AeA Holds First in Series of Five Information Technology Procurement
Town Halls with Office of the Chief Information Officer

Sacramento, CA (May 23, 2008) – In conjunction with Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the Department of General Services, AeA, the nation’s largest high-tech trade association, today held the first in a series of five Information Technology (IT) Procurement Process Town Halls of 2008 in Sacramento. California’s new State CIO, Teri Takai, and representatives from the Department of General Services joined with AeA in an effort to discuss how the current IT procurement process can be improved and streamlined to save money for the state, and to increase the number of companies who compete for the state’s IT projects. Several IT companies’ representatives shared their views and concerns as Ms. Takai led the meeting.

“Opportunities for industry representatives to directly interface with key decision makers are a crucial piece to ensuring that California moves down the correct path when making appropriate and effective decisions pertaining to California’s IT procurement process,” said Roxanne Gould, AeA’s Senior Vice President of State Government Affairs. “Today we were able to take time to thoroughly review and evaluate our current procurement process – we were able to examine what is currently working and what can be improved upon. I hope that Ms.Takai, the Department of General Services, and everyone who participated walked away from today’s town hall with a little more insight into IT procurement in California.”

“Today’s town hall meeting was a terrific opportunity for state officials and the vendor community to discuss how to refine California’s procurement process,” said Teri Takai. “We need to ensure that the process is competitive and the technology procured by state and local governments is current, effective and designed to anticipate future needs.”

AeA will be holding town hall events across the state throughout the summer in the following locations:

· Orange County (June 13)
· Santa Clara (June 27)
· El Segundo (July 11)
· San Diego on July 31

Similar procurement meetings were held in the same locations in 2005. The outcome from these events were two AeA-sponsored bills that were both signed into law - SB 954 (Figueroa, 2005), which outlined processes for solution-based procurements and a risk assessment model; and SB 834 (Figueroa, 2006), which created a cabinet level State Chief Information Officer – the office which is now filled by Teri Takai.

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About AeA
AeA, the nation’s largest technology trade association representing all segments of the high-tech industry, is dedicated solely to helping our members’ top line and bottom line. We do this in partnership with our small, medium, and large member companies by lobbying governments at the state, federal, and international levels, providing access to capital and business opportunities, and offering select business services and networking programs. For more information, please visit www.aeanet.org.

This page was last updated on 05/23/08.