StateScoop highlights 2018 GoldenGov: State Executive of the Year winners

Stu Davis

Chief Information Officer
State of Ohio

Having now served as the state’s chief information officer for more than seven years, Stu Davis is both a leader in the State of Ohio and within the state IT community. Stu first entered state government in 1997 as an executive director of the state’s Geographically Referenced Information Program. He continues to serve in leadership roles, as a member of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, where he shares best practices and drives progress within the public sphere.

John Dunlap

Chief Technology Officer
State of West Virginia

John Dunlap was named by Governor Jim Justice as the Chief Technology Officer for the State of West Virginia on January 30, 2017. He leads the states Office of Technology which is charged with providing secure and cost effective oversight, as well as upgrading West Virginias technology infrastructure to make West Virginia more efficient and save the taxpayers money through the use of technology. John previously held the position Director of Network Engineering and Architecture within the West Virginia Office of Technology. With 32 years of experience in state government, John has overseen many statewide initiatives involving infrastructure, broadband and network technologies. Being a lifelong native of West Virginia, John is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys the beach, kayaking, and golf. He is married with four children.

Michael Hussey

Chief Information Officer
State of Utah

Mike Hussey leads the Utah Department of Technology Services focussing on innovation and online solutions that improve state operations, drive technology, and increase economic development. Utahs leading online property Utah.Gov, has a tremendous record of developing more award winning applications and services for Utahns than most states, while providing new services on more platforms beyond the traditional website. In 2017 alone Utahs online services were recognized with 26 national and international awards and has received hundreds of award and recognitions. Recently, Mike Hussey has pioneered natural language government services with Alexa and Google Assistant.

Marcie Kahbody

Agency Information Officer
California State Transportation Agency

California has the nations largest and most complex transportation system, and Marcie Kahbody is leading its technology future with innovation, collaboration, and vision. Consistently demonstrating courage, drive, and determination, she has transformed the way in which transportation departments work together, cultivating a one agency mentalityeliminating silos, creating transparency, sharing information, and building the support for projects to succeed. Marcies steadfast sponsorship has enhanced cybersecurity, refreshed aging infrastructure, and set a foundation for cost savings across agencies. She not only inspires initiatives, but also people. A true leader, she is the the voice of her team and an enabler of progress.

Eric Larson

Chief Information Officer
State of Florida

Eric Larson is a visionary leader focused on enhancing the state’s technology footprint to achieve cost savings and drive innovation. He faces public sector challenges with an easy manner while maintaining a sense of urgency required as the state’s CIO. Eric analyzes technical and business matters at an unparalleled level, making him a rare commodity in government. He is a good steward of taxpayer dollars and was able to support a return of budget after cost savings were realized in a prior fiscal year.

David McCurdy

Chief Technology Officer
State of Colorado

Since joining OIT in 2014, David has been blazing a path in modernizing state IT and has been responsible for many firsts. Under his direction, more enterprise agreements and applications are in place than ever before. Additionally, large and disparate applications used by customer agencies have been, or are, in the process of being consolidated into single, online applications such as critical DMV and Corrections applications. With BackUp Colorado we now have a centralized platform for data backup and disaster recovery across all state agencies. David is also setting the stage for emerging trends and technologies like AI, VR and AR, which can be applied in the public sector.

James “Bo” Reese

Chief Information Officer
State of Oklahoma

After attending university at Oklahoma State University, James Bo Reese now serves the state government as its chief information officer. Bo joined the state after serving for 12 years with the Oklahoma State and Education Employees Group Insurance Board before joining the Office of management Enterprise Services. Today, Bo is helping to transform Oklahoma state government and beyond. Through a comprehensive IT unification effort, Bo has managed to generate the state more than $372 million in annual savings. As the current committee president of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers, Bo is heralded among the state IT community for the work he has done to advance thinking in the space and advocate for state IT office needs with the federal government. Bo’s leadership is recognized as an essential asset to state government in Oklahoma.

Bob Samson

Chief Information Officer
State of New York

In April 2017, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo appointed Robert H. Samson to the position of New York State Chief Information Officer at the New York State Office of Information Technology Services. Mr. Samson had a rewarding 36-year career with IBM until August 2009 when he retired. While at IBM, he served in various leadership positions where he led teams focused on helping governments transform using innovative approaches and technologies. His most recent positions at IBM included serving as the Vice President of the Worldwide Systems and Technology Group, and the General Manager of IBM’s Global Public Sector where he was responsible for IBM’s business with governments, education, healthcare and life sciences industries. Since 2011, Mr. Samson has served as a member of the Governor’s Spending and Government Efficiency (SAGE) Commission. As a member of the Sage Commission, Mr. Samson along with his SAGE colleagues developed recommendations for modernizing and right-sizing New York State government to improve performance, increase accountability and save taxpayer money.

Ed Toner

Chief Information Officer
State of Nebraska

Ed Toner was appointed by Gov. Pete Ricketts to be Nebraska’s CIO in 2015. When tasked with that role, Toner was given the mission of utilizing technology to improve delivery of government services. As part of that, Toner and his team kicked off a consolidation that positioned the state to provide quality support at lower costs. In addition, Toner oversees a $120 million annual budget, a more than 350 person IT team and has worked alongside local government to bring IT services into the data center.

Return to the 2018StateScoop 50 Awards announcement pagehere.