Ashley Laymon leads Maryland’s portfolio office, an organization she describes as a business relationship management team, bridging the gap between central IT and state agencies working on technology projects.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The National Association of Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) Midyear Conference convened officials from 47 states in the largest midyear event to date, reported organization president and Maryland Secretary of Technology Michael Leahy. But beyond CIOs and CISOs, some interesting titles that are newer in government also populated the attendee list.
Ashley Laymon started her tenure with Maryland in 2019 after having held a variety of government-adjacent IT roles for the past 15 years. She brings extensive project and account management experience, along with a healthy dose of technical expertise, to her position as chief experience officer. Over the past few years, she's built a team of portfolio managers who troubleshoot technical issues at the agency level, providing a vital bridge to central IT.
From her vantage point, Laymon has noted a lot of momentum behind CRM systems, e-signature technology and online portals bubbling up from the agency level, particularly as operations have evolved during the pandemic. In addition, a constant theme of their work has been helping agency staff with cybersecurity.
"Anything that agencies are developing, they have a lot of questions around securing systems before they go to production," she said.
Noelle Knell is the executive editor for e.Republic, responsible for setting the overall direction for e.Republic’s editorial platforms, including Government Technology, Governing, Industry Insider, Emergency Management and the Center for Digital Education. She has been with e.Republic since 2011, and has decades of writing, editing and leadership experience. A California native, Noelle has worked in both state and local government, and is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, with majors in political science and American history.
Lauren Kinkade is the managing editor for Government Technology magazine. She has a degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and more than 15 years’ experience in book and magazine publishing.
