continued role as the visionary behind IT solutions that put California’s residents first.
In addition to Secretary Tong, California has nominations for three IT leaders and seven initiatives. See details below and vote for all of our state’s nominees on the State Scoop website.
GOLDEN GOV
The visionary state executive leading state government into a new technology landscape.
AMY TONG, SECRETARY, GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AGENCY, STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Amy Tong is the secretary of Government Operations in California. Tong comes to the position after serving as the state chief information officer and the director of the office of innovation. Tong is focused on improving state government operations and overseeing the strategic magagement of the state’s operating resources.
STATE LEADERSHIP
The public sector principal helping government implement new technologies, strategies and IT programs
PATRICK DENNIS, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, DEPT. OF PARKS AND RECREATION
Patrick Dennis is fairly new in his role as DPR’s Chief Information Officer, however, is not new to providing his vision and thought leadership to his industry peers. There are two major challenges for government entities moving forward with technology projects, budgets and contract vehicles. The project that we would like to highlight is the Statewide Rural Connectivity Project (STP-SW-RCP-2) providing rural broadband connectivity to government entities, (i.e., state, local, tribal, etc.) and underserved communities throughout the state. Patrick and the STP team worked countless hours in a very short amount of time to deliver a statewide MSA contract that government stakeholders will benefit for years to come.
JERRY SAMI, CHIEF ENTERPRISE ARCHITECT, DEPT. OF FOOD & AGRICULTURE
Jerry led the CDFA Enterprise Architecture effort that resulted in identifying 22 common business functions across over 200 siloed programs in 8 Divisions, which has significantly aided in establishing the CDFA Technology Roadmap that’s aligning with the CDFA Strategic Plan, the first ever for CDFA. Due to his efforts, CDFA is embarking on investing in a single enterprise solution platform that can provide the necessary functionality for most of the legacy, ~450, individual applications that will improve user experience, reduce support costs, and reduce the maintenance overhead of maintaining the legacy solutions with very limited resources.
JASON WIMBLEY. CHIEF DEPUTY DIRECTOR, DEPT. OF COMMUNITY SERVICES AND DEVELOPMENT
Jason Wimbley, Chief Deputy Director at CSD, led the implementation of the California Arrearage Payment Program (CAPP). CAPP was authorized as part of the 2021-22 State Budget to address the significant amount of energy utility arrearages that approximately 3.1 million Californians face as a result of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. CAPP is a unique program requiring a different programmatic model to implement and administer in a relatively short timeframe. CSD had no technology or utility experience to concurrently develop the program, engage the utilities and develop the methodology to align with the legislative mandate. Through Jason’s visionary leadership, the CSD team successfully conducted many innovative discovery sessions with internal and external stakeholders to identify the best approach. Under the leadership of our visionary leader, Jason Wimbley, CSD was able to successfully meet the objectives of the CAPP program in a seven-month timeframe which enabled CSD to deliver one billion dollars in relief funds to Californians.
STATE IT INNOVATION OF THE YEAR
The cutting-edge state IT approach to cross-agency or intra-agency technology that embraces innovation
Offender Management Solutions
California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Digital COVID-19 Vaccine Record Portal
California Department of Technology
Cal-Secure
California Department of Technology
Technology Modernization Fund
California Department of Technology
Disaster and Wildfire Mapping
California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
California Child Welfare Services Case Management System
California Department of Technology
Housing Element Tracking System
California Department of Housing and Community Development
Visit the 2022 StateScoop 50 Awards website where you can cast your vote daily until April 15. Scroll down to find the award categories. Nominees are listed alphabetically.