The CIO Council HR Committee named a Skills Inventory Subcommittee in 2005 to determine the most effective way to gather information about employee skill sets, training needs, and future skill needs. After evaluating several alternatives and best practices for obtaining good quality workforce information, the HR Committee recommended that the Office of the CIO and CIO Council use a survey instrument developed by the US Federal Chief Information Officers Council (CIOC), in partnership with the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The HR Committee established a project team to implement the skills assessment project and took advantage of this federal instrument and experience to design, administer, and analyze two voluntary on line surveys. The surveys were based on the federal model but extensively customized to the needs of New York State. The first survey was designed for IT employees, and the second for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) in state agencies.

The employee and CIO surveys were conducted during March and April 2006, and involved nearly 5000 IT professionals employed in state agencies, authorities, and boards, including all executive agencies. The employee survey population consisted of all state employees who held one of a specified set of technical job titles as well as other employees in non-technical titles who were identified by their employing agencies as doing agency-level technology work. The CIO survey was sent to the CIOs of each participating state agency.

The on line surveys collected data on 126 skills, ranging from programming and security to system design and development, to IT management, and general management skills. The employee survey asked respondents to rate their current level of proficiency as well as their need for training in each skill. Demographic questions collected data on length of service, retirement intentions, and education. Employees also answered questions about their preferences for training methods and supplied comments and additional information in an open-ended question. The CIO survey covered the same 126 skills but asked these agency IT leaders to forecast the need their individual organizations would have for these skills three years into the future. Similar demographic, training and open-ended questions were also included.

The project team jointly developed a comprehensive communication plan that included a project website, newsletter articles, personal letters to key stakeholders and participants, posters, and outreach meetings. In addition, each agency designated a staff liaison.

A total of 4,882 employees were invited to complete the online skills assessment survey. An overall response rate of 58 percent was achieved with very good representation of respondents by agency size, grade level, job specialty, and age. The CIO survey response rate was 100 percent. The data from the two surveys were analyzed separately and then compared to produce statewide skill profiles, technology forecasts, and a gap analysis.

A more detailed discussion of the methodology and analysis are provided in Appendix A.