NYS CIO and Office for Technology and DMWBD Continue Efforts to Meet Diversity Goals

ALBANY, NY (01/07/2009)(readMedia)-- The New York State Chief Information Officer/Office For Technology (CIO/OFT), in collaboration with the Empire State Development Corporation's Division of Minority and Women Owned Business Development (DMWBD), on January 5, 2009, hosted a roundtable discussion with major IT vendors of New York State and state agency CIOs to share successes, strategies, future opportunities and challenges to meet minority and woman owned business enterprise (MWBE) goals for the technology sector.

As one of the largest buyers of IT products and services in New York State government, CIO/OFT is committed to supporting Governor David A. Paterson's priority to raise MWBE participation levels. To increase the use of MWBE firms for technology procurements, CIO/OFT and DMWBD have been working with the corporate technology sector, state agencies, and MWBE firms to build capacity and improve opportunities for New York's MWBE firms.

Since the first MWBE Technology Jumpstart Event held in June 2008, CIO/OFT received commitment from twenty-one (21) of New York State's top IT vendors to establish corporate MWBE participation goals. The 21 corporations that have voluntarily pledged to expand their use of MWBEs to 15% by 2009 and to 20% by 2010 include: Accenture, Avaya, BearingPoint, Computer Aid, CGI, Dell, Deloitte, Dunn and Bradstreet, EDS, Gateway, IBM, Intel, Johnson Controls, Microsoft, nFrastructure Technologies, Oracle, Qwest, Siemens, Tandberg, Unisys, and Xerox.

During her opening remarks, Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart, New York State Chief Information Officer and Director of the Office for Technology stressed the importance of collectively working together to ensure MWBE priorities are met this year and beyond.

"We are extremely encouraged by the support of the businesses who attended today's roundtable discussion. The commitment these 21 corporations made to raise the level of woman and minority owned business participation to 20% by 2010 is a significant catalyst to promote supplier diversity throughout New York State," said Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart. "Today's meeting provided an open forum to discuss MWBE strategies and ascertain if we are on the right track to meet our MWBE goals and, if not, what we need to do to get there."

Michael Jones-Bey, Executive Director of the New York State Division of Minority and Women Business Development stated that we must embrace Governor David A. Paterson's initiative to create opportunities for those businesses historically left out.

"Small businesses create the majority of new jobs. During these challenging economic times, we must look at new ways to create new opportunities. Partnering with small, woman and minority owned businesses will allow us to further stimulate economic development and provide long-term prosperity for the citizens of New York State," said Michael Jones-Bey. "I am extremely pleased with the progress that we are making in our technology sector initiative. We are seeing large tech sector firms create joint ventures and establish reseller agreements that will create unprecedented opportunities for MWBEs. This is a great example of how government can leverage partnerships with the private sector to serve the public good."

During the meeting, participants focused on strategies to address barriers to meet MWBE goals and made recommendations on ways to increase MWBE utilization rates.

"IBM has a long and proud history of diversity and supporting minority and women owned businesses dating back nearly 50 years. We are proud to partner with the State of New York, our home state, on this important initiative," said Steve LaFleche, IBM Managing Director for New York. "Through the efforts of CIO/OFT and DMWBD, we are fostering new partnerships that will help IBM and New York State increase the percentage of MWBE participation in information technology opportunities."

"Accenture was pleased to have the opportunity to participate in the roundtable discussion with CIO/OFT, DMWBD, and other firms that share our commitment to continue providing increased business and growth opportunities for MWBE firms in New York State," said Sterling McCullough, Accenture New York Director for State and Local Government. "We are well-known as a leader in encouraging and supporting MWBE partnerships, through initiatives such as out mentor-protégé program and our supplier diversity purchasing program. We look forward to working with CIO/OFT and DMWBD to support New York's MWBE community."

"Microsoft continues to identify initiatives within New York to invest with minority and women owned businesses in order to help them realize their full potential," said John Kaldy, Microsoft Corporation Account Team Unit Manager, Public Sector. "Microsoft continues to work with several partners to identify New York State's specific technology needs, whether it is transportation, public safety or health and human services. Microsoft also works with these partners to identify ways to enhance their competencies with the emphasis of enabling growth. Our goal is to afford MWBEs the opportunity to be more competitive in technology environments with other larger organizations and entities."

"CGI shares Governor David A. Paterson's commitment to increase minority and women owned business participation rates," said Jonathan Light, Vice President, CGI. "We applaud Dr. Mayberry-Stewart and Mr. Jones-Bey for their tireless dedication to this worthy cause. CGI is fully committed to this effort and we look forward to continuing to provide New York State with cost effective solutions through information technology."

CIO/OFT is focused on raising the level of woman and minority owned business involvement in state technology purchases to 15% by 2009 and 20% by 2010. As part of CIO/OFT's continued commitment and at the request of Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples and Senator Antoine Thompson, the CIO/OFT and the Empire State Development Corporation's DMWBD will co-host the 3^rd Technology Sector MWBE JumpStart Event in Buffalo, New York in April, 2009.

To learn more about CIO/OFT's MWBE Supplier Diversity Program visit http://www.oft.state.ny.us/OFT/MWBE.htm.

About CIO/OFT

The State Chief Information Officer and Office for Technology (CIO/OFT) provides statewide IT strategic direction and centralized IT services to the state and its governmental entities. CIO/OFT provides a number of IT services to support the missions of 27 state agencies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, over 90,000 telecom users, more than 50 statewide applications, a secure network of over 1,600 miles of owned and leased fibers, including mainframe operations, telecommunications, internet and intranet provisions, email, IT training, networking, and data storage and processing. In addition, the agency has a world renowned project management practice, assists with application development, and sets technology strategy and policies for the state enterprise.

About DMWBD

The Division of Minority and Women Owned Business Development is an office within Empire State Development Corporation, the state's primary economic development arm. The office performs three major functions: to encourage and assist state agencies that are engaged in contracting activities to award a fair share of state contracts to MWBE firms; to review and approve applications by businesses seeking MWBE certification and maintain a directory of certified firms; and to promote the business development of MWBE firms through education and outreach to state agencies and MWBEs.