New York CIO to retire
James Dillon, New York's first CIO, said state governments are at a crossroads.
New York State Office of the Chief Information Officer
After 27 years of public service, James Dillon, New York state’s first chief information officer, is retiring from government.
“This is my swan song,” Dillon said at the National Association of State CIOs’ annual conference in San Diego this week. He served as the association’s secretary/treasurer this year.
He was New York’s CIO for nearly four years. “I remain wildly optimistic not only about my job but what we’re doing in general,” he told attendees before convening a session at the conference.
But Dillon said he was growing impatient. “I want to get things done,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about getting things done."
State governments are at a crossroads in dealing with an aging infrastructure and an older workforce ready for retirement, he said.
Before becoming the state’s CIO, Dillon was deputy executive director of New York’s Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research. Before that, he served as executive deputy commissioner and acting commissioner of the state’s Labor Department. He also worked 16 years in the New York State Assembly, including a dozen years as its research director.
Dillon will retire in December.
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