Workforce and People

Hiring a workforce development coordinator with deep industry knowledge and connections, and making it easier for CTE instructors to get licensed, helped an Arizona district grow its network of business partnerships.

Tony Sauerhoff, who also previously served as state chief information security officer, was appointed interim executive director of the Texas Department of Information Resources and interim CIO.

From the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf Coast, local governments are taking a strategic approach to sustain operational continuity in the face of IT department layoffs caused by budget constraints.

"Chief" has long been included in government job titles, particularly in IT. But as organizations have evolved, the lines between what each chief does have blurred. AI has only made the issue more pressing.

Delaware CIO Greg Lane, in place since July 2023, has stepped down. Jordan Schulties, chief of administration for the Department of Technology and Information, has been named interim CIO.

Amid all the attention around AI, Mississippi CIO Craig Orgeron said his state is focused on building the foundations state government needs to scale emerging technologies into 2026.

UW-Stout has received about $2 million of federal grants for special projects to promote civil discourse, enhance understanding of AI and expand short-term, non-degree training programs.

Arizona CIO J.R. Sloan, co-founder of GovRAMP, has served as its board president since 2021. Now, Texas Chief AI and Innovation Officer Tony Sauerhoff will take on the leadership role.

Rizwan Ahmed, who served as Louisiana’s CIO from 2006 to 2008, is the city-parish’s new information services director, bringing years of state-level IT experience to the role.

The appointment of Eleonore Fournier-Tombs as chief AI officer and Stephen Graham as chief digital officer signals a more coordinated approach to AI, tech policy and public services as leadership roles evolve.

Archie Satchell, the Florida county’s CIO of more than seven years, will retire Jan. 16. Deputy CIO Michael Butler, whose time with county IT dates to the mid-1990s, has taken on the role of acting CIO.

CIO Shawnzia Thomas decodes why "cyber discipline" drives AI, modernization, and trust in Georgia’s 2026 tech agenda, and how cyber resilience is achievable through digital literacy and upskilling.

Stephen Heard, now the county’s permanent CIO, is a veteran technologist whose time with the local government dates to April 2007. Prior to becoming interim CIO, he was chief technology officer for five years.

Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed Crawford to serve as insurance commissioner for a term of about one year. Her replacement as state CIO and executive director of the Department of Information Resources is developing.

A resignation letter from the city’s chief technology officer of four years surfaced on social media alongside changes to the city’s website, where his name was removed and a new acting CTO named.

IT infrastructure resilience, like modernization and citizen engagement, is an ongoing endeavor for officials in South Dakota, according to state CIO Mark Wixon — and one that intersects much other technology work.

Modernizing education with artificial intelligence is less about buying this or that new tool than about new processes, new applications for data analytics, and reorganizing instructional priorities around new norms.

State Chief Innovation Officer Dave Cole will remain under her administration, Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill said. Outgoing Gov. Phil Murphy, meanwhile, signed a bill affirming the New Jersey Innovation Authority.