The Office of Information Technology Services was created in 2018 to improve state cybersecurity and technology support across state agencies. Gonzalez was tapped to serve as administrator in October 2022, bringing with him almost 30 years of private- and public-sector management experience. About 15 of those years were spent with the state of Idaho in various roles and agencies.
“It’s a brand-new agency,” said Gonzalez of the five-year-old ITS, noting the importance of implementing foundational processes that a more mature agency might have in place already. Despite its novelty, Gonzalez said he has been surprised about how much has been accomplished in his first year.
Much of the work so far has primarily involved work on the back end — largely infrastructure and network security. Gonzalez explained that the agency has made progress in addressing security vulnerabilities, which involved the completion of a penetration test for security and beginning remediation to address vulnerabilities. In addition, the state has completed a data center move in a matter of months after flooding at the Transportation Department headquarters.
“We moved that data center in significantly less time than people thought we could, and we did it without asking for additional funding from the Legislature, so we were extremely excited about that,” said Gonzalez.
His previous experience working with other state agencies helped him understand and navigate the improvements that could be made to mission alignment and organizational culture.
There are several initiatives on the horizon for the state that Gonzalez is particularly excited about. Perhaps the most significant undertaking is the consolidation of six more agencies, which will mark the completion of the first of three phases of the state’s long-term consolidation work.
While emerging technologies continue to dominate the national IT conversation, Gonzalez underlined that the trend he is seeing across the agencies in Idaho is more focused on the work that happens behind the scenes: assessing and adjusting legacy applications to increase security.
He also highlighted the importance of assessing the cost of network services, and reducing those requires being creative with the connectivity options that exist. The state can also save money during the consolidation process by evaluating technical debt and making adjustments as needed. Notably, staff retention is an important goal throughout the consolidation process, he added.
Artificial intelligence, which Gonzalez described as "the Internet of our time," has already been implemented in a variety of ways, and state lawmakers are interested in setting policy to guide use. A recommended policy is underway with the goal of having a draft ready before the next legislative session begins Jan. 8.
Finally, Gonzalez noted that like other states, Idaho is working to advance broadband connectivity by leveraging federal funding. The state is also looking to leverage federal funding to advance cybersecurity fusion efforts.
“We’re also very, very much involved in trying to drive positive outcomes when it comes to those two major national initiatives — and all states are participating.”
