IOT offers AWS training opportunity
The Indiana Office of Technology continues to offer training opportunities to state employees to allow other agencies to stay current on technology and modernize the state government workforce.
Sign up now for a course focusing on the fundamentals of building IT infrastructure on the Amazon Web Services platform.
The three-day course is offered twice, May 18-20 and June 22-24.
State employees will learn how to optimize the AWS Cloud by understanding AWS services and how they fit into cloud-based solutions. The training covers best practices and design patterns to help architect optimal IT solutions on the AWS Cloud. Attendees will also build and explore a variety of infrastructures through guided discussions and hands-on activities.
A link to sign up is here:
Spring of Learning 2021
WorkSmart 365 has brought back its successful Spring of Learning event with free, virtual learning sessions for all state agencies.
In 2020, WorkSmart 365 reached nearly 2,000 users at more than 30 agencies across the State of Indiana during the inaugural Spring of Learning. Through a partnership between the Indiana Office of Technology, Microsoft, and Netrix, they offered eight different sessions focusing on various Microsoft Teams topics.
This year, the team offers 19 different courses covering 10+ Microsoft 365 Applications and hopes to reach even more users. Some applications include: Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online, Microsoft Planner, Forms and more.
The first events were hosted in April on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and will continue through June.
The 12-week schedule is available here:
https://ingov.sharepoint.com/sites/WorkSmart365/SitePages/SpringofLearningScheduleRelease.aspx Register Now!
IOT Risk and Compliance Executive Director wins prestigious award
Anushree Bag, Executive Director of Risk and Compliance, has won the TechPoint Community Impact Award for her work in founding the first affinity group in the state, Government Women in Technology-Indiana.
The Community Impact Award is given to individuals and organizations that have gone above and beyond to support the advancement of Indiana’s tech community.
TechPoint, the nonprofit, industry-led growth initiative for Indiana’s technology ecosystem, announced the nominees for its 22nd annual Mira Awards program in February, and the winners were announced April 22. The Mira Awards is the state's largest and longest-running technology excellence and innovation recognition program, and the annual gala celebrates "The Best of Tech in Indiana.”
According to the judges, they were blown away by “Anu’s audacity that led her to envision a supportive ecosystem within government that would not only improve the representation of women, but better serve the people and improve lives.”
Based on Bag’s own experiences with systemic barriers that impact female advancement in STEM fields, she founded the Government Women in Technology- Indiana group in March 2020 and has expanded to include 144 women from 35 state agencies.
With meetings once a month, the group joins virtually (for now) on Microsoft Teams to mentor, challenge, listen and learn from each other. The group motivates women in the industry to share their knowledge, creating a strong pipeline of meritorious women in technology.
Watch Anu’s interview with Gerry Dick on Inside Indiana Business: Anushree Bag wins Community Impact Mira Award (2021)
Electronic signatures now required on all PSC documents
Ensuring that everyone involved in a project is on the same pages and is tracking to the same goals is a way to guarantee successful delivery. To help start on the right foot, and with the realities of a remote workforce, the IOT Project Success Center now collects document signatures electronically through Adobe.
Signatories do not need a special Adobe license to approve documents.
The IOT Project Success Center mission is to Organize, Execute and Deliver a quality product or service for the State of Indiana utilizing industry best practices and a structured framework. With this new requirement, things will run more efficiently for all parties involved in the project.
The team has a new system for logging IT project requests to capture more necessary information up front, so you can get started more quickly. Go to www.in.gov/iot and select IT Project Requests.
Indiana selected to develop policies to advance cybersecurity
Indiana has been chosen by the National Governors Association (NGA) as one of five states to develop policies to advance their whole-of-state cybersecurity postures, the latest in a series of collaborations between NGA and states on cybersecurity.
The NGA Center for Best Practices selected the five states for its 2021 Policy Academy to Advance Whole-of-State Cybersecurity, the most recent in NGA's ongoing efforts to refine and share best practices in cybersecurity governance, workforce development, critical infrastructure security, and local engagement and partnership.
"Cybersecurity is essential to the future stability and economic success of our nation, Hoosiers, and Hoosier businesses. Supporting local government is the foundation upon which our state’s critical infrastructure is built and must be protected,” said Tracy Barnes, Chief Information Officer for the State of Indiana.
Chetrice Mosley-Romero, cybersecurity program director for the State of Indiana, added, "Indiana's selection as one of five states chosen to participate in the National Governor's Association 2021 Policy Academy to Advance Whole-of-State Cybersecurity provides the opportunity to build on the significant progress already achieved through the work completed by the Indiana Executive Council on Cybersecurity (IECC). It is a framework that began with the contributions of more than 250 leaders from across the state and continues to move forward, further strengthening the posture of our cyber readiness.
There is still much to do, and the support of our fellow states through such efforts as the NGA Policy Academy is vital. By working together, we can establish long-term protection strategies, along with the added knowledge and infrastructure to safeguard against such threats."
Representatives of the five states will convene in state workshops to create action plans for strengthening state cybersecurity, participate in regularly scheduled convenings with NGA staff on their progress and goals, and build relationships with and learn from peers in other states facing similar challenges.
In the new policy academy, expected to conclude in January 2022, NGA will work with five states on the following focus areas:
- Indiana: state-local partnerships in cybersecurity
- Kansas: cyber governance
- Missouri: cyber governance
- Montana: cybersecurity workforce development
- Washington: state-local government partnerships in cybersecurity
This is the second time that the NGA has selected the State of Indiana. In 2018, the NGA Cybersecurity Academy chose Indiana to help develop a one-of-a-kind Emergency Manager Cybersecurity and held forums on how the state can further develop workforce development initiatives. Both the workforce development report and the toolkit for emergency managers are available at www.in.gov/cybersecurity.