The Government Huddle with Brian Chidester

The One with the USAF Chief Software Officer

Nicolas Chaillan, the former Chief Software Officer for the U.S. Air Force and current Prevent Breach CTO joins the show to discuss the reasons behind his dramatic resignation from his role at the Department of Defense earlier this year. We also dive into his entrepreneurial background which had him start his first company at 15 in France, a six-month plan he built that could see the United States catch up to its advisories in the AI race, and his predictions for the Department of Defense moving forward.

The One with the NYT Bestselling Author

Alec Ross, the New York Times bestselling author of “The Raging 2020s" and former Senior Advisor for Innovation to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton joins the show to talk about the catalyst for his latest book and what he thinks about today’s social contract with government and industry. We also dive into challenges he faced at the State Department trying to bring diplomacy into the 21st century and why he thinks the Pentagon needs Silicon Valley nerds more than ever.

The One with the Clark County, NV CIO

Nadia Hansen, the former Chief Information Officer for Clark County, Nevada joins the show to talk about the challenges she faced as the IT chief for the United States’ 11^th largest county and how she plans to support global communities in her new role with the experience she has gained in her time as CIO. We also discuss how she navigated a nearly $1 billion budget deficit during the pandemic, some of the accomplishments that she is most proud of as CIO, and her advice to her successor as they look to make their own mark on the county. 

The One with the CISA Chief Privacy Officer

James Burd, Chief Privacy Officer for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) at Department of Homeland Security joins the show to discuss some of the key initiatives we should be focused on within the recent cybersecurity executive order. We also discuss his priorities and challenges as a privacy officer, ways governments can make themselves a less attractive target for cyber attacks, and whether online elections are in our future within the United States..

The One with the DLT Market Intelligence Chief

Lloyd McCoy, Market Intelligence Director for DLT Solutions joins the show to discuss some of the market opportunities he is seeing for the U.S. Federal Government in both the civilian and defense sectors. We also discuss some of the key trends that have been drivers of IT growth, what new policies he sees impacting significant cloud adoption in government, and his predictions on where spending might be prioritized in the next few years.

The One with the EY eGovernment Futurist

Mohammad J. Sear, eGovernment Advisor and Futurist at EY joins the show to discuss his predictions for the future of digital transformation for the global public sector market. We also discuss how data is playing a role in transforming government organizations cloud strategies, how the pandemic has changed the approach for DX, and how government should be prioritizing in their CX evolution.

The One with the Splunk Public Sector GVP

Jeremy Rissi, Vice President of Global Public Sector at Splunk joins the show to discuss some of the key findings from their most recent report, “The State of Data Innovation 2021.” We also discuss ways global government organizations are using data to improve daily decisions and actions in every aspect of their mission, characteristics that make organizations data-centric leaders, and his recommendations in helping your organization become more information-driven.

The One with the Raft CEO

Shubhi Mishra, Chief Executive Officer at Raft joins the show to talk about how her company is changing the way government and defense organizations innovate by bridging the gap between humans and data. We also discuss how will remote work will play a part in the diversification of the workforce, advice for companies that want to be more than just another technology vendor to their customers, and her thoughts on whether this acceleration of DX during the pandemic is here to stay.

The One with the City of San Jose CIO

Jordan Sun, Chief Innovation Officer for the City of San Jose, CA joins the show to talk about how he ended up in government and what it’s like supporting citizens in the heart of Silicon Valley. We also discuss his work with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan supporting crisis response in the face of Taliban and ISIS attacks, how data is allowing him to personalize his service interactions with citizens, and how digital equity is key to the future of San Jose.

The One with the Department of Transportation CTO

Pavan Pidugu, Chief Technology Officer for the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration joins the show to talk about how data is changing the landscape of his organization. We also discuss his experience joining the government during the pandemic after leaving an executive role at Wal-Mart, how his background in CX has helped him in his current role, and what his technology priorities are for FMCSA over the next few years.