Georgia CIO Singer resigns, declines reappointment

Georgia chief information officer Larry Singer has resigned and advised Republican Gov.-elect Sonny Perdue that he will not seek reappointment next year, the Georgia Technology Authority announced Nov. 25. The resignation is effective Dec. 9.Singer's move comes in response to a request Nov. 22 by Perdue for the resignations of all state agency and department heads. Despite the request, Perdue is encouraging all the officials to reapply for their jobs, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.Singer has served as state CIO and executive director of the Georgia Technology Authority under Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes since July 2000. Singer said he will return to Public Interest Breakthroughs, a not-for-profit firm that provides consulting services to governments on the use of technology.At Perdue's request, Singer will be available as an adviser to the governor-elect's transition team and to the GTA. Singer's resignation and decision not to seek reappointment comes as Georgia prepares to award a groundbreaking 10-year, $1.8 billion telecommunications outsourcing project next year.Until he leaves, Singer will serve as a principal negotiator during the critical phase of negotiations with the two contracting teams that have submitted bids for the Convergent Communications Outsourcing Project. IBM Corp. of Armonk, N.Y., is the prime contractor for the EnvisionGeorgia team, while Electronic Data Systems Corp. of Plano, Texas, is the primary systems integrator on a bid team known as ConnectGeorgia.Negotiations for the telecommunications outsourcing project began Nov. 25, with the project award expected in April 2003. Barnes plans to recommend to the GTA Board that deputy director and chief operating officer Tom Wade serve as acting executive director until a permanent appointment is made. Singer was chief architect and participated in the design of almost every aspect of the Convergent Communications Outsourcing Project, according to GTA.During his tenure as state CIO and head of GTA, Singer pursued numerous IT infrastructure initiatives, helped modernize the state's computing environment to improve security and reliability and oversaw the creation of a new state portal.Speaking of the telecommunications outsourcing project, Singer said: "I am proud to have begun this work, and will do everything in my power to move us closer to delivering a successful project to our new governor."