Feb. 8, 2024

Ep.169 Breaking Down Data Silos: How Montana is Improving Data Sharing Across Agencies (and Reducing Friction and Streamlining Services) with Kevin Gilbertson, CIO, State of Montana, Carrie Albro, CIO, Montana Department of Public Health &

Ep.169 Breaking Down Data Silos: How Montana is Improving Data Sharing Across Agencies (and Reducing Friction and Streamlining Services) with Kevin Gilbertson, CIO, State of Montana, Carrie Albro, CIO, Montana Department of Public Health &
Ep.169 Breaking Down Data Silos: How Montana is Improving Data Sharing Across Agencies (and Reducing Friction and Streamlining Services) with Kevin Gilbertson, CIO, State of Montana, Carrie Albro, CIO, Montana Department of Public Health &
The Public Sector Show by TechTables
Ep.169 Breaking Down Data Silos: How Montana is Improving Data Sharing Across Agencies (and Reducing Friction and Streamlining Services) with Kevin Gilbertson, CIO, State of Montana, Carrie Albro, CIO, Montana Department of Public Health &

Featuring

  • Kevin Gilbertson, CIO, State of Montana
  • Carrie Albro, CIO, Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services
  • Adam Carpenter, Chief Data Officer, State of Montana

Mark your calendars for the 2024 Phoenix Live Podcast Tour April 1st-3rd, 2024 in Scottsdale, Arizona.

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Before we get into this week’s podcast, I wanted to give a special shout-out to TechTables podcast sponsors: SentinelOne, Verizon, and SAP.

SentinelOne's AI-powered security platform to break down silos and protect this state's entire enterprise with real-time data and control. With seamless updates and overhead reduction securing 15,000+ endpoints across 25 agencies, SentinelOne partners to protect critical assets across states and agencies.

Learn how SentinelOne empowers this state to stay secure.

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🏕️ Intro

In this episode, we explore how the State of Montana is pioneering new approaches to AI, data sharing, and analytics to reduce friction for citizens and enable data-driven decisions.

Featuring Kevin Gilbertson, CIO of Montana, Carrie Albro, CIO of Montana Health and Human Services, and Adam Carpenter, Montana's Chief Data Officer. We dive into success stories like fixing a decade-long sewer permitting issue, building a statewide justice data warehouse, and developing a resource referral engine to connect citizens to support services. Tune in to hear how Montana is improving cross-agency collaboration, empowering leaders with actionable insights, and leveraging technology for public good.

📚 Timestamps

00:00 How an unexpected phone call led Adam to become Montana's first Chief Data Officer

04:31 Discovering data silos that prevented effective policy decisions

08:38 Responding to legislature's demands for proof of IT strategy execution

12:48 Carrie advocates for other agencies by asking the "tough questions"

15:16 Pursuing constant improvement with "better is possible" mindset

18:31 Applying Netflix culture principles to build a dream team

21:10 Harnessing AI's potential to create major efficiency gains

26:19 Empowering businesses by unlocking the state's data assets

27:59 Overcoming 99-year record retention rules through master data

30:35 Establishing reciprocal data relationships with local counties


Mark your calendars for the 2024 Phoenix Live Podcast Tour, where we will dive deeper into these insights and explore the cutting-edge solutions driving innovation in the public and private sectors.

Learn more here: https://www.techtables.com/2024-phoenix-live-podcast-tour


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