A Message from the Chair
September, 2005
Dear Members, Colleagues, Friends:
Endings are always sad, so I try to remember that although this is the end of my term as chair, it is the beginning of a new phase of my life and possible changes within New York State government. I have enjoyed serving with past chairs Gene Pezdek and Mike Donovan and have learned a lot from them. The three years serving as an officer have gone by quickly.
We have seen lots of changes within IT over the last three years and that always has an impact on an organization like The Forum. Our relationship with the CIO's office, both Jim Dillon and Mike Mittleman, remains strong as we plan our strategic direction in support of the CIO initiatives. Monthly meetings with the CIO's office enable us to make sure that communication, which is always the most important aspect of our jobs, continues in support of the sharing of information and best practices.
All of the good things we do could not happen without the voluntary participation of our committee membership - both government and corporate. We are a unique organization in that blending of government and corporate. And so, I want to thank all of our volunteers. Your participation makes us what we are. I also want to thank the IT Corporate Roundtable for not only co-chairing our committees but also for responding quickly to requests to bring some of your valuable resources to bear on issues of importance.
Our nine committees have an impressive list of accomplishments. Not only do they support activities and initiatives in the CIO's office but also the Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination with the coordination and planning of the annual cyber security conference and the monthly security web casts. Our educational seminars were many and varied on topics that were obviously of interest as attendance was at a record high again this year. We are targeting a wide range of audience in our programs: procurement staff, legal, executives, operational and technical, managers and staff level, state and local government with programs such as negotiating IT contracts, project management, the state enterprise strategic plan, enterprise architecture, navigating civil service and human resource issues and website accessibility.
The Forum is a great organization which has endured for 19 years. While initially it provided a chance, that was rare at the time, to share and learn across individual organizations, it still provides an opportunity to work together with people from all parts of government and the corporate side as well. It is a chance to make a difference, learn a great deal and know that in the end, the result has helped the Enterprise and been part of your own personal growth.
The staff at The Forum provide continuity to the organization. They provide the glue that holds us all together. Greg Benson, Executive Director, continues to work hard to ensure The Forum's success, both from a fiscal perspective in working to maintain the balance sheet and finding ways to support our activities as well as expanding our organizational and educational programs. Rebecca Buchner, Executive Assistant, is the woman behind the scenes without whom we wouldn't be able to operate. Milena Ivanova, Technical Coordinator, is a pleasant, responsive person who maintains the website, registration for events and is always out there recording, on camera, important events.
So, as endings are always beginnings of something else, the next year will be the beginning of a new officer team. I have enjoyed, respected and valued the contributions of my fellow officers Celia Hamblin and Leigh Favitta. I wish them well in the next year and can only hope that I leave the office having made some positive changes. I know that the experience has been a positive one for me. Thank you for the opportunity.
Sincerely,
Joanne Riddett
Chair, 2004-2005
Our Mission
It is the mission of the New York State Forum to promote and support policies and practices for effective, equitable and secure use and management of information resources in New York state government at all levels.
Our Core Initiatives
Highlights of the 2004-2005 Program Year
NOTE: Data reported reflects status as of August 12, 2005 and projections related to initiatives pursued through the end of The Forum's program year (September 30, 2005).
National Recognition
The Forum was named to the 2005 Associations Advance America Honor Roll, a national awards competition sponsored by the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), in Washington, D.C. The Forum received the award for the work of its IT Accessibility Committee to develop a training program for making New York state websites accessible and usable by the disabled and then affording that training to over 2,000 New York state government web site developers. In addition, the recognition acknowledged the role that The Forum's IT Accessibility Committee had in the shaping of a new state policy and standards for government web site accessibility. The Forum's Committee is co-chaired by Deborah Orton of the NYS Governor's Office of Employee Relations, Mike Short of the NYS Department of Civil Service and Lisa Hebert Ryan of MicroKnowledge, Inc. The Committee includes members from a wide spectrum of New York state agencies.
Strengthening and Building New Alliances
NYS Forum programs rely on the expertise and support of a variety of public sector, nonprofit and corporate partners. Without these productive partnerships, the organization's programs for NY state and local government leadership and staff simply would not exist. Given the extraordinary level of program participation this year, The Forum wishes to acknowledge the contributions of the following partners:
In addition, in 2004-2005 The Forum...
Affording Quality and Timely Educational Opportunities
During 2004-2005, The Forum offered more education and training events to more participants than ever before in its history. Over 30 events designed to specifically address member concerns and needs were offered during this program year to over 11,000 participants. Continuing as a key factor in the growth of this vital member service area is the use of virtual delivery mechanisms to expand outreach and participation beyond The Forum's traditional onsite, face-to-face format. The national cyber security web cast series developed in conjunction with the NYS Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination on behalf of the US Office of Homeland Security and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center has been central to developing this virtual capacity. The growth in program participation is shown below:
Other pertinent facts include:
Notable Forum Education Events in 2004-2005
Research, Publication and Tool Development Initiatives
Research, publications and tools developed (electronic and print) during the 2004-2005 program year reflected both the traditional pursuits common to The Forum but also signify a clear commitment to providing useful and timely tools and information for IT leadership in New York state.
The Project Management Committee, in collaboration with the CIO Council, created the Peer Review Process and Checklist. These tools are fundamental to achieving approval for pursuance of significant IT initiatives in New York.
The IT Accessibility Committee, in conjunction with the Webmasters' Guild, conducted an extensive survey and follow-up focus groups resulting in the publication of a white paper entitled, Mastering the Web Revolution in NYS Government Agencies, which contains seven specific action items for The Forum. This balance of dynamic tool development and traditional research is indicative of the rich variety of initiatives inherent to the work of The Forum and its committees in responding to the needs of New York's IT leadership and staff.
Resource "repositories" created by several Forum Committees have become useful places for identifying best practices and available process templates and worksheets.
In an effort to keep committee members and other interested professionals fully up to speed on initiatives, the IT Accessibility and Project Management Committees instituted regular issuance of electronic newsletters.
Forum Committees: The Core of Forum Productivity
The work of Forum committees has grown substantially in the last few years. Indeed, the committees and their committed leadership and members have emerged as the core strength of The Forum. In 2004-2005, the accomplishments of the committees far surpassed previous years. This only occurred because of the committed leadership of these important groups and The Forum is extremely grateful to our Committee Co-Chairs (see the end of this document).
Though ongoing committee work and minutes of meetings are posted on The Forum's website, it is important to underscore here that several committees achieved noteworthy outcomes during 2004-2005:
Administrative Operations
Proactive pursuance of services aligned with member and state priorities is the central objective of The Forum's administration. Forum leadership strives to attain the utmost level of efficiency and continual enhancement of organizational output and quality to achieve the highest return on investment. During this past year:
Quotes:
"We have a real jewel of a resource in the Forum."
Diana Ritter, Executive Deputy Comptroller, NYS Office of the State Comptroller
"The Forum's Annual Security Conference keeps getting even better each year."
Barry Pardee, Sr. Account Manager, DynTek
".....working with The Forum and its Corporate Roundtable has been a very rewarding experience! For the past four years I have witnessed the growth and enthusiasm of both the public sector and corporate participants as we've worked together towards common goals. We have truly made a difference in several categories of collaboration and the results are now encouraging even more joint initiatives of benefit to us all...."
Bill Branch, Bearingpoint
"The Forum and its IT Corporate Roundtable are unique in effectively addressing New York's IT policy, research and education needs. This year the outstanding committee accomplishments in the areas of IT procurement, cyber security, IT accessibility and project management clearly demonstrate that effectiveness."
Steve Frank, Vice President, North America Sales, Cúram Software
2004 - 2005 Executive Committee
Chair, Joanne Riddett, Thruway Authority
Vice Chair, Cecelia Hamblin, Department of Labor
Secretary/Treasurer, Leigh Favitta, Dormitory Authority
James Bell, Senate
Walter Bikowitz, Office of General Services
Thomas R. Bodden, Association of Towns of the State of New York
JoAnn P. Bomeisl, Insurance Department
Terri Daly, Office for Technology
Sharon Dawes, Center for Technology in Government
F. Michael Donovan, Office of the NYS Chief Information Officer
Stanley France, Schoharie County
Robert Freeman, Department of State, Committee on Open Government
Jeffrey S. Grunfeld, Office of the State Comptroller
Christine Haile, SUNY at Albany
Roman Hedges, Assembly
Karl Kelly, Division of Military & Naval Affairs
Robert G. Kelly, Division of Housing & Community Renewal
Kim S. McKinney, NYS Local Government IT Director's Association
Janice Morris, Department of Transportation
Nancy Mulholland, Workers' Compensation Board
Gene Pezdek, Department of Environmental Conservation
Franklin Slade, Department of Civil Service
Timothy Spencer, Division of the Budget
Victor Stucchi, Higher Education Services Corporation
Staff
Gregory M. Benson, Executive Director
Rebecca J. Buchner, Executive Assistant
Milena Ivanova, Technical Coordinator
IT Corporate Roundtable
Co-Chair, Fred DiMaggio, Empire State Development
Co-Chair, Stephen Frank, Cúram Software
Co-Chair, Ken Damato, RSA Security
Akamai Technologies, Inc.
Annese & Associates, Inc.
AT&T
Bearing Point
CDW-G
CGI-AMS
Cisco Systems
CMA
Computer Aid
Computer Associates
Cúram Software
D & D Consulting, Ltd.
Dell, Inc.
Deloitte
e-Biz Docs
EDS
EMC Corp.
ESI International
Gartner
Hewlett Packard
IBM
IIC
IMG
Keane
MicroKnowledge
Microsoft
Newstream Technologies
Nortel Networks
Novell
New York State Technology Enterprise Corp. (NYSTEC)
Oracle
RSA
SAS Institute, Inc.
Sybase, Inc.
Symantec
Unisys Corporation
Thanks to all who made 2004 - 2005 a success!
Contact us
Phone: (518) 443-5001
Fax: (518) 443-5006
Web: www.nysfirm.org
Email: info@nysfirm.org
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Albany, NY 12203