New York appoints first chief information officer

In a long-awaited move, New York Gov. George Pataki has created the position of state chief information officer and appointed James Dillon to serve in the position, the governor's office announced Jan. 29.

Dillon serves as the deputy executive director of the New York Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research. From January 1995 to April 2001, he was executive deputy commissioner and acting commissioner of the Department of Labor, overseeing the implementation of the federal Workforce Investment Act and New York state's welfare-to-work program implementation.

In his new role as CIO, Dillon will oversee, coordinate and direct state resources related to technology policies, the governor's office said. Dillon also will coordinate state IT relations with federal and local governments and private colleges and universities.

The new chief information officer "will play a key role in developing a highly coordinated, effective and easy to use information technology program for the people of New York State," said Pataki. Dillon's "extensive knowledge of information and technology issues" was a major factor in his selection, Pataki said.

New York has long struggled with how to govern IT, said Tom Davies, senior vice president at Current Analysis Inc., Sterling, Va. Creating the CIO position "is a major step" for the state, he said.

Chris Dixon, digital government coordinator at the Lexington, Ky.-based National Association of State CIOs, said the New York CIO "is the latest addition to the list of state executives with specific IT oversight who formally report directly to their governors."

Whether a CIO has a cabinet level position and reports directly to the governor "is not an automatic indicator of a governor's or a legislature's commitment to information technology or digital government," Dixon said. "Besides, nearly every CIO sees his or her governor at some point during the year."