CompTIA Sharkbytes

A conversation with Darryl Polk, Chief Technology Officer, County of Riverside, CA and CGCIO graduate.  Darryl, once a public safety dispatcher and having spent many years as the Director of Innovation & Technology (CIO) at the City of Rancho Cucamonga is now with the County of Riverside where he has uncovered an unsettling situation regarding ownership of cloud data and the ability to move to another vendor if need be. How good are cloud managed contracts and beyond the “happy talk” what perils lie beneath the surface? Darryl does a masterful job explaining what to look out for.

A year-end summary with host Alan Shark, CompTIA Vice President, Public Sector and Executive Director for the Public Technology Institute.

A conversation with Ruth Buckley, Director Cork City Council and CIO.Ruth Buckley has been with the City of Cork Ireland. As a member of senior management team for over 20 years she has led an ambitious digital transformation program, the delivery of a Digital strategy for the city and is a founder of the Cork Smart Gateway. As of founder member of I Wish, Ruth fully supports women in technology and diversity in the workplace.Ruth holds two internationally recognized project management certifications PMP and IPMA and has managed complex business transformation projects for over 20 years in both the private and public sectors.

A conversation with Nadira Hussain, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Martin Ferguson, Policy and Research Director, Society for Innovation, Technology and Modernization (SOCITIM), United Kingdom. Formed in 1986, SOCITIM focuses on how technologies and data can be harnessed to reset the collective mindset to ensure adherence to ethical principles, respecting social foundations and ecological constraints locally and globally and to reform public services by embracing innovation and modernization. Both Nadira and Martin share their passions for excellence in tech leadership – especially helping woman excel.

A conversation with Steve Emmanuel, Partner and Director, Consulting Services, State and Local Government, CGI.Now back in the private sector, Steve has not strayed from his roots or his passion for public service. Few have the employment portfolio that comes close to Steve’s. He has been the CIO of Amtrak before going full-blown into the public sector. He was State CIO of New Jersey, CIO of Montgomery County, MD; CIO City of Newark, NJ. And he made many lasting improvements in every position. His passion for public service remains as he continues his career assisting other and apply his vast knowledge

A conversation with James E. Pacanowski, CGCIO – Network Administrator, Ventnor City, NJJim is all too typical of most local government CIOs who have little to no staff. While Jim’s official title is “Network Administrator” he is a one-person operation serving as CIO, CTO, CISO, and much more. Jim has been with the City of Ventnor. A graduate of Syracuse University Jim majored in civil and aerospace engineering, Jim was hired by the City of Ventnor, NJ in 2003 as Network Administrator and has been with the city for over 19 years. Jim also serves as President of the Ventnor City Board of Education. Anyone who has ever played the game of Monopoly may recall the name Ventnor was made famous with as one of its properties.Jim has worked hard through the years keeping up with fast changing world of IT. As a result, he holds a number of certifications. These include: CGCIO – Certified Government Chief Information Officer from Rutgers and CompTIA PTI, MCP – Microsoft Certified Professional, MOS – Microsoft Office Certified Master Instructor, A+ Certified Network Technician, and Security + Certificate.

A conversation with Maria Thompson, CISSP, CRISC, SLG Leader, Cybersecurity Amazon Web Services (AWS). Maria has a passion for public service and in particular, cybersecurity awareness and readiness. Maria served as North Carolina’s top cybersecurity official, after six-and-a-half years as its chief risk officer where she often advocated for a “whole-of-state” mentality in protecting securing IT and infrastructural assets, an approach that resulted in closer collaboration not just between agencies in Raleigh, but with local governments and the education and private sectors. Before state government, Maria had a 20-year career in the Marine Corps, during which she was among the branch’s first group of cybersecurity personnel, ultimately retiring as its first cybersecurity and information assurance chief. We discuss the need to bring greater diversity into public service – and in particular tech.

A conversation with Giselle Mota, Creator of NFTY Collective and Founder of Versd, and Deborah Schildkraut, CompTIA’s Vice President for Global Community Engagement. Giselle Mota is highly regarded as a leading futurist and thought leader focused on enabling an inclusive future of work, web3, and the metaverse. She has been named as a Top 100 Future of Work Thought Leader. NFTY Collective focuses on bringing disability inclusion into web3 and metaverse, and Versd is an inclusive innovation and strategic ventures group. Giselle is a global speaker and has been featured on TED Talks, Forbes, Yahoo News, Cheddar News, and Chief Learning Officer Magazine.

A conversation with Giselle Mota, Creator of NFTY Collective and Founder of Versd, and Deborah Schildkraut, CompTIA’s Vice President for Global Community Engagement. Giselle Mota is highly regarded as a leading futurist and thought leader focused on enabling an inclusive future of work, web3, and the metaverse. She has been named as a Top 100 Future of Work Thought Leader. NFTY Collective focuses on bringing disability inclusion into web3 and metaverse, and Versd is an inclusive innovation and strategic ventures group. Giselle is a global speaker and has been featured on TED Talks, Forbes, Yahoo News, Cheddar News, and Chief Learning Officer Magazine.

A conversation with Lena Geraghty, Director, Sustainability & innovation Center for City Solutions, National League of Cities. Lena will share in some of the basic themes found in NLC’s recent publication, Cities and the Metaverse. This publication serves as an excellent guide towards better understanding the possibilities of how cities can use this wide-ranging technology. Access the publication HERE (https://www.nlc.org/resource/cities-and-the-metaverse/). Before coming to NLC, Lena served as Director of Innovation and Performance Management for the City of Portland, Maine; and prior worked as Senior Implementation Advisor for the Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University.