What's the Most Exciting Thing Happening in Technology Right Now?

During the NASCIO Annual Conference in Minneapolis Amy and Alex interviewed nine attendees about what they think is the most exciting thing happening in technology right now. And of course we asked a fun question as well. Special thanks to Dan Wolf, Karen Sorady, Denis Goulet, Katrina Flory, Katy Ruckle, Ken Weeks, Matt Pincus, Steve Pier and Torry Crass. 

You can find the transcript here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/704052/13928412

Transcript

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SPEAKERS

Karen Sorady, Ken Weeks, Alex Whitaker, Torry Crass, Katy Ruckle, Amy Glasscock, Dan Wolf, Matt Pincus, Denis Goulet, Child's Voice, Steve Pier

Amy Glasscock  00:05

Hi, and welcome to NASCIO voices where we talk all things state it. I'm Amy Glasscock, in Lexington, Kentucky. 

Alex Whitaker  00:11

And I'm Alex Whitaker in Washington, DC. Today we're sharing some fun conversations that we've had with attendees at the NASCIO annual conference in Minneapolis. We asked some friends of NASCIO who stopped by our podcast table what they think is the most exciting thing happening in technology right now. 

Amy Glasscock  00:26

And because it's NASCIO voices, of course, we had to ask a fun question, too. We hope you enjoy. Say hello, and let us know what brings you to the NASCIO annual conference and who you are, of course, 

Dan Wolf  00:37

Hi, I'm Dan Wolf with the Alliance for digital innovation. And I'm here to reconnect with state technology leaders and industry partners. We are a trade association that represents commercial cloud technology companies that are hyper focused on smart technology policies that will help make government services more effective. 

Amy Glasscock  00:59

Excellent. What do you think is the most exciting thing happening in technology right now?

Dan Wolf  01:03

 I think everybody has to say AI right now. It's touching everything from how we deliver services to workforce, to you know, showing up on the Today Show. And it is something that's going to revolutionize how government services are delivered over the next decade. And if states aren't getting ahead of that learning curve, they need to start immediately. 

Amy Glasscock  01:28

Excellent. Okay. Finally, tell us something about yourself that people won't find on your LinkedIn profile. 

Dan Wolf  01:34

So I am a certified soccer referee. And I really enjoy being around the game as much as possible. And I've done anything from being an assistant referee for the US national team game to last weekend refereeing under eight kids and watching them heard the ball around the around the field. 

Amy Glasscock  01:54

So doing God's work. I hope that parents aren't too mean to you. 

Dan Wolf  01:58

They are they are actually kinder than you think as long as you're communicative. With the kids on the field. That's half the battle. 

Amy Glasscock  02:05

Awesome. All right. Well, thanks so much. 

Dan Wolf  02:07

Thank you. 

Alex Whitaker  02:08

Okay, so tell us who you are, and what brings you to the NASCIO annual conference. 

Karen Sorady  02:13

So my name is Karen Sorady. I am the Vice President of the multi state Information Sharing and Analysis Center, stakeholder engagement division, and I'm here to make connections with our members in state and local government, and also to connect with our partners. 

02:30

Awesome.

Alex Whitaker  02:30

Awesome. Okay, Karen, what's the most exciting thing happening in technology right now.

Karen Sorady  02:37

So from our perspective, we're really focused on cybersecurity. I think, everywhere you go, you hear about generative AI. So that is certainly certainly exciting. But it's also a little scary. So keeping an eye on that and making sure that we're using this new technology in a safe and effective way. 

Alex Whitaker  02:55

Cool. And before we get to our last question, I just want to say how helpful you and MSISAC to the whole NASCIO community. So thank you. Thank you. For our last question, tell us something about yourself that folks would not see on your LinkedIn profile. 

Karen Sorady  03:09

Okay, so back in college, I was a TA for a course on history of rock and roll. 

Alex Whitaker  03:15

Awesome. All right. Very cool. 

Karen Sorady  03:18

All right. Thank you. 

Alex Whitaker  03:20

All right, Denis, welcome. Why don't you tell us who you are. And what brings you to the NASCIO annual conference? 

Denis Goulet  03:26

Well, I'm, I'm the commissioner and CIO for the State of New Hampshire. And I've been coming to these conferences since 2015. I remember the first one. I was kind of blown away. I was like, didn't know anybody and but it stuck with me. And I've been to every one since. And I'm here now because it's part of my family. And I feel like I feel at home at an NASCIO conference. 

Alex Whitaker  03:50

Awesome. All right. So tell us what do you think is the most exciting thing happening in technology right now? 

Denis Goulet  03:56

I think it's two things. Really. I know, you guys often asked me a single question and I answer with two answers. So I'll give you two. One is that we have more, you know, in state government, we have more funding than we've ever had, you know, proportionally and so, you know, the challenge and ability to do more things in a compressed amount of time is, is really fun for me and exciting. And I really get motivated by that. But and the other thing is really the pace of change. You see so many things changing so rapidly. And I think it helps you know, I'm not the youngest person in the in the room, and it helps keep me young, you know, adapting to those to the pace of change and all the things that are happening. 

Alex Whitaker  04:36

Yeah. Awesome. All right. And finally, those who knew our lightning round won't be too surprised by this question, but tell us something about yourself that you folks won't find on your LinkedIn profile. 

Denis Goulet  04:46

Well, I actually I'm not licensed but I'm a really good plumber and electrician. Yeah, so I do like I do all my own plumbing and electrical I like electrical a lot better than plumbing. I do it for friends and family as well. Sometimes you know, just to help them out so 

05:01

well,

Alex Whitaker  05:01

We'll put your contact info in the show notes for people to get a plumbing opinion!

Denis Goulet  05:06

 Okay. (Laughing)

Alex Whitaker  05:07

All right. Thank you so much. 

Denis Goulet  05:09

Thanks for having me. This is fun.

Amy Glasscock  05:13

All right, tell us who you are and what brings you to the NASCIO annual conference. 

Katy Ruckle  05:17

I'm Katy Ruckle. And I'm the State Chief Privacy Officer for the State of Washington. And I love coming to the conference to network and talk to my peers and learn about other what other states are doing, and how they're approaching technology problems and solving them. 

Amy Glasscock  05:34

Awesome. All right, what do you think is the most exciting thing happening in technology right now. 

Katy Ruckle  05:38

So I'm sure most people are saying generative AI. And for me from the privacy perspective that I've been trying to talk to people about and get opinions is how public data will be used to train generative AI models and how states are going to approach that, especially regarding their personally identifiable information that they have on residents, and sort of how those conversations are going to work with both the technology companies and with government agencies. 

Amy Glasscock  06:12

Yes, very interesting. And then finally, tell us something about yourself that people won't find on your LinkedIn profile, which I know is your only social media profile! 

Katy Ruckle  06:20

That's true! As a privacy officer, I have very little social media, did my first LinkedIn posts after being on the site for almost a year, so I felt pretty proud of myself for that. So I don't have anything in there about the fact that I am an avid skier. And it's kind of fun being in Minnesota, where it's getting colder, and it makes me know that winter is right around the corner, and the still will be in the mountain soon. 

Amy Glasscock  06:43

That's right, winter is coming. Alright, Katy, thanks so much for your time. 

Katy Ruckle  06:46

Thanks. Great to talk to you too.

Amy Glasscock  06:49

All right, tell us your name. And what brings you to the NASCIO Annual Conference. 

Ken Weeks  06:53

Hi, I'm Ken weeks, and I'm the Chief Information Security Officer for the State of New Hampshire. And I go to a variety of events every year, both as a speaker and as a participant and the NASCIO Annual and Mid Year Conference, I find to be the most valuable ones in my whole entire schedule for networking with my peers, as well as interacting with people who have complementary professions, but aren't exactly the same as mine. 

Amy Glasscock  07:21

Great. Love to hear that. So what do you think is the most exciting thing happening in technology right now?

Ken Weeks  07:27

 I think the most exciting thing happening in technology right now is the cliche that everyone's talking about. And it's artificial intelligence. And within New Hampshire, I've sort of come across this just as a hobbyist. And so I do speaking events about AI, with both municipal associations and towns and cities, as well as K through 12. Organizations, and, and the title of the, the presentation that I give them is, so "AI, turn that shit up to 11 or runaway bravely." And the conclusion is kinda turn it up to seven, because there's a lot of good uses, as long as you use it ethically and responsibly, etc. And I think that's probably going to dominate the conversation for maybe the next decade. 

Amy Glasscock  08:13

Yeah, I think you're right. All right. And then finally, tell us something about yourself that people won't find on your LinkedIn profile. 

Ken Weeks  08:19

Wow. Okay. When when I was a younger man, for the first seven years that I was married to my wife, we've been married 25 years now. We lived aboard a 48 foot sailboat out in Hawaii. And every day, we wish we could go back to the carefreeness of that lifestyle 

Amy Glasscock  08:39

I imagine so. Well that's fascinating. Well, thank you so much, again, appreciate having you on. 

Ken Weeks  08:44

Thanks, Amy. 

Amy Glasscock  08:45

All right. Say hi. Tell us who you are. And what brings you to the NASCIO annual conference. 

Matt Pincus  08:50

My name is Matt Pincus. I am with Workday. And I am here to catch up with old friends at the conference. 

Amy Glasscock  08:59

All right, our former podcast host here at NASCIO voices always good to see you. What do you think is the most exciting thing happening in technology right now? 

Matt Pincus  09:07

It's gotta be AI. Everyone is excited. Everyone's trying to figure out how they're going to use it, how they're going to deploy it in a safe and secure manner. And I'm interested to hear the sessions that are focused on that. 

Amy Glasscock  09:20

Yeah, definitely popular so far. Okay. Tell us something about yourself that people won't find on your LinkedIn profile. A lot of dark secrets, not on my LinkedIn profile.

Matt Pincus  09:31

Probably my kids are not on my LinkedIn profile. I have two girls, Ellie and Zoe. They're almost five and two and a half and they take up most of my time and energy.

Amy Glasscock  09:43

Very good. Well, glad you got some time away to join us at the conference. 

Matt Pincus  09:47

Nice to sleep in a hotel room.

Alex Whitaker  09:50

All right. So say hello, tell us who you are and let us know what brings you to the NASCIO annual conference.

Steve Pier  09:57

Hey, my name is Steve beer. I'm the Deputy Executive Director for Texas, DIR. What brings me to the conference is? Well, Mandy Crawford, first of all, the most important aspect of it. But this is a great opportunity to meet with colleagues in the vendor community, learn about what's happening in another states and get some better perspective on the future of technology.

Alex Whitaker  10:21

Awesome. So what is the most exciting thing happening in technology in the state of Texas right now? 

Steve Pier  10:28

Well, there's a lot going on, of course, but I think what I'm most excited about is the ongoing modernization of the citizen experience and digitizing that experience to make it more accessible and more equitable for folks to interact with their government.

Alex Whitaker  10:44

Awesome. All right. So finally, Steve, tell us something interesting about yourself that people would not see on your LinkedIn profile?

Steve Pier  10:53

Well, that's, that's easy, because I don't really have a LinkedIn profile. I, I it hasn't been updated in a long time. Because when you work for Mandy Crawford, you don't want to be recruited to go anywhere else. But something interesting. I am originally from the great state of Michigan. And one day, I hope to get back there.

Alex Whitaker  11:11

Awesome, man. Thank you so much, Steve. 

Steve Pier  11:13

Thanks a lot.

Alex Whitaker  11:13

All right. So tell us who you are. And what brings you to the NASCIO annual conference.

Torry Crass  11:19

So my name is Torry Crass. And I'm the State Chief Risk Officer for the State of North Carolina. And here because it's a great opportunity to network with peers from other states, see what everybody's up to in terms of cybersecurity, and all the different components aspects, technology, policy, governance, that all leads into what makes us what makes us function. 

Alex Whitaker  11:42

Awesome. So what is the most exciting thing happening in technology right now?

Torry Crass  11:47

That's a hard one. There's a lot of different stuff. If I had to choose one, I think it is the availability of artificial intelligence technologies that are really starting to augment what we're doing in the technology space. In particular, it does give a lot of opportunity. But there's also privacy concerns and cybersecurity concerns with how that technology is being used. So I think there's a great opportunity to use that tech for really good things going forward, as long as we use it in a way that has some guidelines and some good policy and guidance around how people can use that to better more efficiently do their jobs. 

Alex Whitaker  12:30

Awesome. All right, and tell us something interesting about yourself that people would not find on your LinkedIn profile.

Torry Crass  12:37

Not on my LinkedIn profile. That's a hard one. Most of it's on my LinkedIn profile. But that said, I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere in northern Wisconsin. How's that? 

Alex Whitaker  12:47

Alright. Hey, that'll work. Thank you. Alright, thanks, Torry.

Amy Glasscock  12:51

Thanks again for listening to NASCIO voices. NASCIO voices is a production of the National Association of State chief information officers.

Alex Whitaker  12:58

We hope you enjoyed this virtual trip back to the annual conference. We'll be back right after Thanksgiving to talk about our report on the citizen digital experience.

Amy Glasscock  13:05

We wish you and yours a happy Thanksgiving holiday.  (Blooper Sound Effect) We wish you and yours a happy Thanksgiving holiday. 

Child's Voice  13:16

Bye (Amy and Alex laugh)