The job of state CIO is fascinating. No one else in government must toe the line between the old and new quite like the state CIO. As public officials, CIOs juggle a dizzying array of duties, each of which presents its own challenges. What's more, they must simultaneously work within the confines of static, old school bureaucracy and the rapidly changing technology landscape, meaning state technology leaders must be adept at adapting.

The relatively new position of state CIO isn't a job to be taken lightly. It's fraught with difficulty, complexity and limitation. State CIOs must be experts not only in technology, but in politics and management as well. Furthermore, as the private sector continues to siphon the best IT employee talent, state CIOs must find ways to continuously deliver the high-quality IT services that are in demand while dealing with fewer skilled employees and often crippling budgetary constraints.

For a look inside the compelling and ever-evolving world of the state CIO, who better to turn to than state CIOs? For this Q&A, we asked state technology leaders from around the country to talk about the state of the state CIO. Participants include: Indiana CIO Gerry Weaver, Iowa Chief Operational Officer John Gillispie, Michigan CIO Teri Takai, Mississippi CIO David Lichtliter, Delaware CIO Tom Jarrett and Minnesota CIO Gopal Khanna.

How do you reflect the initiatives and policies of the governor in terms of state IT?
Khanna: One of [Minnesota] Gov. Tim Pawlenty's stated priorities is "better government," which he defines as preparing state government for what he likes to call "the iPod generation." Government of the future must be open for business 24/7, with intuitive, ready access to services and information. This model is contrary to the traditional model of government that, for the last 50 years, has operated in an environment built around the assembly-line processes of the industrial era. Government service delivery mirrored what worked for corporate America - a kind of soup-to-nuts operation that included business functions and the technology that enabled them.

Now companies are focusing on their core competencies and core missions, and getting out of the areas that can better be done by experts. State governments are following suit. With the growing demand for technology-enabled, online government, agencies are saying, 'Do I want to and can I manage my IT operation and still accomplish the business of my agency?' That kind of thinking is a huge paradigm shift.

The key issue - which I know Gov. Pawlenty understands - is that cultural change on a massive scale is necessary to make the technological changes. The technology exists to put government online even as our skilled workers on the retirement track force us to work smarter with less. The greater challenge is the cultural change necessary to drive and manage a more cross-boundary, shared-service environment. But our governor is committed, we have legislative support, and we are well on the way to operationalizing their vision.

Weaver: It has not been difficult. The governor is trying to run the government as efficiently as he can. He also is focused on providing better services to the people who live in Indiana. As a result, we have developed specific plans to support each initiative. We started with the consolidation effort, and we have completed setting up a shared-services infrastructure organization. We have an enterprise architecture group focused on how we can better use the data. The state has to provide better information to our constituents, vendors and customers.

Takai: Michigan's IT strategic plan starts with the governor's initiatives, which are laid out in her Cabinet Action Plan [CAP]. The CAP identifies the key initiatives that the governor has defined and the state