TAGITM, 

And then…it’s done.  Well, not really done.  But my time as President has come to an end.  What a fast year it was.  I had a blast.  As I said at the Conference, it was one of the highest professional honors I have had to serve as your President. I surprised myself and didn’t get all emotional at the end, but I want to express my deep gratitude to all of you who supported, shared kind words, etc.  It was an amazing year, and the last week was absolutely the cherry on top.  I had no idea how many individual people would come up and tell me what a great conference they were having, how much they enjoyed the many different events and opportunities to network, etc.  Heck, some of you even told me you enjoyed the way I led the org over the year and during the conference.  Your judgement might be a little suspect, but it meant the world to me!  I mean that. 

What happened last week took a big team and I was just the guy up front with the microphone a lot of the time.  All of our committees had a hand in pulling off that amazing conference, as well as the incredible team at CMP.  As President, I am a beneficiary of all their hard work.  It’s easy to look good up there when you have a hard-working team behind you that puts you in the right positions.  Sure, there were some things that probable didn’t go perfectly over the course of the week, but they were fairly minor and were handled quickly and efficiently.  That’s how a great time works and last week was proof of such. 

I am excited to see where Chris leads us this year.  This organization defines STRONG to me.  We are strong financially.  We are strong reputation and perception wise.  We are strong in membership.  We are strong in diversity.  We are strong in experience.  We are strong in partnerships.  We are strong in lots and lots of areas, and I believe we are only going to get stronger.  Leadership turnover always brings some changes, and typically those changes are a good thing.  It also brings new opportunity for you to be a part of the team that makes this organization keep being strong.  Dive in.  Take a seat on a Committee.  Share your ideas.  Stretch yourself a little.  It’s definitely worth it.  You all are what make the organization strong, so bring your A game and show us what you got. 

Thank you.  Thank you all very much for an incredible honor and year.  I am still around, and you know how to reach me.  TAGITM has a special place in my heart, and you all are the biggest part of that!

Tony Gonzalez,
Past President, TAGITM

Dear Members of TAGITM,

I am honored to address you as the incoming President of the Texas Association of Government IT Managers (TAGITM). As we move into the new year, I want to express my excitement for the opportunity to serve you and the larger community of IT professionals in government. I also want to make a personal pledge to every one of you that I will do my best to uphold the values of TAGITM, including integrity, transparency, and excellence as we work together to tackle the challenges facing our industry.

At TAGITM, our mission is to support and promote government technology professionals by fostering strategic partnerships and providing education, collaboration, and leadership opportunities. This is an important and critical mission that requires us to work together to share knowledge, experiences, and best practices.

As we begin this new year, we face many challenges and opportunities. Technology is constantly evolving, and it is our responsibility to keep up with these changes to ensure that we can continue to provide high-quality services to our constituents. We must also be mindful of the need to balance innovation with security and privacy concerns.

One of my goals as President is to increase collaboration and communication among our members as well as industry partners. We will work to create more opportunities for networking, sharing of resources, and professional development. I also plan to focus on advocacy efforts to ensure that government IT is adequately funded and supported.

I am committed to ensuring that TAGITM remains the premier organization for government technology professionals in Texas, and I look forward to working with each of you to achieve our shared goals. Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions or concerns, and I encourage you to participate in our upcoming events and activities. Visit our website to view upcoming events, or to sign up for a committee!

Thank you for the privilege of serving as your President.

Sincerely,

Chris Lee
President, TAGITM

Thanks to all who attended the 45th Annual TAGITM Conference at the beautiful La Cantera Resort. It was our highest attendance yet! We tried a couple of different things for this year’s conference including the first industry partner award, a GIS education day and our First Women in Tech Breakfast event.

I am proud of all of the new additions, but most proud of the WIT event. It was very well received and standing room only! The other ladies on the board, Fay Young, Kat Thompson and I received such great feedback at the conference and positive emails afterward. I hope we can continue the momentum for a future Women in Tech Event.

By now you should have received a conference survey. We ask you to please complete that and provide as much feedback as possible. The TAGITM board uses the survey information for future education and event planning. I enjoyed serving on the board once again this year and cannot wait to see what next year brings for TAGITM.

Jennifer Frescaz
2023 TAGITM Conference Chair

This year was a first for myself with participating in the team building event and what can I say, it was a blast. I previously enjoyed sitting off to the side to not get involved but this time I started walking the talk I have been sharing with others of "get involved" to make a difference. Well, the BBQ sauce edition was a personal hit for me, and our team did an amazing job. We got to have loads of fun with getting the song lyrics, the jellybean flavors, and scrabble words that went along with food. Never knew ingredients were so expensive... This will certainly be an event I do not want to miss going forward.

GovTech
Tarrant County taxpayers have spent $26.6 million on a courts software system since 2011, but the program still hasn’t gotten off the ground.

GovLoop
As the government collects more data on individuals, it becomes more important than ever to guarantee its privacy.

Statescoop
CISA and cyber authorities from the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand have released a guidebook aimed at protecting assets used in "smart cities" programs.

GovLoop
Government employees face unique challenges trying to establish a healthy work-life balance. Results from this survey illustrate some helpful techniques.

Statescoop
The 911 Emergency Services Department of Presidio County, Texas, is testing AI-enabled live audio translation for emergency calls.

By Fay Young, PMP®, CGCIO™, Information Technology Director, City of Port Arthur
At each conference and summit, I always get the same questions:  Who puts all this together? Who decides what will happen at the conference/summit? How can my company become a sponsor? And how is all this paid for?

Having served on the Education Committee for many years, I could answer some of those questions, but many details still needed to be discovered.  I knew there was a TAGITM board and that CMP Management does a lot to help make things happen.  But there was still a lot that I needed to learn about how TAGITM functioned.

                    

By James O’Brien, CISSP, CGCIO, Director of Information Technology, City of Friendswood
A simple lesson learned from the annual TAGITM conference is DO NOT MISS THE LAST SESSION. "Wow, I thought this was only in the movies," is about the best way I can describe my response to the content shared from Devalle and Chris from TEEX. The information shared about "Hacking the Human Mind" was material that everyone needed to hear. I have never been so concerned with watching body language of someone checking their pulse to match mine to build confidence I am in sync with them which leads to trusting them and potentially making myself vulnerable to social engineering. Again, you should have been there!