State CIOs Fly to Washington, D.C., to Meet with Members of Congress

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) will hold its fourth annual D.C. Fly-In on May 4, 2005.

The theme of this year's D.C. Fly-In is "A Blueprint for Better Government: The Information Sharing Imperative." Close to 30 state CIOs and alternates will take part in a full day of meetings with their Congressional delegations and federal counterparts to discuss NASCIO's policy positions.

"The record number of state CIOs participating in this year's Fly-In provides NASCIO a great opportunity to unite in a common voice to communicate the issues of concern and prescriptions for change of the state CIOs to our nation's legislative and executive branch leadership," said NASCIO President and Delaware CIO Tom Jarrett.

To achieve seamless delivery of citizen services, safeguard citizens and protect infrastructure, information sharing among all levels of government is a necessity. Government agencies are increasingly exploiting technologies to integrate their geographically diverse workforce, to break down bureaucratic barriers and to share pertinent information. NASCIO calls on Congress and the Administration to take the following actions:

• Require a common framework for information sharing
• Energize intergovernmental cybersecurity
• Understand the urgency of privacy protection
• Promote and support health information exchange.

The Fly-In will consist of a full day of individual meetings between NASCIO members and national leaders and their staffs. The event will be held in conjunction with the association's midyear conference which will be held at the Grand Hyatt Washington and begins on the evening of May 4 and concludes on the afternoon of May 6.