Baton Rouge - Chad McGee was recently confirmed as the state's first Chief Information Officer. McGee, who had been serving as acting CIO, was officially appointed by Gov. Mike Foster, and confirmed by the Senate earlier this month. His official appointment comes just over a year after Jim DuBos's controversial resignation from the CIO post.

"I'm glad we have Chad. He's shown incredible enthusiasm and dedication to this position and that's why I wanted to make it official," said Foster.
In the short time Chad has served as acting CIO, he and his staff have implemented a number of aggressive initiatives and he's been relentless in establishing a procurement process based on objective, independent research. His team has also drafted the state's first IT Master Plan, a much-needed road map for the state's IT goals and in support of Vision 2020-the state's master plan for economic development.

"My confirmation underscores this administration's understanding of the critical role IT plays in state government and is a significant step for Louisiana," says Chad McGee. "It is absolutely essential for a state to have someone leading and managing technology planning from an enterprise approach and my goal is to establish a process that is business based."

Because many CIOs procure through negotiation, the opportunity for maximum savings is compromised. Chad and his team are literally pitting the top companies in the world against each other to bid for the state's business and, so far, it's working. The first software bid netted 25% off of the best-negotiated price. Rather than using personal preference, professional, independent evaluations are used in determining the top products and a total cost of ownership model is applied to the qualified bidders.

Some critics have already labeled the process as too dogmatic. But Chad is adamant. "I have to keep personal preference out of the formula. I'm letting product vision and market share create mainstream solutions. It's not sexy and we may miss out on a leading edge product, but I will have earned savings for the state that we can reinvest in technology that reduces redundancy and provides the framework for efficient e-government."

Standardization and consolidation are also at the top of Chad's to-do list and he has his team posting weekly updates on the OIT site (www.doa.louisiana.gov/oit/index.htm). Says Commissioner Drennen, "I have pledged my assistance to Chad as he builds on the progress he and his staff have made in establishing and achieving the state's IT goals and believe he will endeavor to ensure Louisiana emerges as a leading technology state."

The CIO also serves as chairman of the Technology Innovation Fund (an internal venture capital fund available to agency technology innovators) and is supported by two oversight and advisory panels-the Technology Advisory Group (TAG) and the Technology Advisory Board (TAB). The TAG is comprised of IT directors from each agency and the TAB is represented by the governor's cabinet.