The Government Huddle with Brian Chidester

Jonathan Feldman, the Chief Information Officer for Wake County, North Carolina joins the show to discuss what he has learned about the 1.1 million residents he now supports and some of the initiatives he is working on to connect and engage the community. We also discuss the advantages and disadvantages of working in the Raleigh Technology Triangle, what tech layoffs can mean to the public sector...

Oleg Polovynko, Chief Information Officer for the City of Kyiv, Ukraine joins the show to discuss his trip to the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos where he worked to get support for digital transformation programs in his homeland. We also talk about some of his key focus areas for the citizens of Kyiv prior to the war, how those plans have changed since the invasion, and what is givi...

Dr David Bray, PhD, a Leader at the World Economic Forum, Distinguished Fellow at the Stimson Center, and former Chief Information Officer at the Federal Communications Commission joins the show to the hardest part of operating as a CIO in government and how he has seen progress. We also discuss what technologies will have the biggest impact on our lives over the next three years, the biggest chal...

James Bench, Vice President of Technology Consulting Services at Maximus joins the show to discuss the future of artificial intelligence and machine learning and where he thinks the biggest opportunity is for government organizations. We also dive into the re-skilling efforts happening in government and if they have proven effective, what the biggest challenge in AI/ML adoption is in defense and n...

Nate Boyer, former United States Army Green Beret, college and professional football player, philanthropist, veterans advocate, actor and director joins the show to discuss what he believes builds great teams and what you can be doing today to strengthen your own squad. We also talk about his new movie and foundation, his formula for healing up from challenging situations, and what he learned from...

Nick Sinai, co-author of the book “Hack Your Bureaucracy”, former deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States, and venture capitalist joins the show to talk about his recent book and explain the real-world experiences working in both the federal sector and the private sector that informed the 56 tactics shared in the book. We also discuss his role in driving open data usage during his tim...

Bruce Matthews and Kynan Carver, cybersecurity executives at Maximus and experts in threat intelligence and security technology join the show to discuss the progress that has been made since the release of the cybersecurity executive order. We also talk specifically about advances made at DHS and the DoD, how the CMMC program is evolving in support of the defense industrial base, and they make pre...

Nelson Moe, Former Chief Information Officer for the Commonwealth of Virginia and Strategy Principal for Iron Bow Technologies joins the show to discuss some of the lessons he learned during his career as a technology leader in government. We also discuss how he went from being a submarine captain to a role in government technology, important considerations CIO’s should be thinking about regarding...

Krista Kinnard, Chief of Emerging Technology at the United States Department of Labor joins the show to discuss some of the priorities she has in this position, and challenges that she faces, being the first person to occupy this job. We also discuss her thoughts on what emerging technologies can have the biggest impact on government, if she believes the metaverse will become a public sector focus...

Bryon Kroger, Former Co-Founder and COO of the U.S. Air Force’s Kessel Run Program and the Founder and CEO of Rise8 joins the show to discuss why adopting a “think big, start small” strategy to software transformation is so important to success. We also discuss the story behind Project Kessel Run and how it has influenced other software factories across government, his thoughts on driving change a...

Kelley Steven Waiss, Head of Workforce Innovation at ServiceNow and the author of the book “The Inside Gig: How Sharing Untapped Talent Across Boundaries Unleashes Organizational Capacity” joins the show to discuss the changes in the government workforce and predictions for the future. We also look at tactical ways that agencies can redistribute the talent they already have in their organization t...

Tammy Barlette, a Mindset and Performance Expert and Retired Lieutenant Colonel and fighter pilot in the U.S. Air Force joins the show to discuss ways we can all work to be better leaders based on experiences she has had in the cockpit. She also discusses what separates the best of the best of the best in fighter pilot training, some of the more common issues she sees when working with people that...

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...

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 Serv...

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 deliveri...

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 wor...

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 career...

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 p...

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...

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.

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 par...

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-...

Greg Spotts, Chief Sustainability Officer of the City of Los Angeles’ Bureau of Street Services joins the show to talk about his thoughts on why sustainability has received even more focus over the past few years in both the public and private sectors than it had before. We also discuss how these programs can be key enablers for their stakeholders, why it is so important to make “smarter” streets,...

Catherine Luelo, Chief Information Officer for the Government of Canada joins the show to discuss how she is refreshing Canada’s digital strategy and improving government’s use of data. We also discuss her time as CIO at Air Canada when she navigated arguably the hardest period of time the global commercial aviation industry has ever faced with the pandemic, the risks and rewards of digital transf...

Dr. Natalie Petouhoff, Customer and Employee Experience Strategist at Genesys & WSJ Best Selling Co-Author of “Empathy in Action” joins the show to discuss how government organizations can personalize experiences at scale while still delivering empathy in every touchpoint through technology. We also introduce the concept of Experience as a Service (EaaS) and how it will disrupt the new normal, way...