Workforce and People

The nonprofit CFES (College for Every Student) Brilliant Pathways program will offer sessions this month about essential skills in children, understanding pathways to careers, finding the right school, and financial aid.

As the popularity of tech-related degrees and training programs has yet to fill the growing need for IT talent, some career professionals share non-academic qualifications and experience that helped them succeed.

Columbia State Community College is preparing 10- or 12-week programs in software development, programming and user-centered design, in partnership with Upright Education, to bring more rural students into the tech fold.

Gov. Mark Gordon has appointed former Alaska CIO Bill Vajda to lead Wyoming's IT efforts within the Department of Enterprise Technology Services. Vajda replaces Interim Director Timothy Sheehan.

The Department of General Services, which manages about 14.4 million square feet of leased office space for the state, has relinquished or is in the process of relinquishing about 767,000 square feet of space.

Ivy Tech Community College’s Anderson campus recently certified its first cohort of students in smart manufacturing and digital integration, having updated its mechatronics lab and required faculty to learn new skills.

Earlier this week, Florida CIO James Grant named Jeremy Rodgers chief information security officer of the Florida Digital Service. Rodgers brings 20-plus years of industry experience to the role.

After five years of leading improvements to resident, business and visitor digital experience for the city and county of San Francisco, Carrie Bishop has announced plans to depart from the position March 4.

Tisch told colleagues she would keep serving the city under the Adams administration. Her departure comes as the city reportedly plans to reorganize its IT agencies and follows just weeks after CTO John Paul Farmer’s exit.

The shift to remote work has meant tools once pitched as “reasonable accommodations” for people with disabilities are now mainstream. That opens up a previously underutilized hiring group for state and local government.

Shah took up the mantle in late November 2021, becoming the city’s first full-time CISO since 2018. His background includes cybersecurity and IT security roles in employee management solutions and health-care technology sectors.

New York City CTO John Paul Farmer has announced his departure from the position. Mayor-elect Eric Adams, who takes office in January, has named NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Information Technology Matt Fraser to the role.

Tim Slusser has been appointed to serve as the city’s chief of mobility innovation, Mayor Mike Duggan announced Tuesday, noting that Slusser will focus on vehicle electrification and renewable energy within the city.

To make freeways safer for road workers, Connecticut is installing work zone cameras as part of a pilot program next year. Critics have raised privacy concerns, and others have claimed the program is a money scheme.

The relative success of remote work has proved that in many cases government staff are just as, if not more, productive when they work away from the office. More agile structures like holacracy might be ones to model.

Fifty-three communities in 24 states and Puerto Rico are trying to lure new residents by offering cash, covering moving costs or providing other incentives. They largely seek remote workers from expensive coastal areas.

In February 2022, Brandy Reitter will become the next executive director of the Colorado Broadband Office, as the state prepares for significant increases in funding to expand high-speed connectivity.

After more than three decades of serving the state of New York in various information security roles, state Chief Information Security Officer Karen Sorady is leaving her post for retirement.