TAGITM,

Who is ready for the Fall?  What a summer it has been!  For the TAGITM Board, I think I can say we are excited about the Fall.  We recently completed our Strategic Planning Meeting, which really sets our direction for the upcoming year.  There was a lot of great discussion and decisions made that we sincerely hope will bring value to you as members and will strengthen TAGITM as an organization. 

Speaking of strengthening TAGITM, I need to welcome a couple of new committee Chairs to the Board and announce a move.  First up, Fay Young (Port Arthur) has agreed to be our Education Committee Chair for the upcoming year.  Fay has been a faithful TAGITM member over the years and has served on this Committee for the last couple of years, so I am very confident in her ability to lead the group and put together great content for our Reginal Summits and the Annual Conference.  James O’Brien (Friendswood) has already been active as the new Cyber Security Committee Chair as some of you may have seen.  We are looking to strengthen our relationship with the state on the Cyber Security front, as well as up our game in the education and communication to members surrounding the hot Cyber Security topics.  James has jumped in with both feet and is already making strides in those areas.  Jennifer Frescaz has taken over the Conference Committee Chair position and she is already putting plans together for the Annual Conference at La Cantera Resort.  A big thank you to these three and all the returning Committee Chairs and Board Members.  It takes a lot of folks to make TAGITM go each and every year and I am thankful for all of these teammates willingness to step up and serve. 

By the way, did you catch the La Cantera comment?  That’s right, we are going back to La Cantera this year.  We have always gotten very good feedback on this location and our attendance numbers show it is very popular.  In fact, we will be there for several years in a row.  We have grown to such a size that it just made sense to book La Cantera for several years in a row to lock in pricing and assure us of a desirable location.  Rumors have been spread that the Golf Tournament might be back, but that is just a rumor.  😊 I hope you are already making plans to attend. 

I know you are all wrapping up budget season and getting ready to spend all that money allotted to IT and are beginning the hiring process for all those new FTE’s you successfully lobbied for, right?  OK, maybe not.  Like most of us, you are probably trying to figure out how you are going to spend the money and utilize the FTE’s you did get, but also wondering how you get everything else done that wasn’t funded in your budget.  It seems like we are in this predicament every year, doesn’t it?  I believe that is where TAGITM can be of great value to you as a member.  Put your issues out there.  Ask for advice.  Reach out to your colleagues across the State and find out how they have solved similar problems.  That’s just one of the many avenues that makes TAGITM great.  The membership here has a vast amount of combined experience (Anyone wanna try getting that number together?) and knowledge.  I have always seen TAGITM as one of the best tools available to me as an IT Professional.  I hope you see it the same way and will find additional ways to contribute to your peers over this coming year. 

I look forward to serving as the TAGITM President this year.  If you have ideas for the org, general questions about TAGITM, or just wanna talk golf, hunting and my new lab (Vader), you know how to reach me.  Happy to chat about all things TAGITM and most things not TAGITM.  Now, please do your favorite rain dance as the aforementioned Summer comes to a close.  I think we could all use it!

Tony Gonzalez
TAGITM President

TAGITM relies on members who volunteer their time and talents to make our organization the authoritative voice for Texas Government Technology.  This year, we welcome Fay Young and James O’Brien.  Both were kind enough to share their thoughts and visions for their committees. Follow the lInk below to learn more.

The Board encourages all members to volunteer and be a part of the making TAGITM the premier organization in Texas for all things Governmental IT!

StateScoop
Last November President Joe Biden signed a $1.2 trillion infrastructure spending law, including a new federal cybersecurity grant program aimed at state and local governments. According to New Hampshire Chief Information Officer Denis Goulet, an outline for how the program will work might show itself soon.

CSO
The company states that user data remains secure and it continues to investigate the cause of the issue, but the incident is a reminder that password managers are an attractive target for threat actors.

Govloop
Years ago, remote work options were few and far between, but this has changed significantly since 2020. City of Dallas CIO Bill Zielinski shares some important advice for creating a welcoming, inclusive atmosphere for all employees through the hybrid workplace.

Government Technology
Over the past decade cloud services have been on the rise across all industries, and since 2013 government funding for cloud computing has increased dramatically. Now, about one-sixth of funding opportunities in the state and local gov tech industry, are for cloud computing services.

CSO
Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the launch of an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) to crack down on harmful commercial surveillance and lax data security. While some praise this effort, some in Congress worry that it may jeopardize the passing of the American Data Privacy and Protection Act.

San Antonio is the seventh largest City and the second largest cybersecurity ecosystem in the country, and the establishment of the ARSOC signals San Antonio’s dedicated focus to becoming a national leader in cybersecurity. The ARSOC will allow the San Antonio region to monitor, train, and work together to defend cybersecurity threats facing the community. In its effort to support the growth of the regional cybersecurity ecosystem, the City of San Antonio has attained one of the most significant strategic assets and investments with the ARSOC by creating a physical environment and virtual relationships that bridge education, training, entrepreneurship, critical infrastructure defense and continuity of government operations.

The ARSOC is committed to protecting City of San Antonio’s infrastructure and critical systems from threats using emerging technology and advancing cyber resilience in the region through public-private partnerships, collaborative trainings, and skills development, as well as regular training and exercises for regional municipal partner and participating organizations.