Ken Anderson has worked in Information Technology for the State of Arkansas for 21 years. A former store manager for Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., he is currently the Chief Information Officer for the Department of Labor and Licensing and manages a staff of 14 other IT professionals. He and his wife Donna have been married 38 years and have one daughter, one son and three grandsons (Britni, Sam, Abram, Saul, and Jack). Under his guidance the Department of Labor and Licensing’s Wage and Hour Division won the 2017 Governor’s Quality Award for innovations in the Public Sector Arena. Under Ken’s leadership the Department of Labor and Licensing’s IT Division is broadening the scope of digital transformation at the cabinet.

Louis Carr, Jr. is an executive level information technology professional with over 30 years of IT experience. He has 13 years of executive level and strategic planning experience, and 19 years of IT project management and IT management experience.
He has managed annual budgeted up to $200M and has had oversight over as many as 530 IT employees.
He has worked for several government agencies as Chief Information Officer, including the City of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (the largest public utility in the US), the State of Texas Department of Transportation (the largest state DOT in the US) and Clark County Nevada (the largest county government agency in the state of Nevada), the City of Arlington and the City of Las Vegas.
He has overseen transformative technology upgrades at all agencies such as replacing aging financial systems, deploying cloud-based office productivity software systems and leading teams that developed award winning websites.
On the personal side, he has 3 adult children (2 boys and 1 girls) and 2 grandsons. In 2019, he moved to Irvine, CA, where he currently resides. Louis enjoys live music, especially jazz and symphonic music.

Alan is Executive Vice President of e.Republic and Publisher of Government Technology magazine and Techwire. In this role, Alan is involved in the annual production of dozens of events as well as the strategic direction for Governing, Government Technology, Emergency Management, the Center for Digital Government and the Center for Digital Education. Alan is also the senior executive that has overall charge of e.Republic’s research organization which includes, custom research, the Digital Government and Digital Education Navigator tool and the Content Studio (webinars and custom content).
Alan has been a guest lecturer at universities and a frequent speaker for key government and industry organizations. For over 35 years, Alan has worked with industry, education and government officials to help them better understand the importance and use of information technology. Alan received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration at California State University, Sacramento.

Jeff Dean serves as the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) Chief Information Officer. Jeff has 30 years of information technology experience.
Jeff started his career in the private sector, holding various roles such as Technical Support Specialist, consultant and was a principal in a consulting firm. Jeff began his public service career in 2003 and has held UNIX Systems Administrator, Enterprise Systems Director, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Information Officer roles.
In his time at DHS, Jeff has focused on modernizing the agency’s legacy solutions, eliminating manual processes, and reducing duplicate solutions within DHS.

As the Minneapolis CIO for seven-plus years, Otto Doll was responsible for all city IT services. He also served as South Dakota’s CIO for 15 years with responsibility for all state government computing, telecommunications, radio and public broadcasting. While with IT research firms, Otto has advised Fortune 1000, federal, state and local government CIOs on information technology assessment and alignment to business needs. He has served as a director with the United States General Services Administration, developing information technology strategic plans and oversight policy.
Otto received his computer science degree from Virginia Tech and is a senior executive fellow of the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He is a past president of NASCIO – a national organization of state CIOs. He also is a past president of the Metropolitan Information Exchange (MIX) – a national organization of city and county CIOs. Otto was named to Government Technology's 2004 Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers.

Larry Flaxman currently serves as the Chief Information Security Officer for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, the largest Arkansas state agency, providing singular accountability for information security controls and compliance across all DHS divisions and offices.
As CISO, he is responsible for establishing principal security strategies, cyber framework, and execution plans to secure the agencies 7500+ employees and programs. Larry has been integral to the development of the agencies policies and procedures related to HIPAA and CJIS compliance as well as applicable state and federal guidelines on security, privacy, audit and monitoring requirements.
As part of his role, Larry leads the DHS incident response team in investigating and mitigating cybersecurity threats and is responsible for establishing and maintaining the information security training and awareness programs required for all DHS employees.
Prior to joining DHS, he served in various essential roles for both state and federal agencies for over 24 years, and comes from a diverse background of information technology and law enforcement, including expertise in digital forensic investigation and cybersecurity defense.
In his free time, Larry divides his time between his 501c(3) foundation – The Bridge of Compassion, and the obligations of being a best-selling-author widely known for applying his unique style of analytical science to anomalous topics.

Mr. Randy Foshee is the director of the City of Little Rock Information Technology Department. Randy began his technology career with the city in 1982 working his way from mainframe operations to the advanced private and public cloud technology of today. As a night operator for the City mainframe while in college, upon graduating from Arkansas College of Technology with a degree in Computer Programming, he moved into programming with the City and worked his way up through the programming ranks, being promoted as the first Network Security Manager, after which came the appointment to Director of Information Technology in 2007.
In his current position, he oversees and directs all technology for the City of Little Rock’s fourteen Departments. The IT Department itself is comprised of five divisions: Administration, Applications, Operations, Public Safety Applications and Network Security, with an authorized strength of 41 staff members which supports a network of over 1600 workstations and 2000 users.
Randy has personally developed programs for Finance, Payroll, and countless Public Safety systems. He has overseen the creation of a program for mobile computers in police vehicles which makes electronic police reporting a reality, as well as a Records Management System to manage the data generated. He was instrumental in the design and implementation of a citywide network, constantly pushing the City of Little Rock to embark on new technology.
In recent years, the concern around Cyber Security has been a top priority for Randy and his team. He was the driving force behind the purchase of a Dell Cyber Security solution. Randy reiterated the importance of information security by sending out cyber security training through the city’s system for all city employees. The Department has upgraded its firewalls in both of its Data Centers and will begin the installation of a new Network Core soon. The recent implementation of a state-of-the-art CAD system in the 911 Center to improved response times to citizens as well as officer safety when responding to calls for service. The IT Department is also working to convert all phones over to the Voice over Internet Protocol Phone (VoIP) system to provide more reliable and specialized service.
The IT Department, under Randy’s direction, always strives to provide excellent service to all city employees in a secure, safe environment.

Noel Hara is an experienced strategist that infuses technology solutions across the public sector to help solve the most challenging problems. As Chief Technology Officer with NTT DATA’s public sector, he blends over two decades of experience in the public and private sector with an insatiable curiosity for technology and applications. Since the start of the global pandemic, Noel has been responsible for adapting the company’s offering portfolio to support clients in their shift to remote working and learning while continuing to support constituents through the expansion of digital government.

Neal is a technologist with over 20 years of IT industry experience working in architecture, technical pre-sales, engineering, and sales. He presently serves as a Principal Architect in AT&T Public Sector business segment providing network and consultative support to strategic government clients.

Aaron Knight is the director of information technology and chief information officer for the city of Conway. As CIO, Aaron leads a team of ten professionals focused on modernizing and securing the city's technology infrastructure and improving user experience. He is president of the University of Central Arkansas Alumni Association and on the board of directors for Children's Advocacy Alliance, Faulkner County Affiliate of the Arkansas Community Foundation, and UCA Foundation. He also serves on the UCA Computer Science Advisory Board and is past president of the Conway Public Schools Foundation. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration from the University of Central Arkansas.

Josh McGee was appointed as Chief Data Officer (CDO) in February of 2020. He is an economist and a national leader in the evidence-based policy space who has held a variety of leadership roles in state government, philanthropy, and non-profits. McGee is dedicated to helping Arkansas use data to deliver actionable insights that will empower citizens and make state government more efficient and effective.
In addition to serving as the state’s CDO, McGee is also the associate director of the Office for Education Policy and a research professor in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas. His research investigates issues related to P-20 education, retirement policy, and economic development and has been published in popular media outlets and scholarly journals. McGee holds a B.S. and M.S. in Industrial Engineering and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Arkansas.

As Chief Analytics Officer, McGough’s goal is growing data and analytic capacity and communities of practice for the sharing, integration, and analysis of data in support of improved policy decisions and operations. He has 20 years’ experience in data management and analytics supporting public sector entities with the Division of Information Systems. He served as lead author on the Feasibility and Cost Study on the Development of a Statewide Data Warehouse Program and as the state’s technical liaison with the White House OMB for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
McGough holds an M.S. in Information Quality and has completed the UALR Institute for Chief Data Officers, the ASU Six Sigma Black Belt, and the Coleridge Initiative Applied Data Analytics programs along with numerous credentials in data and analytics. He currently is an Information Science Ph.D. candidate conducting research to advance the field of longitudinal data analysis. He also serves on the Governor’s Technology Advisory Board and the Workforce Investment Opportunity Act (WIOA) IT committee.

Ryan is the Vice President of Threat Intelligence for Unit 42, a cybersecurity consulting group that brings together world-class threat researchers and elite incident responders to protect enterprises against the latest cyberthreats. His area of expertise is detecting and identifying actors and groups conducting cyber-crime and cyber-espionage operations. Ryan is a contributing author to the book Cyber Fraud: Tactics, Techniques and Procedures, and primary author of Cyber Security Essentials.

Zach Patton is the Chief Editor of the Content Studio at e.Republic and Government Technology. He has been covering the public sector for nearly 20 years. Until 2019, he was the Executive Editor of Governing magazine, where he also had served as a staff writer for more than a decade.

Tony currently serves as a government technology strategist for state and local governments in the south-central region of the U.S for Dell Technologies. Previously, Tony served as a technology leader with the state of Florida with more than 28 years. In the past 15 years, Tony has held the roles of Executive Director of the Southwood Shared Resource Center, Chief Information Officer in both the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Department of Revenue. During Tony’s distinguished career he led large, complex strategic enterprise transformational initiatives to include datacenter consolidation of state IT resources within three state datacenters, $120 million-dollar Child Support Management System, $110 million-dollar Tax and Revenue Management system (SUNTAX) as well as lead the largest Cloud migration initiatives to date in Florida State Government. Tony earned his bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems (MIS) from the University of Maryland (European Division). He served honorably in the United States Air Force and is a veteran of the Persian Gulf War. Tony is married to his high school sweetheart Candace and they have two children, Nicola and Quinton. For more detail see:
linkedin.com/in/tonypowelltally

Morgan Reed spent nearly four years as CIO for the State of Arizona, where he led cloud transformations to consolidate 30 different email systems, modernize 15 citizen-facing applications, migrate critical agency workloads off the state-owned mainframe and shut down the state’s largest datacenter after migrating 80 percent to the cloud. He joined Amazon Web Services (AWS) as an executive government advisor to coach State and Local Government (SLG) executives through strategy, policy and governance challenges to help them accelerate their journey to the cloud – and help governments innovate for their customers.

Ezra Rodgers is a multifaceted Information Technology professional with over 15 years of experience in technology. He is the Director of Information Technology for the largest county in northeast Arkansas. A visionary thinker and self-described "unflinching optimist," Ezra excels at time-sensitive IT project management. His background in technology is diverse and includes experience within public education, the travel industry, logistics and transportation, and county government. Ezra's philosophy is rooted in positive psychology, and he is an advocate for a humanistic approach to technology.

Bob Sanders is the General Manager at NIC Arkansas, a division of Tyler Technologies, and part of a public/private partnership with the Information Network of Arkansas (INA). Bob has worked with INA since 1997, and leads a team based in Little Rock, AR who build and manage over 1,000 online government services for the state.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-e-sanders/

Renee Tarun has over 20 years' experience in the cybersecurity and information technology fields with leadership experience in development and engineering, operations, strategy, policy, and portfolio management, across the intelligence community, law enforcement, and private industry. As Deputy CISO at Fortinet, she focuses on enterprise security, compliance and governance, and product security. Prior to joining Fortinet, she served as Special Assistant to the Director, National Security Agency (NSA), for Cyber and Director of NSA's Cyber Task Force, in which she advanced NSA's execution of its cybersecurity and cyber-related missions by overseeing resources; defining and integrating mission capabilities; and shaping agency strategy and national level policy at the White House. Renee is also a board member for the George Mason University Volgenau School of Engineering, creating synergy between the school and the professional community by addressing workforce development demands, industry expectations, and employment trends. She is married with two children.
LinkedIn Profile URL:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-tarun-35a4408/

As Executive Editor at e.Republic, Steve is responsible for the coordination of editorial strategies and standards across all the firm’s media platforms. He directs the editorial teams that produce Government Technology, Emergency Management and Digital Communities and their respective Websites, in addition to developing and maintaining corporate policies and standards for editorial. Steve has over 20 years of writing and editing experience including more than 17 years covering technology in the state and local government market.
Steve joined e.Republic in 1996. During his tenure, e.Republic’s print and electronic media have received many awards for editorial excellence, including “Magazine of the Year” from ASBPE for Emergency Management in 2013, “Best New Web Site” from ASBPE for emergencymgmt.com in 2009, ”Best Overall Publication” at the Maggie awards for Government Technology in 2008 and “Magazine of the Year” from ASBPE for Public CIO in 2007.

Gary is a Cyber Defense professional with expertise in establishing and leading global security operations to address risks across multiple industry verticals. He is a trusted advisor in the data management and data services industries with over 5 years of experience communicating cyber risk management strategy to CSOs, Executive leaders and directors. His experience in security risk management services include physical and IT security, framework development, risk mitigation, executive and board governance, security organizational development, security compliance management, security policy development, and technical security architecture.