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Taking the Wheel

In appointing James Dillon as the state's first CIO, Gov. George Pataki chose a trusted veteran with decades of experience in state government.

James T. Dillon is calm. You would hardly know the man had been recently appointed New York State's first chief information officer, in charge of technology policies for the second largest state in the union with the second largest IT budget.

Surely, he must be thinking about the unprecedented information security concerns the state faces, as well as the litany of technological challenges that will test his knowledge and skills as a government executive. Instead, he talks quietly about growing up in Vermont, living in New York, his family life, his children and grandchildren.

Then he mentions that for three years, before entering public service, he drove a Greyhound bus on the run from Burlington, Vt., to Springfield, Mass. Anyone who has lived through a New England winter and has driven that route during a snow or ice storm knows it takes nerves of steel. Imagine doing that with a bus full of passengers on a daily basis. Perhaps that's why Dillon appears so calm.

But underneath that calm exterior is a man who must steer government strategies worth billions of dollars according to Gov. George Pataki's agenda. It's a job unlike just about any other in state government. And Dillon, who has been working for the state for 24 years, knows just how critical it has become. "Everything we do here affects others down the line," he said.

As an example, Dillon points to the Governor's e-government initiative, known as Government Without Walls. "The program isn't just about efficiency from the government's point of view, but it's also about delivering better services to citizens that are understandable," he explained, emphasizing the last word.

Guiding IT policy in New York also means not getting bogged down in nuances of individual programs. "It's about how IT affects economic development as a whole," Dillon added. "And when we talk about networks, it's about higher education and how network issues translate into the larger issues of broadband access."

Launching a Long Government Career

When Gov. Pataki appointed Dillon CIO on January 29, 2002, he described him as a dedicated public servant. The description clearly fits a man who spent six years in the Navy in active duty, attended SUNY-Albany where he received his Masters in Public Administration in 1980 and landed his first government job as an intern, working for the minority in New York's state legislature. The internship blossomed into a full-time position, and eventually Dillon became a labor analyst for the State Assembly Minority, where he got to know his future boss, Pataki, who was then a member of the Assembly. Eventually Dillon was promoted to the post of research director.

Beginning in 1995, Dillon served as executive deputy commissioner and acting commissioner of the Department of Labor. For the next six years, he immersed himself in a wide-range of IT programs and issues as the department automated everything from unemployment insurance and welfare-to-work to workforce investment programs, often working closely with federal agencies and local governments.

Dillon was serving as the deputy executive director of the New York Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research when Pataki tapped him to become his CIO, a newly created position with responsibility for oversight of the Office for Technology, which has existed since 1996, and coordination of technology policies and strategies of all New York agencies and authorities.

In one of his first moves, Dillon announced plans in April to cut back on the amount of customized software that was spreading throughout the state's fragmented financial-management systems. In explaining his move, Dillon said, "The need for standards goes beyond just looking at cost and efficiency. It also goes to the issue of skills."

Dillon pointed out that state employees with civil service titles in the field of finance, budget and accounting are eligible for promotion across agencies. But lack of standards in the software arena was inhibiting the promotion and exchange of skilled personnel. And Dillon made it clear that finance was just one of several areas in state operations where he expected to see more, not less, standardization.

Externally, Dillon has been meeting with the state's IT vendor community to deliver them a message. "While we endeavor to provide a level playing field for them, I want the vendors to provide us with the best possible service from themselves."

Bottom line: when vendors bid on a contract or try and sell the state something, they must ensure that all aspects of the RFP are covered by the best-of-breed in technology. Dillon expects vendor collaboration, even among rival firms, to be the new game in town.

Dillon is also interested in how innovation occurs within government: "Why we do it. Why we don't. What inhibits it. What promotes it."

For a number of reasons, Dillon believes government has become too dependent on the private sector when it comes to innovation, creating a risky environment for services the state has a statutory obligation to provide. While there are good examples of innovation within New York, such as the Department of Motor Vehicles, Dillon thinks there should be a more balanced approach to innovation.

"In government, we can't allow ourselves to get out so far that the bankruptcy of a private sector firm, such as a telecom company, affects our ability to deliver services," Dillon pointed out. "It's my job to work with the agencies and to help fix that always-shifting line of innovation, ensuring that we provide better service without endangering our statutory responsibility to provide that service."

From Security to Legacy

While the events of 9-11 have forced the state to look at how it goes about the business of information security, Dillon believes New York can and will move forward with a number of IT-related projects and activities that both add value to services and deliver better protection. On the e-government side, the state continues to roll out new transaction services for individuals and businesses through its portal.

On the security side, New York has responded with a task force that is studying best practices for critical infrastructure and business continuity. The state announced in June an RFP for a statewide wireless network worth an estimated $400 million that will enhance communications for law enforcement agencies at the state and local level. Internally, the Office for Technology has undertaken a number of efforts to support and sustain IT projects and workers. These include a project management office, an enterprise help desk, a technology training academy and an IT workforce succession planning program.

When asked what sort of legacy he would like to leave as the state's first CIO, Dillon paused for a moment and then spoke.

"I'd like to leave the system moving forward," he stated. "I'd like to have it be a more rational and comprehensive approach to IT in government."

Dillon went on to say he'd like to see the state's support services and data centers work more closely and in sync with the development of applications taking place at agencies.

Reflecting on the changing role of government, in which citizens are receiving more services electronically and are paying less attention to which branch of the public sector delivers them, Dillon added: "I'd like to have local governments say what we do is better for them. I want to ensure that good ideas at the state level don't adversely impact local governments as they try and do their job. We have to ensure that we look at local government as a customer. Because we believe they are an important customer."

For a man who has wedded his career to public service -- and also happens to know how to maneuver a Greyhound bus -- that would be a fitting legacy for New York's first CIO.
With more than 20 years of experience covering state and local government, Tod previously was the editor of Public CIO, e.Republic’s award-winning publication for information technology executives in the public sector. He is now a senior editor for Government Technology and a columnist at Governing magazine.