NEWS ROOM | Press Releases
For immediate release: September 16, 2004
Contact: Beth Roszman
Road to Recovery: State CIOs to Convene for Annual Meeting Despite Close Encounter with Hurricane Ivan
(Lexington, KY) - The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) will convene for its Annual meeting at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans on September 19-22, 2004. The theme of the event is "The Road to Recovery: Leading Effectively, Investing Wisely". Predictions from earlier this week forecasting that Hurricane Ivan could potentially make a direct hit on New Orleans led many to believe that canceling the conference would be inevitable. However, it has indeed been a road to recovery for NASCIO's Annual conference as the effects of the hurricane bypassed the city and left it virtually untouched. "The city missed everything as it turned out. We really feel lucky and are excited about NASCIO coming to New Orleans," said Stephen Perry, president of the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau. NASCIO was scheduled to go to New Orleans for its 2001 Annual conference, but had to cancel due to the incidents of September 11. So NASCIO also feels lucky to finally be going to the Big Easy.
CIOs from 37 states will be in attendance. The conference is an opportunity for the key technology policy makers in each state to share information and develop new initiatives. Featured speakers include a keynote address by Chris Warner, founder of the Amber Alert Web portal and recipient of the Stockholm Challenge Award, considered to be the Nobel Prize for information technology. Author and reinventing expert David Osborne will also deliver a keynote address. In addition, former Wyoming Governor James Geringer will speak on a conference session focusing on the critical success factors for CIO leadership. Geringer is also the recipient of the 2004 NASCIO Technology Champion Award.
One of the highlights of this year's conference will be the presentation of the 2004 NASCIO Recognition Awards, honoring outstanding achievements in the field of information technology. Information technology best practices from eight states will be recognized. In addition, the Meritorious Service award will be given to a state CIO exemplifying dedication to state government IT and NASCIO. Press releases announcing all winners will be issued immediately following the ceremony on Tuesday, September 21.
The conference program will include sessions addressing some of the most pressing issues of the day such as architecture, governance, privacy, procurement, economic development and homeland security. For more information about the conference including full agenda, visit the NASCIO website at http://www.nascio.org/events/2004AnnualConference/agenda.cfm.
NASCIO represents the state chief information officers from the 50 states, six U.S. territories and the District of Columbia. Members include cabinet and senior level state officials responsible for information resource management. Other IT officials participate as associate members and private sector representatives may become corporate members.
Contact: Beth Roszman, NASCIO Project Coordinator, (859) 514-9167, broszman@amrinc.net.
Association Management Resources, Inc. (AMR) provides NASCIO's executive staff. For more information about AMR visit http://www.amrinc.net/.
