Registration and Morning Refreshments in the Exhibit Area

Opening Remarks

Joe McIntosh, Chief Information Officer, Office of Management and Enterprise Services, State of Oklahoma

Keynote – Transform Adversity into Advantage: How to Conquer Life's Hurdles

The world has become more difficult, and the challenges are bigger than ever. Adopting a “new normal mindset” is necessary to empower your team to navigate the challenges and opportunities through a contextual model to overcome adversity. How will you manage uncertainty? Is your team ready to embrace change? This session will provide a powerful and interactive message of resilience and perseverance that will inspire you to see change as an opportunity for growth.

John Register, Inspirational and Motivational Speaker, Author, and Two-Time Paralympic Silver Medalist

General Session – The Great Debate: Convenience vs. Security

The intersection between end user workflow and cybersecurity is often left out of the conversation about how to create a more secure environment. Authentication and authorization are tied hand in hand with zero trust architecture. How do we help support identity management when teams need to move laterally between networks? How do we make this easier for our teams, but harder for hackers? This session identifies ways to help design the human element of cybersecurity strategy.

Moderator: Sean McSpaden, Senior Fellow, Center for Digital Government

Networking Break in the Exhibit Area

Concurrent Sessions

The Balancing Act for AI: Possibility and Responsibility

As AI advances in the public sector, it promises to enhance services, drive innovation, and boost efficiency. As stewards of public trust, government organizations must prioritize responsible AI deployment, considering cyber risks, such as social engineering, deepfakes, and more sophisticated threats. This session explores realistic perspectives on AI's evolving role in government, focusing on harnessing its potential safely while mitigating emerging threats, and ensuring successful outcomes.

Guardians of the Data Galaxy: Mastering Data Stewardship

In today's world of data reliance, governments face escalating challenges in managing, protecting, and effectively leveraging their data. The convergence of data governance, risk management, and compliance is paramount as organizations strive to harness the full potential of their data for public service. Discover best practices, key responsibilities, and strategies to ensure sensitive information is properly managed, validated, and protected, while providing the right intelligence necessary to move the mission forward.

Optimizing Partner Relationships

To ensure the delivery of successful, consistent services and the efficient use of taxpayer dollars, cooperative, mutually beneficial IT partnerships are crucial for state and local governments. Skill and experience are needed to align the right IT solutions to fit current and future business strategies, functional requirements, technical specifications and budgets. Hear benchmarking strategies on optimizing partner relationships and outsourcing agreements, focusing on key aspects such as contract negotiation, performance monitoring, compliance, and risk mitigation.

Dan Pease, Chief Information Officer, Tulsa County

The Future to Be: Inter-Government Collaborations and Resources

In an era marked by rapid technological advancements and evolving citizen expectations, the need for seamless cooperation among different government entities has never been more crucial. But what does that actually look like? How can we better leverage the combined power of federal, state and local thought leadership and opportunities to address common challenges? This session will dive into the challenges we face as public sector leaders, such as mandates, compliance, resources, and more – and further explore best practices and practical tactics to help you succeed.

Lunch

Bits and Bytes

Short Break

Please proceed to the concurrent sessions.

Concurrent Sessions

Future-Proofing IT: Strategies for Resilience and Continuity

In today’s unpredictable world, the continued operation of government services in a disaster is critical, and safeguarding digital infrastructure and data has never been more important. Public sector organizations must collaborate to build resilience against diverse disruptions such as natural disasters and cyber threats. What lessons have we learned from past incidents that could be applied to future preparedness? This session provides an in-depth exploration of continuity of operation plans and highlights best practices in IT continuity and recovery.

Moderator: Michael Toland, Chief Information Security Officer, Office of Management & Enterprise Services, State of Oklahoma

The Citizen Experience: Enhancing Data-Sharing Interoperability

In an increasingly interconnected world, the seamless sharing of data and promoting interoperability across different systems and platforms is crucial for enhancing the constituent experience. Interoperability creates the opportunity for diverse systems and organizations to work together to ensure maximum accessibility. This session will focus on the importance of data-sharing interoperability, highlight strategies and initiatives, and explore how effective data integration can improve public services and their impact on citizens.

Finding, Keeping, and Growing Today’s IT Workforce

As the workforce landscape evolves, attracting and retaining top talent has become a critical challenge for organizations, especially the public sector. The modern workforce values flexibility, purpose-driven work, and opportunities for growth more than ever before. Where can the public sector find new talent to fill critical roles? What are the collaborative opportunities for educational institutions and government agencies to bridge the workforce gap? How do we motivate and upskill our existing teams to meet the needs of an ever-evolving tech environment? This session shares creative tactics and strategies for establishing, retaining, and fostering a diverse, future-ready workforce.

Sonya Watkins, Chief Information Officer, University of Central Oklahoma

Exclusive Briefing for Industry Partners

Networking Break in the Exhibit Area

General Session – The State of AI in GovTech: Exploring the Future

Presented by the Center for Public Sector AI, this keynote presentation delves into the present status of Artificial Intelligence in the GovTech sector, offering a detailed examination of AI's applications within state and local governments. We will explore AI's potential future paths in GovTech, highlighting emerging trends and discussing how technology and policy leaders can prepare for AI's impact on service delivery. We will address starting points for AI implementation, stressing the importance of collaboration, ethical considerations, and equitable technology access. This forward-looking talk will equip attendees with a thorough understanding of AI's trajectory in GovTech, providing practical insights to effectively leverage AI for public sector innovation and advancement.

Sean McSpaden, Senior Fellow, Center for Digital Government

Networking Reception in the Exhibit Area

Network with your colleagues and discuss technology solutions with the event exhibitors.

End of Conference

Conference times, agenda, and speakers are subject to change.