The Government Huddle with Brian Chidester

The One with the Ukraine DX Deputy Minister

Alex Bornyakov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and the Head of the Diia City project joins the show to discuss why their digital efforts have been key to helping combat Russian aggression and how their focus has evolved from before the Russian invasion to the present. We also talk about what it is like to live in Ukraine on a day-to-day basis, their success in partnering with the private sector so rapidly and lessons learned that can help other governments, why cryptocurrency has been so vital to their strategy, and how they see blockchain becoming a mainstream government technology.

The One with the AWS US Public Sector Leader

Dave Levy, Vice President of U.S. Government, Nonprofit, and Healthcare at Amazon Web Services (AWS) joins the show to discuss why some agencies still continue to struggle with cloud adoption due to cultural, budgetary and workforce constraints and how AWS is helping them overcome these challenges? We also discuss how the recent Executive Order on “Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery” stands to reshape the way government agencies design and deliver services to the public and how agencies should approach their modernization efforts to meet the EO’s mandates.

The One with the HUD CX Leader

Amber Chaudhry, Customer Experience Leader and Strategist at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development & the Co-Founder of Muslim Americans in Public Service (MAPS) joins the show to discuss the need for government to focus on personalizing experiences at scale while still delivering empathy in every touchpoint. We also talk about some of her biggest challenges she has faced on delivering effective CX programs at various agencies and how data and human-centered design is at the heart of the programs she is rolling out at HUD.

The One with the State of Texas CIO

Amanda Crawford, Chief Information Officer for the State of Texas joins the show to have a discussion about her state’s digital transformation journey, including where she draws inspiration for some of the projects she implements in the state and how they handled the massive influx of new residents during the pandemic. We also discuss how she ended up as a CIO after spending most of her career working in the legal field, what he has learned from other state CIO’s that she can bring into her own state, and why it is so important to leverage data to drive empathetic, digital citizen experiences.

The One with the Confidence & Mindset Coach

Kelly Chase, Professional Confidence Coach and TV Personality from Netflix’s “Love is Blind” joins the show to talk about what being on a reality TV show taught her about vulnerability why it is such an important trait for leaders to possess. We also tackle the topic of imposter syndrome and ways to combat it, some common patterns she has seen with people she works with as they evolve their careers, and why it is so important to regularly put yourself in uncomfortable situations.

The One with the SLATE Research CEO

Ryan Gallant, the Chief Executive Officer at SLATE Research & Consulting joins the show to discuss modular approaches to government IT modernization and why agencies don’t need to completely modernize all their systems, infrastructure, and processes at once. We also discuss how cybersecurity is moving from a theoretical, omnipresent challenge to an engrained part of IT and he gives advice to the private sector to help them establish their technologies into strategic plans for agencies.

The One with the LMI Transformation Leader

Bettina Kolleda, the Vice President for Business Transformation at LMI joins the show to discuss the importance of a phased approach to modernization and why it is something government leaders should be looking to do strategically. We also talk about ways to engage the workforce during your modernization journey, why she thinks think human-centered design is becoming more mainstream in government vs just acquire and deploy, and she delivers some advice to agencies looking to scale a successful pilot program into their enterprise ecosystem.

The One with The Pulse of GovCon Co-Founders

Amber Hart and Lisa Shea Mundt, Co-Founders of The Pulse of GovCon join the show to discuss the key trends happening in the government contracting market and their advice to companies working in this space. We also discuss compliance issues that are impacting the industry, some of the biggest misconceptions they find in the market, and advice for women looking to start their own business.

The One with the Queensland Chief Digital Officer

Tracy Whitelaw, Chief Digital Officer of the Local Government Association of Queensland and the 2021 Executive Leader of the Year Award for leadership in eGovernment joins the show to discuss why the challenges being faced by governments in Queensland, Australia are not unique to this region. We also talk about the greatest challenges facing government executives today, her advice for industry partners looking to make a change, and shares a compelling use case for IoT in public sector.

The One with the Government of Ireland CIO

Barry Lowry, Chief Information Officer for the Government of Ireland joins the show to discuss his priorities for his country’s digital transformation efforts and the ways he intends to center around his citizens. We also tall about how he has seen the role of the government CIO evolve, the ways he responded during the pandemic to support his various stakeholders, and how he is leading for a data-centric mindset.