Anu Bag Named 2021 Woman of Influence by the IBJ
IOT Risk and Compliance and Resiliency Services Executive Director Anushree M. Bag was recently awarded a 2021 Women of Influence Award by the Indianapolis Business Journal not only for her success at IOT, but for the group she formed to help encourage more women in technology careers.
At the Indiana Office of Technology, Bag manages a high-performance team that works on IT governance, compliance, risk management, business continuity and disaster recovery. Currently, she’s the executive sponsor of an initiative to conduct a cybersecurity maturity assessment of local health departments across all 92 counties as cybercrime has increased at a rapid pace this year.
She also founded the Government Women in Technology group, the first in the state, in March 2020. Since then, the group has grown from nine women to nearly 150. Bag wanted to create a supportive ecosystem, helping advocate for empowerment, enablement, elevation, while mentoring and motivating women to take risks and navigate an impactful career in technology.
“When the [National Association of State CIOs] heard about our work, they got inspired to start a similar group at the national level,” she said.
IBJ’s Women of Influence program recognizes women who have risen to the highest levels of business, the arts, and community and public service in central Indiana.
Read about the other recipients here: https://www.ibj.com/women-of-influence-2021
Indiana GIO receives National Award
Indiana was recently awarded the 2021 Geospatial Excellence Awards for extraordinary effort and/or results in getting things done by the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC).
The celebration was held at the organization's Annual Conference.
By the numbers: Indiana received one of only ten awards presented. Since forming in 2008, the Indiana Geographic Information Office (GIO) has been working toward complete statewide datasets for address points, street centerlines, parcels, and administrative boundaries.
In 2020, the GIO and partners took new steps to improve the process, including data cleanup and data augmentation. This highly coordinated effort resulted in complete and timely data collection and reduced the time from data collection to dataset delivery from nine months to six weeks. The project included the development of a new updated statewide geocoder using the latest data available and a dashboard to improve project coordination and promotion.
For the first time, the four framework data layers were made available for download at both the state and county level and the geocoder was made complete with underlying data and locators, expanding the use and reliability of all of the datasets and derived products. The data are shared with the US Dept of Transportation for the National Address Database, and the data contribute to Indiana’s Census projects and boundary data. The cross-county data sharing allows counties to easily consume homogenized datasets for their emergency services, utilities, and more.
What’s next: Look for detailed indoor mapping of the government center campus.
IN-ISAC’s first Cybersecurity Town Hall recap
The Indiana Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IN-ISAC) held their first monthly Cybersecurity Town Hall last month with local government public officials and employees.
Why it matters: The state is working more closely with local government to protect all Hoosier data. The first event was focused on Cybersecurity insurance and the next steps for local communities.
Featured speakers included the City of Carmel’s Director of Information and Communications Systems and Hylant Insurance.
After a great turnout from the first event, the IN-ISAC team will reach out to local governments each month to continue hosting town halls with new topics.
The next town hall will be in January 2022 due to the holidays.
Indiana’s Virtual Digital Government Summit recap
The annual virtual summit was a success, offering state employees an opportunity to explore a variety of technology topics including cybersecurity, digital equity, and the future of the government experience.
New this year was a virtual networking reception that allowed guests to connect by video or chat to talk about the day’s events, and an Exhibit Challenge, where guests could earn a prize or make a donation to charity.
There’s still time to sign in with your email and ZIP code to watch the sessions on demand. These expire this week! Indiana Virtual Digital Government Summit 2021 (govtech.com)
Coming up: Next year the Digital Government Summit is planned to return to an in-person event.
Find everything you need on the ASM Self-Service Portal
Find it Quick: The Indiana Office of Technology has merged all IT services for customers to one central location in the ASM Self-Service Portal. Before this consolidation, IOT was offering eleven unique locations to manage or order services
The IOT portal contains 300+ FAQs (updated daily from multiple sources) and 165+ Service Requests/Offerings (and growing). ASM itself is a product that 16 other state agencies are using to help manage their operations.
In the portal, IOT’s customers track progress on their active HelpDesk Tickets and Requests and provide additional information when needed. They can review their Approvals and Resources and access the Chatbot/Live Chat or reset their password. Other features include viewing available IT Training, the IOT Change Management System, the IOT Billing Dashboard, the IOT Services Catalog and the IOT Services Rates Table.
Keeping it secure, only the people that should have access to a service can gain access
Behind the Tech: Emily Stace
In 2005 the Indiana Office of Technology was created to provide cost-effective, secure, consistent, reliable enterprise-technology services to state government. IOT offers more than 120 technology products supported and serviced by expert staff with licenses or certifications in 62 technical areas. Behind the Tech is a spotlight on the staff that provides services for 30,000 state employees.
Emily Stace is the Senior Business Systems Consultant for IN.gov. She helps the IN.gov program Director manage the IN.gov business and all associated initiatives, projects, support, and contracts.
For Emily, every day is different. A day might include meetings with local government or health agencies for outreach on the IN.gov program, sitting in on a project meeting, vetting or resolving tickets, issue escalation, de-escalation, and resolution, and lots of communication.
What's her favorite thing about her job?
“I have two favorite things. First, I enjoy that every day is different, and I am always learning something new. Second, it is the best feeling when I am working with a customer and see them get so excited over their new website or service that IN.gov was able to provide.”
What's the funniest ticket she’s had to address?
She has two. First is when she received an issue report that a portal on the TSA site was down.
“I was flattered they thought IN.gov hosts the federal TSA sites and portals,” she said. “Second is from my time with the Project Success Center, receiving a project request where a citizen used the request like a suggestion box to the BMV. The person wanted the BMV to develop supervised group driving classes.”
Some of the hardest tickets she has received have been resolved with the help of many colleagues at IOT.
“There are many people at IOT I can always reach out to for help understanding what a ticket needs, where it should go, and how to resolve it. I am never without the safety net of my colleagues,” she said.
Emily loves traveling and new adventures. Some of the best highlights include her hiking down the Grand Canyon, summitting Mt. Fuji, and kayaking Ha Long Bay (Vietnam).
What does she hope to take away from IOT?
“I hope I have served my community and my state's citizens to the best of my ability,” she said. “I was attracted to state government to serve. I was interested in working for IOT because I knew I would never run out of things to learn.”
IOT Connections: November 2021 page is loaded.