The New York State IT Leadership Academy is a Government Technology event designed by and for government senior technology executives, and senior managers being groomed for leadership. The two day program features state leaders, well-known experts in leadership and technology, and topics of current interest. The Academy will take place April 17-18 in Albany, NY and provides New York state and local government technology leaders a chance to sharpen their business skills and network with each other and industry leaders.

At the 2013 Academy, Meghan Cook will moderate a panel session on Building Transparency though Citizen Engagement, Social Media, and Open Data.

William Travis, Chief Information Officer for New York State Human Services, member of the IT leadership Academy Advisory Board, and leader in the development of this session, emphasizes the importance of bringing together a variety of leaders from state, local, public, and private institutions to determine how to effectively include the public in the future of technology, government, and data. “We are now in a time where modern tools and technology can facilitate an active collaboration between government and the people they serve,” says Travis. “This session brings together leaders from state, industry, and university to share their expertise in how opening data and engaging citizens can lead to real public value.”

As part of this session, the Academy has developed an Ideation Portal to better capture, aggregate, nurture and manage ideas, comments, and knowledge from the public on how NYS should be leveraging the power of social media. The Ideation Portal was developed in response to Governor Cuomo’s 2013 State Of The State address, in which the Governor discussed how the power of social media should be harnessed in new and innovative ways by NYS’s Agencies to improve the delivery of constituent services.

Visitors to the portal can click on the Post Idea button to interact with the community on ideas and comments related to the Building Transparency though Citizen Engagement, Social Media, and Open Data panel session. The panel will be live streamed by the New York State Senate, and as moderator, Meghan Cook will be incorporating ideas posted before and during the panel session into the discussion. In addition to posting ideas, members of the Ideation Portal can vote on ideas, engage in discussion, and view the final results.

The live session will also leverage knowledge and expertise from public, private, nonprofit, and education institutions already engaged in open government initiatives to share what is possible. It will showcase a collection of expertise and real examples (including Super Storm Sandy and New York State's Open Data initiatives), and experts will detail efforts in opening government, opening government data, engaging citizens, and leveraging social media - all with the goal of increasing transparency.

Panelists include:

• Mahesh Nattanmai, IT Budgeting and Planning Unit, NYS Division of Budget
• Dante Ricci, SAP Public Sector, SAP
• Crystal Miceli, Solution Marketing, CA Technologies
• Norman Jacknis, IBSG/Public Sector, Cisco Systems
• Barbara Cohn, NYS Information Technology Services
• Christina Englehardt, Social Media Analytics, SAS Institute
• Rick Cobello, Information Technology, Schenectady County
• Joe Kroger, Sales, Adobe Systems

For more information, visit: NYS IT Leadership Academy Website