Guest Blog Post by Jim Gwinn, FirstNet Chief Information Officer
Security, innovation, and collaboration were the big buzzwords at the annual Government Information Technology Executive Council (GITEC) 2014 Summit held this week in Baltimore, MD. The focus of this year’s summit was “Inspiring Innovation in Uncertain Times,” and almost everyone I spoke with or listened to during the various presentations echoed that theme. Attendees stressed the importance of partnering across all levels of government to deliver more efficient and effective Information Technology (IT) services to their customers.
I had the opportunity to participate on a panel with representatives from other federal and state agencies to discuss the topic of “joint interagency initiatives.” We provided overviews about our organizations and addressed the challenges and benefits involved with coordinating programs with other federal, state, and local agencies. We also shared best practices for how to maximize interagency partnerships, including ideas for leveraging interagency resources, increasing awareness about federal programs and goals, and developing a continuous feedback loop with our interagency stakeholders and customers.
The discussions and suggestions were helpful to me as a new member of the FirstNet team. It was exciting to meet with new and familiar faces from the public and private IT sectors to discuss the FirstNet mission. As I said during my presentation at the summit and in my conversations with attendees, both teamwork and innovation will be critical as we build up the organization’s infrastructure and as FirstNet works with public safety and IT officials in the states and territories to deploy a nationwide public safety broadband network.
Meanwhile, the FirstNet team will continue its outreach to state and territorial IT executives today. FirstNet Board member Teri Takai and Deputy General Manager TJ Kennedy are participating in the National Association of State Chief Information Officer’s (NASCIO) 2014 “D.C. Fly-in” event, which is an annual opportunity for federal and state IT policymakers to share information about policies and programs that have a major impact on state governments. In addition, my colleague David Buchanan, who is Director of State Consultation, is presenting today at the National Association of State Technology Directors (NASTD) Eastern Regional Seminar in Providence, RI.
I would like to thank the organizers of the 2014 GITEC Summit for inviting FirstNet to this year’s event. Technology is evolving at an extremely fast pace, and the FirstNet team looks forward to continue meeting with IT professionals from all levels of government on a regular basis as we work to ramp up FirstNet’s capabilities to build a nationwide public safety broadband network.
-Jim
