EY, the “Big Four” accounting operation once known as Ernst & Young, has launched the EY Government and Public Sector Chief Information Officer Advisor in Residence Program.
That might be a mouthful, but the mission is simple: provide peer learning and other services to help state CIOs via peer learning, onboarding support and other tools.
EY says it designed the program to “address the critical need for technology leadership in the public sector,” and has backed up that goal with a CIO Advisory Council of government technology veterans.
That includes Chris Estes, former CIO of North Carolina who now works as managing director of government and public sector for EY US — and who chairs that council.
He told Government Technology this effort “is really a mentoring program to help new and existing CIOs get better.”
The new program is modeled after EY’s Center for Executive Leadership, which focuses on the commercial sector. Subjects for CIOs can range from emerging technology to talent management to IT strategy, cybersecurity and larger industry trends.
Participants in the new program might spend a few months learning from fellow colleagues and CIO veterans — besides Estes, four more CIOs with state experience belong to the council — depending “on the experience the person brings to the table,” Estes said.
As for EY, the program gives the company more credibility in the fast-growing gov tech space as well as the “ability to give back to organizations in the public-sector domain,” he said.
The new program launches as voters in 39 states and territories get ready to elect governors in 2026. Of those elections, 19 will feature incumbents running for another term, with another 20 governors either stepping down or barred by term limits from running again, according to the National Governors Association.
As Estes pointed out, those elections will lead to significant changes and turnover in technology leadership in many of those states, further highlighting the need for this educational and support program for CIOs.
“There will be a tremendous amount of change at the state CIO level,” he said. “Succession planning will be a key topic in 2026.”
