Erik Avakian was named Chief Information Security Officer for the commonwealth in 2010.
Erik joined the commonwealth in 2005 and became Deputy CISO in 2007. He has over 17 years experience in securing enterprise-level environments and is an expert in reducing risk and mapping security to the business. He has extensive experience in security governance, risk management, compliance and incident response and remediation. As CISO. Erik is responsible for establishing enterprise security strategy, standards, controls, and security policies and lead the Enterprise Information Security Office, which defends against cyber attacks, reduces the commonwealth's vulnerability to cyber attacks, and minimize the damage and recovery time from attacks if and when they occur.
Erik holds numerous industry certifications including Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified Information Security Auditor (CISA), Certified Government Chief Information Officer (CGCIO) and ITIL v3. He is an active member of the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) Security and Privacy Committee, the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC2), the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), and the Pennsylvania Criminal Intelligence Center PaCIC).

As Director of Strategic Sales teams supporting the Public Sector at Verizon, Ray leads a group of specialists focused on helping Public Sector clients solve complex business problems in order to achieve their mission critical goals leveraging technology solutions from Verizon.

Chris Belasco is the Data Services Manager for the City of Pittsburgh in the Department of Innovation and Performance, where he manages analytic and data engineering efforts to improve City operations. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh and serves on the on the Board of Directors at Assemble, where he chairs the Information Management Committee. Previously he served as managing director for a unit at the University of Pittsburgh that evaluated democracy and governance programs and conducted capacity building activities for the United States Agency for International Development. Chris received his PhD in Public and International Affairs, Master of Public and International Affairs, BS in Information Science, and BA in Sociology from the University of Pittsburgh. During his spare time, he likes to cook, travel, cycle, visit museums with his two daughters and work on his old house.

Phil Bertolini is vice president of the Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. Previously, he served as deputy county executive and CIO for Oakland County, Michigan. During his 31-year tenure, Phil built a world-class IT organization in the second-largest county in Michigan, just north of Detroit. As Oakland County CIO, he oversaw more than 150 employees serving over 1.2 million residents. In 2005, he was also promoted to deputy county executive, holding dual positions until his retirement. Phil’s efforts earned the county national attention, winning numerous awards for technology innovation and excellence. He was named Governing Magazine’s Public Official of the Year and Government Technology Magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers. He was also honored by the President Obama White House as a Champion of Change.

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.

Building on his former role as enterprise architect for the state of Iowa, Chris Dilley serves as a trusted advisor to state leaders. He has helped numerous states modernize systems, migrate to the cloud, automate workflows and deliver impactful services. Chris is a proud native Iowan, actively involved in the Boys & Girls Club and coaches youth judo.

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.

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.

Jason Hebbe was named the Chief Technology Officer for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in June 2021.
Jason participates in the development and execution of the commonwealth’s information technology strategic plan. He has nearly three decades of information technology expertise across multiple industries, including banking, insurance, manufacturing, logistics and state government. During his career, Jason has held multiple IT leadership positions, focused efforts on IT architecture to design and implement solutions to meet business needs and brought a passion for using technology to bring value and efficiency to the customers and organizations served to all that he does.
Jason has completed studies in leadership, finance, project management and has held multiple technology certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, EMC and the Linux Professional Institute. He is also a graduate of the Government Technology Institute’s Certified Government Chief Information Officer (CGCIOTM) Program and is ITIL Foundations Certified.
Outside of work, he is actively involved in his church and volunteering to serve others. He has a wife, two children and two stepchildren.

Kelly Powell Logan served as Cabinet Secretary to three Pennsylvania Governors and now serves as Vice President for Strategic Workforce Development and University Centers at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology (HU).
Kelly is responsible for leading expansion of the existing university centers as well as creating new centers that meet strategic workforce needs. She understands the complexities of the twenty-first-century workforce and uses her vision and experience to guide HU’s centers. Kelly is responsible for forming partnerships with employers–including state and municipal governments–to build and market all manner of education programs that meet employer needs, aligning and connecting HU’s educational programs with the needs of employers.
The HU Institutes and Centers which Kelly directs include the Government Technology Institute, Security Center of Excellence, Analytics Institute, Center for Project Management Innovation, and the Center for Environmental and Geospatial Technology. Kelly began at HU on February 2, 2015.
Kelly served as Cabinet Secretary of the Governor’s Office of Administration (OA) from 2011 until 2015. As a member of the Governor’s senior staff and cabinet, Kelly led the agency responsible for oversight and administration of the enterprise functions of Human Resources, Information Technology, the Governor’s Innovation Office, Continuity of Government and Records Management for more than 73,000 employees in over 40 agencies, boards and commissions under the Governor’s jurisdiction.
Kelly earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Villanova University; a Master of Business Administration degree from Pennsylvania State University; and was part of the Strategic Leadership for State Executives at the Governors Center, Duke University. She is also a graduate of Leadership Harrisburg Area’s Executive Leadership program and is past chair of the Capitol Regional Economic Development Corporation (CREDC) and past president of the National Association of State Chief Administrators (NASCA).

Justin Loose has served as the Chief Information Officer for the County of Berks since 2010. His department is responsible for the delivery of all technology services for the County of Berks and the 23rd Judicial district in Pennsylvania. Justin holds a Master’s of Science degree in Data Analytics as well as an MBA. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and holds certifications in ITIL and Six Sigma.

Mr. Montgomery is a Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Dell Technologies. Chris helps public sector organizations align their business objectives with a supporting IT Strategy that enables digital transformation.
Chris is a well-respected advisor, having held CIO, CTO and CISO positions within NYC and NJ government. As former CTO, Chris has developed cloud migration strategies and implemented multiple cloud solutions using in public, private, and hybrid architectures. Chris holds multiple security and risk management certifications, and as a former CISO, he built information security and risk management programs from the ground up in highly regulated environments. During his tenure in NYC Government, Chris led multiple smart city and digital transformation projects modernizing legacy technology, having a positive impact with the way that citizens and businesses interact with City government.
He is recognized in the industry as a thought leader for organizational change management associated with technology modernization.

Joseph Morris is the deputy chief innovation officer for the Center for Digital Government and a national keynote speaker on issues, trends and drivers impacting state and local government and education. He has authored publications and reports on funding streams, technology investment areas and public-sector priorities, and has led roundtables, projects and initiatives focused on issues within the public sector. Joe has conducted state and local government research with e.Republic since 2007 and knows the ins and outs of government on all levels. He received his Bachelor of Arts in government and international relations from the California State University, Sacramento.

PN Narayanan serves as the Deputy State Treasurer and Chief Information Officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Treasury Department, which is responsible for over 20 million annual payment transactions worth more than $110 billion. With more than 25 years of international experience across the public and private sectors, Narayanan has demonstrated exceptional skills and leadership in all aspects of information technology. In his role as the Chief Information Officer of the Pennsylvania Treasury Department, Narayanan has been responsible for a multiyear, agency wide IT modernization and transformation program that fundamentally transformed the way the agency conducts business, greatly improving operational efficiency and security. PA Treasury’ s Transparency program is a winner of the 2018 CIO 100 award and the 2018 Digital Edge 50 award.
Before joining Treasury, Narayanan led the transformation of the State of Delaware’s financial systems through his successful management of Delaware’s ERP Financial and Human Capital Management upgrade project. Prior to that, he served in multinationals in Europe and Asia Pacific. He is an Electronics and Communication Engineer with an MBA, and is a certified Project Management Professional.

Blake Nelson is vice president of platforms and cloud for SAIC, responsible for the development, sales, and delivery of products and solutions for digital platforms, including networking, data centers, edge computing, 5G, private and public cloud, and platform security. He drives vision and strategy for solutions that enable SAIC’s customers to transform their IT services portfolios into everything-as-a-service in the hyper-scale world.
Nelson is a seasoned cloud solution evangelist and leader with over 20 years of experience in driving innovative technical solutions and business transformation. He has extensive experience in delivering successful outcomes for customers, including the adoption of hybrid and cloud-native capabilities, DevSecOps, big data analytics platforms, advanced analytics visualizations, and cloud-native capabilities.
Nelson joined SAIC in 2021 following his stint at Pragmatics, where he was vice president and general manager for federal solutions. Prior to that, he held various leadership roles in solution development at Accenture Federal Services, Beacon Associates, and iConstituent.
Nelson holds a bachelor of arts in political science and an MBA in management and information systems from West Virginia University. He lives in Arlington, Virginia, with his three children, Riley, Molly, and Cole, and enjoys spinning and skiing in the wintertime.

Thomas Nisbet is an Associate Partner with IBM, assisting clients apply cognitive capabilities in their enterprises. Over 10 years of AI and advanced analytics experience across State and Local and Federal government have given Thomas a diverse background and experience with how cognitive capabilities can help deliver on the promise of the digital reinvention of Government. He is currently focused on using AI and automation to transform agencies with goals to increase program satisfaction, lower costs, improve employee efficiency, and overall program outcomes. Thomas lives in Raleigh, NC with his wife and 2 children.

Heidi Norman is the Acting Director of Innovation & Performance and CIO, City of Pittsburgh, PA. The mission of the Department of Innovation & Performance is to modernize and innovate the business of city government. To that end, I&P provides and manages all information technology for the City, connects residents to their municipal government through multiple communications channels, and improves the efficiency and effectiveness of municipal services by developing talent, optimizing processes and designing needed technology solutions. The Department has gained a reputation for being at the cutting-edge of data analytics and utilizing a collaborative approach to government innovation and Smart Cities programs through regional university, corporate and entrepreneurial technology partners.
A 20+ year resident of Pittsburgh, Ms. Norman holds degrees in Political Science and Information Systems Management, and executive education certificates from the Tepper School of Business and the Heinz School of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University.

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.

Chad Peterson is a Solution Engineer with Okta. Chad has more than twenty-five years of experience in the IT industry. His past roles include 20 years as owner and CIO of Folsom Technology Group, Inc. Before joining Okta Chad’s recent role was System Engineer for Citrix working with State and Local Governments covering the 13 western states. Chad holds certifications from Citrix, Cisco, HP, and Microsoft.

A 25-year veteran of the telecommunications industry and lifelong Pennsylvanian, Brian provides leadership in public-sector roles ranging from Consulting, Corp and Business Development, Sales Management, and Program Management. He has led digital transformation efforts in wireless and wireline, broadband and cloud infrastructure, and cybersecurity projects. His unique perspective stems from serving in Systems Integrator, MSP, and Carrier roles, as well as supporting public-sector clients as a consultant and chief strategist in developing solutions for public-private partnerships, state broadband plans and smart cities, and digital equity projects. He currently leads a team that supports the Commonwealth for Lumen.

Shawn Rahn has led emerging technology innovation as a systems integrator, developer, and manufacturer the last 20+ years. Beginning as an R&S network engineer, Shawn has led multiple startup advanced technology and engineering businesses ranging from wireless and mobility solutions, hardware design and manufacturing, agile software development teams, and most recently built a unique IoT practice Cisco and Intel consider to be the pioneering IoT solution provider noting, "This team did IoT before we called it IoT." Shawn's mission is to reinforce the message that, ever since we invented the wheel, technology has one primary objective; improve our quality of life.

Michael Sage is the Chief Information Officer for the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP), where he provides services to county government and serves as a voice for Pennsylvania counties. Prior to joining CCAP in 2019, Michael was with the Commonwealth of PA for over 15 years. During that time, he served in various roles including Chief Security Officer and Deputy Chief Information Officer for the Department of Labor & Industry. He also served as Chief Technology Officer for the Employment, Banking, and Revenue Delivery Center. Michael is passionate about collaborating, strategizing and fostering relationships across all levels of government. He has lead reorganizations, budget analysis, shared service implementations, security initiatives, strategic planning, technology and application modernizations, service optimization, and many other strategic and operational initiatives.

Tom Schumacher has over 20 years serving Fortune 500 and state and local clients. He has spent the last 3+ years guiding his clients through complex cybersecurity issues, as well as organization workflow issues that have provided his clients with operational transformation to successfully address cyber threats and accelerate business. As a result, Tom’s clients are better positioned to serve their respective clients and constituents. Finally, his experience makes him a valued partner across industries and sectors.

Deborah is an accomplished C-level influencer, with a broad range of experience in government, policy, cybersecurity, privacy and information technology. She is an experienced and highly respected thought leader who has held executive roles for over two decades. She recently retired from her position as New York state’s chief information security officer (CISO) after over 35 years of public service.
In that role, as part of New York state’s information technology transformation and consolidation initiative, she helped redesign how the state protects its data. As state CISO, she directed the state’s comprehensive cybersecurity governance, risk management and compliance program, providing strategic leadership and vision and assuring business-aligned, risk-based investments that maximized business opportunity and minimized cybersecurity risk. She also directed the NYS Cyber Command Center, hotline, procedures for reporting and response to cyberthreats and digital forensics.
She holds multiple industry certifications, including Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP); Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC); SANS Strategic Planning, Policy and Leadership (GSTRT) Global Information Assurance Certification; and Project Management Institute certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

In this role, Ellen is focused on ensuring that the state’s digital content is accessible to its citizens and employees alike. She works with state agencies to define best practices, design and implement strategies to educate and influence organizational culture, improve procurement processes and organize communities of practice.
Ellen has been in the digital customer experience field for more than 15 years. Prior to joining the commonwealth, she concentrated on designing and implementing a digital program to improve the web and mobile banking experiences for customers with disabilities. She is a Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies (CPACC).
Ellen earned a master’s degree in business administration from the American University in Washington, DC and a bachelor’s degree in French and German from Millersville University of Pennsylvania. She spent two of her undergraduate years in study abroad programs at the Université Paul Valéry in Montpellier, France and Phillips Universität in Marburg, Germany.

Bindu Sundaresan is a highly accomplished Senior Cyber Security Executive with over 21 years of experience with expertise in security program leadership, security program management, compliance programs, security control strategies, security product and service evaluations, security and control frameworks, Risk Management, and security business. She possesses a unique blend of technical, leadership, and relationship management skills and has helped establish enterprise vision, strategies, and programs for Fortune 50 companies.
She holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Information Security and Telecommunications. She is a published author in various industry journals and is an active blogger in the AT&T blogging platform.

Teri Takai is vice president of the Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. She worked for Ford Motor Company for 30 years in global application development and information technology strategic planning. From Ford, she moved to EDS in support of General Motors. A long-time interest in public service led her to the government sector, first as CIO of the State of Michigan, then as CIO of the State of California and, subsequently, the CIO of the U.S. Department of Defense, the first woman appointed to this role. She then served as the CIO for Meridian Health Plan.
Teri is a member of several industry advisory boards. She has won numerous awards including Governing magazine’s Public Official of the Year, CIO Magazine’s CIO Hall of Fame, Government Technology magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers, the Women in Defense Excellence in Leadership Award and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.

Adam Thornton brings a diverse professional background with a heavy focus on a human-centered approach to business. A 15-year professional career spanning both the public and private sector, Adam Thornton made a career transition from a Reality TV Casting Producer in Los Angeles to begin contributing meaningful change in the digital government space. A key member in the successful NIC Oregon startup in 2012 and NIC Pennsylvania startup in 2014, Adam Thornton has established a career on building executive-level consensus, fostering team and cross-Agency collaboration, while advocating for citizen-centricity in digital government modernization. As General Manager of PAI, Adam Thornton guides a shared digital strategy and promotes a positive work culture that translates to improved customer and citizen experiences

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.

V. Reid Walsh is the Deputy Secretary for Human Resources and Management for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As deputy secretary, she has focused on the implementation of core transformation initiatives. These include consolidating commonwealth human resources (HR) under a shared services model, building a four-year strategic plan and IT roadmap for HR, establishing a unified service delivery model through process standardization, managing HR service delivery through metrics and governance and a focus on customer experience. Reid previously served as the chief of staff and policy director for OA, playing an instrumental role in many of the agency’s key initiatives.

Stacey White was named Shared Services Transformation Officer in August 2020. Stacey is the first person to hold this newly created role and is responsible for driving higher levels of achievement and initiatives that represent government that works for the people.
Stacey has over 25 years of experience in the Information Technology field, with expertise directing and leading professional teams through transformation initiatives and culture change. Most recently, she served as Acting Director for the Technology Business Office with responsibility to provide strategic IT direction and guidance to the commonwealth, including planning, improvements to an enterprise shared services strategy, service management, policy, investments, training and communications.
Stacey studied computer programming at Harrisburg Area Community College and Government Project Management through the Project Management Institute. Additionally, she is a 2014 Graduate of Harrisburg University’s Certified Government Chief Information Officer program, the commonwealth’s 2013 Leadership Development Institute, and is certified in ITIL v3 Foundation and ITIL Continuous Service Improvement.

As Global Head of State, Local, & Regional Government Solutions for ServiceNow, Tom's mission is to connect ServiceNow's rich portfolio of solutions to the most pressing needs of State, Local, & Regional governments around the globe. Relying on his experience as a government CIO and his interactions with hundreds of government customers of ServiceNow, he provides strategies and insights to help solve the challenges government agencies face today.