Washington has a new state CIO, Governor Gregoire has appointed Bharat Shyam. Shyam previously worked at Microsoft and will be taking office today. Shyam developed some of the first smartphones at Microsoft and will be working to help the state more effectively leverage IT dollars to improve state service delivery to citizens.
Shyam has experience creating agile systems and reducing IT costs, experience that will be vital as the state works to upgrade and maintain its IT systems in an historically tight budget cycle. Shyam most recently served as General Manager for Windows Azure.
In 2011, the Office of the Chief Information Officer became an official part of the restructured Office of Financial Management and Washington state government. The OCIO’s unique role in state government is to create clarity and alignment for IT investments. In the position Shyam will provide strategic direction on IT, enable standardization and work on consolidation of the state’s IT infrastructure. Shyam will also be working on Washington’s implementation of a service oriented architecture for the state’s IT systems.
“I’m honored and humbled to serve the people of Washington State as part of Governor Gregoire’s team,” Shyam said. “I adopted Washington as my home two decades ago and my family has benefited enormously from working and living in this state. That’s why I’m thrilled to give back by ensuring we spend money wisely on information technology. Home to some of the most vibrant IT companies, combined with rapid change in IT and a dedicated state workforce – Washington state has the potential to be the best government in the world when it comes to information technology. I intend to use our state assets – and make our state nimble while delivering the best services to citizens at the lowest costs.”
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