Rationale and description. The potential of the current CIO Council as part of an enterprise governance structure is hampered by a lack of clarity regarding its relative role and responsibilities vis-à-vis CIO/OFT in policy setting and IT decision making. This lack of clarity is particularly troublesome in relation to decisions on identification, selection, management, evaluation, and sustainability of enterprise initiatives. The reestablishment of the CIO Council as outlined in the recently developed charter clarifies these roles and responsibilities in a more specific way.

Scope. According to the draft charter, the CIO Council has three main purposes: Authority. The CIO Council is an advisory body to the State CIO on matters of information technology policy, management, and operations. It provides a forum for the CIOs to address issues of mutual concern, make recommendations on IT issues, share information, and promote cooperation among the CIO Community. It has the authority to set the CIO Council agenda, form advisory committees, and conduct elections for the positions on the leadership committee, including chair of the Council.

The authority of this body does not conflict with the current statutory authority of the State CIO or the agencies. It is an advisory group to provide advice and act as a resource for the State CIO concerning issues related to enterprise IT policies and standards.

Membership. The CIO (or equivalent) of each state agency, all other entities over which the Governor has executive authority, and all public benefit corporations, the heads of which are appointed by the Governor. Also invited to participate are the CIOs (or equivalent) from the following: the NYS Assembly and Senate; the Unified Court System; the Office of the State Comptroller, the Office of the State Attorney General. Representation from local and regional government CIOs (up to 10 members) will include the President and Vice President of New York State Local Government Information Technology Directors Association (NYSLGITDA) and one representative from New York City as designated by New York City’s CIO. The State CIO serves as an ex-officio member of the Council. The State CIO may appoint additional members of his or her executive leadership team to be members of the CIO Council. The CIO Council may appoint additional members on a temporary basis as needed to support specific subcommittee efforts.

The chair of the CIO Council Leadership Committee is a member of the ITIB and the EEGB to ensure communication with the agency CIO community. This cross-membership provides an environment for openness, transparency, and cross-organizational information sharing.

Process. The leadership committee has been designed to address a number of the inherent challenges associated with the size of the CIO Council as a discussion forum and to facilitate more effective communication and cooperation with CIO/OFT. The Leadership Committee consists of thirteen members, seven elected by the CIO Council and five appointed by the State CIO, and a chair who is elected from the general membership.

In adherence to the commitment to shared authority, the Council is established under the authority of the State CIO and the State CIO has the responsibility to call the quarterly meetings. The Leadership Committee has the responsibility to set the council agenda, to review requests to set up workgroups from the council membership and to submit official recommendations from the Council to the State CIO.

The subcommittees will report on their work at the quarterly meetings of the CIO Council and the Leadership Committee meetings when so requested. Once an official recommendation has been submitted to the Leadership Committee, and where appropriate reviewed by the full membership, a report is forwarded to the CIO/OFT for a response.

Related Responsibilities. Subcommittees of the CIO Council can be set up based on a request from a member of the Council and with a review by the Leadership Committee. The State CIO can also request the formation of subcommittees to address specific issues.

Current Practice. The state of California has a similar body, the IT Council Executive Committee, which provides oversight and leadership to their IT Council. The Council provides general guidance to the state CIO on proposed IT policies. The smaller body was established to facilitate more effective communication and collaboration between the State CIO and the agency CIOs.

The Value Proposition for Recommendation # 3 Adopt the CIO Council Charter as drafted by the CIO Council Action Team Co-Chairs.
Value Proposition	Description
Reduce redundancy and establish prioritization mechanisms	The redesigned CIO Council has an increased focus on fostering agency collaboration and information sharing. By increasing information sharing and enhancing transparency, the CIO Council enhances the state’s ability to identify potential duplication of efforts and identify opportunities for increased interagency cooperation. Second, by enhancing the level of involvement of the CIO community in the planning efforts and by giving them a stronger voice via the CIO Council Leadership Committee, the new Council will contribute to increasing the level of cooperativeness among agency CIOs and with the CIO/OFT.
Reduce political directions and swings	The CIO Council does not directly prevent political swings but can serve as a source of institutional knowledge for an incoming State CIO. The CIO Council Leadership Committee is designed to span terms of elected officials and thus should be able to inform an incoming State CIO of ongoing activities and provide insight on any potential changes in strategic direction.
Establish standards	The State CIO retains full authority over standards and statewide IT policies, but the state standards should be investigated in collaboration with a special subcommittee of the CIO Council. Further, by proposing an official recommendation and answer process between the CIO Council and the Office of the State CIO, the model enhances and formalizes exchange of information among these two entities.
Foster sharing of services and information through agency collaboration	The redesigned CIO Council has as part of its core mission providing a forum for the New York State CIO community to address issues of mutual concern and promote information sharing and cooperation. The redesigned CIO Council should set its own agenda and have a leadership group responsible for enhancing information sharing opportunities. These changes will allow the redesigned CIO Council to provide a more effective venue for agency collaboration. To promote collaboration, there should be a mechanism within the CIO Council that allows for crafting a shared vision. This mechanism will provide the means to create a more cohesive, statewide IT community with common goals. If these processes were developed within this framework, opportunities for shared or consolidated services could be identified.