Agenda

Wednesday, December 7

3:00 pm Industry/Government Roundtable

This informal and informative roundtable discussion is hosted by the State CIO and will focus on the state's plans, priorities and procurement process.

4:00 pm Welcome Reception

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

4:30 pm Outstanding Leadership & Innovation Awards

Applaud the winners of the "Ollie" awards for Outstanding Leadership & Innovation. This awards program honors stellar achievements and innovation in the public sector throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

5:00 pm Award Reception

Chat with the award winners and sponsors about their ideas, approaches and lessons learned.

Thursday, December 8

8:00 am Registration and Morning Refreshments

9:00 am Opening Remarks

9:15 am Keynote Address

Open Roads Open Minds: An Exploration of Creative Problem Solving

Steve Uzzell, Renowned Photographer

Steve Uzzell is a veteran National Geographic photographer and one of the nation's leading corporate photographers. Steve's award-winning approach to his photographic work is driven by the philosophy that an open mind allows solutions to appear in unexpected places and, above all, "preparation leads to magic". Using his striking photographs to illustrate the creative process, Steve inspires us to take advantage of our own experiences and vision to make any venture an adventure.

10:15 am Morning Break

10:45 am Concurrent Sessions

Cost Savings and IT

In these challenging times, just about any IT service delivery option should be on the table. The clear mandate is to meet customer needs at the lowest possible cost. This session looks at ways to creatively leverage technologies and to think outside the box in driving down the cost of operations without sacrificing service levels.

Today's Digital Records

In this era of open government, the guiding principle is that information and digital records, including various forms of digital communications, are most definitely public assets. The impact of social media on IT systems and storage - already overburdened - is a wild variable. This session discusses issues, trends, standards and innovations.

Engaging and Alerting the Mobile Citizen

As the culture changes along with rapid advances in technology, the demand for mobility is growing by leaps and bounds. Imminent increases in coverage and bandwidth will open the door to many more possibilities for government operations - as well as increased demand for mobile services. This session focuses on ideas and innovations for using technology and applications to serve and engage more citizens in more ways.

11:45 am Lunch

12:30 pm General Session

Workplace of the Future

Jack Mortimer, Government Technology magazine

In American history, the single greatest shift in the workplace was driven by the Industrial Revolution as jobs moved from outdoors to indoors. Since then, much has remained the same except for further technologization. True, technology has continually and dramatically affected how we work. Yet most people, especially in government, still work in traditional office environments. But that's changing fast. Is it a new "revolution"? Almost certainly. The only question is to what degree. This session looks at recent research and predictions by Government Technology magazine into the changing workplace. After more than a century of the same basic work environment, is it time to blow up the model?

1:30 pm Afternoon Break and Refreshements

2:00 pm Concurrent Sessions

The Cloud in Government - Is It Working?

Cloud decision-making can be a "foggy" venture. There are external clouds, internal clouds and hybrids, with a near-infinite variety of cloud service offerings. It's not easy to get a handle on it all and to determine just how suited the cloud is to government operations. This session clears the air on when, where and how it makes the most sense for government.

Partner or Perish!

When budgets are squeezed, smart organizations find ways to break down barriers and foster collaboration. So it's no surprise that Pennsylvania's hard-hitting economic pressures are bringing about some highly creative leveraging of systems, applications, information and resources. This session seeks to inspire new partnerships by providing firsthand looks at innovations and opportunities that are going beyond traditional concepts and boundaries.

Teleworking Opportunities

The number of virtual workers in the U.S. has increased by 800 percent during the past five years, and in many private industry companies the majority of their employees work remotely. Quite a few government organizations are finding that managing teleworkers with a results-based approach is not as difficult as they expected, and the results are excellent. This session takes a look at effective tools, strategies and policies.

3:00 pm Break

3:15 pm Concurrent Sessions

Personal Devices in the Workplace

The demand for mobile access is exploding at rates previously unimagined. So organizations can expect to be overwhelmed by a wave of personal and portable devices in the workplace as workers insist on being able to work just about anywhere while using their favorite devices - regardless of what policies might say. This session discusses how to find the right balance in maintaining control and security while still allowing easy access, convenience and information sharing.

Social Media in Government

The use of social media in government is no longer a question of ‘if', but ‘how much' and ‘how often'. Instead of putting on the brakes, it's better to embrace the possibilities. True, there are risks and concerns, but the payoff is huge - not just for improved service provision but also for customer relations. This session looks at ways to use social media to best advantage while still maintaining a sensible amount of control and protection.

Recruitment, Retention and Succession

The preceding Workplace of the Future session paints a vivid picture of why the government workplace needs to change, but actually doing it is another matter entirely. Obstacles can be daunting, and conditions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction and even agency to agency. This interactive session furthers the discussion of how to find doable and affordable ways to create a more attractive, effective and active work environment.

4:15 pm Reception

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