You Are Here: 2006 Award for Excellence in Government Information Services Winner
Every year, The Forum recognizes an individual whose work has definitively contributed to the overall improvement of government information services in New York State. In recent years public sector IT has become far more complex requiring integration across state-level agencies and with the local level. Moreover, government IT operations have become a likely target of external threats requiring a much higher degree of coordination and creative leadership. In today's fiscal environment, all of these challenges become even more difficult. All that is to say that The Forum's Annual Award for Excellence in Government Information Services has taken on new meaning in this complex and dynamic environment we operate in. Achieving "excellence in government information services," as judged by one's peers, is no small accomplishment.
This year's award was presented to Paul Fisk, Assistant Chief, Division of the Budget.
Paul Fisk has served the State of New York for more than 27 years and was a founding member of The Forum. As Assistant Chief in the Division of the Budget with primary responsibility for technology-related issues, Paul has consistently advocated an enterprise view of technology investments and has done much to advance the awareness of technology-related issues by the State's key managers and leaders.
Over the last two years, Paul has spearheaded the Division of the Budget's partnership with the Office of the CIO and the Office for Technology to develop and implement a statewide technology planning process. The vision for this process was to bring together program, fiscal, and technology staff to collaboratively develop an agency technology plan consistent with the agency's mission, priorities, and budget. The Annual Technology Plan process achieves a myriad of State goals, including: consistency with the OCIO's Strategic Plan, ability to leverage the State's buying power, improved projections of the need for OFT services, heightened cooperation among State agencies seeking related solutions, and prioritization of scarce resources to ensure improved program outcomes.
The Annual Technology Plan process will form the foundation for all major technology investment decisions made in New York for years to come. As one of the primary architects of this proactive planning process, Paul has left an indelible mark on the technology landscape.
In addition, Paul has lent his skills to the development of the strategy to gain support for development of a statewide, consolidated data center; the acquisition and implementation of a statewide financial management system; and, the creation of new opportunities for employment and training of the State's IT workforce.
While these initiatives may appear new to some, they have their roots in visionary work completed by Paul earlier in his career. As a highly regarded professional in the technology field, Paul consistently advanced thoughtful and well-crafted policies over his nearly three-decade long career - many of which were ahead of their time. In particular, Paul saw the value in building bridges between the academic, vendor, business, and governmental communities to share knowledge and achieve common goals through mechanisms like the Forum. He continues to work toward that goal - most recently, training a new generation of budget professionals in how to foster agency efforts to successfully launch and implement major technology projects.
At a time when technology is increasingly viewed as the key to improved government performance, the State is fortunate to reap the benefits of Paul's long commitment to bringing greater focus on and understanding of technology issues. It is with great pleasure, that we present the 2006 Award for Excellence in Government Information Services to Paul Fisk.