Another state CIO lands at AMS

• By Dibya Sarkar
• Oct 23, 2002

American Management Systems Inc., the global information technology consulting

firm, has netted another top state chief information officer for its government-sector

market.

Matt DeZee, who stepped down as South Carolina's CIO Sept. 30, has joined

the Fairfax, Va.-based company's Office of Digital Government and Technology.

He will be working with Steve Kolodney, the former Washington state CIO

who joined the company 18 months ago and directs the AMS office.

DeZee said it was an appealing opportunity to work with Kolodney and

public-sector CIOs as they move services toward a digital format.

"I strongly believe that the form of government in the future is going

to be digital," he said. Whether it's government-to-government, government-to-citizen,

or government-to-employee, "there's a wide open field to move in that direction."

DeZee said he will work on state government-level activities but also

take advantage of his federal experience. Prior to his stint in South Carolina,

he spent two years as director of computing and global telecommunications

for the CIA, where he was responsible for global networks, central computing

services, consolidated data centers and strategic use of future technologies.

Until the association replaces him, DeZee will remain on the National

Association of State Chief Information Officers' Security and Reliability

Committee. That group is examining information assurance and promoting trust

among citizens in using online government transactions.

During his time in South Carolina, DeZee said he was particularly pleased

with making strides in transforming parts of government to a digital approach.

Like other states, South Carolina's government posed historical and political

challenges to information technology, he said.

DeZee said it was difficult to get the leaders of 73 agencies, which

had developed their own IT infrastructures separately, to understand that

they could collaborate and turn such cooperation into cost savings. On the

political side, because the state had a stronger legislative branch than

executive branch, he had to learn to work with both branches so they could

foster legislation beneficial to digital government.

Previously, DeZee was president and chief executive officer of the New

York City-based Tibbits Group, an IT consulting practice serving Fortune

1000 companies. From 1989 to 1997, he was president and CEO of Scientific

and Technical Analysis Corp., a systems development and engineering firm

in Fairfax.