News from New York State Office for Technology

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NY State CIO and Office for Technology Continue Work to Close the Opportunity Gaps for MWBEs in New York

Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart Presents at IBM MWBE Technology Day

ALBANY, NY (10/03/2008; 0730)(readMedia)-- Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart, New York State Chief Information Officer and Director of the Office For Technology presented during IBM's Minority and Woman Owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) Technology Day on October 2, 2008 in Albany, New York.

With nearly 100 representatives from MWBE firms in attendance, the IBM MWBE Technology Day promoted interaction between IBM executives and MWBE firms and educated MWBEs on the processes to become an approved supplier for IBM's different lines of business.

"I am honored and privileged to be part of this worthy and necessary event in support of MWBE initiatives," said Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart. "IBM has pledged to increase their use of MWBEs to 15% by 2009 and 20% by 2010. This event is a testimony to IBM's commitment to create and expand opportunities for Minority-and Women-Owned Businesses throughout the State of New York and beyond."

During the event, Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart discussed the gap in opportunities for minority and women-owned businesses and the necessity of forging more public and private partnerships in support of Governor David A. Paterson's goal to increase supplier diversity in New York State.

"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 Laflech, IBM Managing Director for New York. "Today's event is one of many planned to foster new partnerships that will help IBM to increase the percentage of MWBE participation in New York State information technology opportunities."

The Chief Information Officer / Office For Technology and IBM have both set goals to increase participation with MWBEs to 15% by 2009 and 20% by 2010. Fourteen additional technology corporations have made the commitment and include: Accenture, BearingPoint, Computer Aid, CGI, Dell, Deloitte, EDS, Gateway, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Qwest, Siemans, Unisys, and Xerox.

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 IBM

For more information about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com.

Attachments

Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart, New York State CIO and Director of the Office for Technology and Steve Laflech, IBM Managing Director for New York