Operationalize Your Digital Sovereignty Mandate

Tuesday, September 9, at 1:00 PM ET | 10:00 AM PT

Roundtable Summary

Global instability has elevated digital sovereignty to the forefront of public sector IT issues. Infrastructure is globalized, procurement processes are rigid, and guidance on quantum risk, building domestic AI capacity, or trusted vendors is fragmented. Departments are being asked to rethink cloud strategies, AI hosting, procurement, workforce capacity, and more to align with national values and digital resilience goals.  

But in practice, most leaders are juggling legacy contracts, global infrastructure dependencies, and uncertain talent pipelines, all while trying to show progress on AI adoption and productivity. Leaders need tangible and actionable ways to assess their organization’s current posture and make meaningful progress that aligns with new expectations to advance digital sovereignty across government.  

Join this informative roundtable as we explore what digital sovereignty actually means for IT leaders and their organizations.  

  • ​Hear from roundtable participants as they share early actions, governance approaches, and internal assessments that helped them move from concept to capability.
  • ​Explore practical tools like vendor sovereignty scans, post-quantum readiness checklists, and procurement modernization ideas, while discussing how to coordinate with central agencies without stalling local progress.
  • ​Expect peer-led insights, real talk about constraints, and a focus on tactical moves that IT leaders can make today to move the national agenda forward, without getting stuck in abstract compliance loops.

Roundtable Speakers

 

 

Neal Rosenblatt

Principal Research Director

  • Neal Rosenblatt has over 25 years of progressive public health research science and informatics leadership experience in the public sector across local and state government.

  • Prior to joining Info-Tech Research Group, Neal served in numerous technology strategy and solutions development, data integration, and data analytics leadership roles, including Informatics Chief at the California Department of Public Health, and as an Epidemiologist and IT specialist at the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s Cabinet for Health and Family Services, and at the Louisville Metro Department of Public Health and Wellness. Highlights include leading the successful development of a data modernization initiative resulting in safe and secure cloud data storage, curation, business intelligence, unified analytics toward automated ML and AI, and data sharing in service to numerous public health programs and health and human services departments at the state government level.

  • In addition to his public health service, Neal served as a Senior Director and In-Country Research Lead in support of U.S. Department of the Army operations based in Kabul, Afghanistan. In this capacity, he provided sociocultural assessment at the national and local level to inform the Military Decision-Making Process (MDMP) and recommended tactical and strategic operationally relevant courses of action (COAs) to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Joint Command (IJC). Neal has also served on public sector delegations to the Government Health Ministries of Barbados, West Indies and Belize, Central America, and as a member of a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) delegation to the World Health Organization (WHO) focused on housing and health policy initiatives.

  • Neal has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Oberlin College and Master of Science degrees from the University of Louisville in Public Health, Physiology, and Urban Planning, and he holds a Public Health Leadership Certificate from the University of Kentucky, College of Public Health. He is also a Fellow of the Kentucky Public Health Leadership Institute.

 

Cole Cioran

Managing Partner

  • I grew up in a cabin in the woods without running water or electricity. That might seem like an unlikely start for a career in information technology, but we all had to start from somewhere. For me the journey began in 1980 when we got the first home computer in the county. I wrote:

    10 PRINT HELLO WORLD!

    RUN

    HELLO WORLD!

  • And I was hooked. I knew I wanted to build great applications that would delight their users. I did that over and over. Along the way I also discovered that it takes great teams to deliver great applications. Technology only solves problems when people, processes, and organizations change as well. This helped me go from writing software to advising some of the largest organizations in the world on how to how to build a digital delivery umbrella of Product, Agile, and DevOps and create exceptional products and services powered by technology.

  • Today I am fortunate enough to lead Info-Tech’s Canadian Public Sector Global Services team, which advises IT executives in provincial and municipal government on how to revolutionize the delivery of digital services to our fellow Canadians.

  • We’re looking forward to helping you as well!

 

 

 

Andy Best

Research Director

  • Andy Best is the Research Director for Info-Tech’s Canadian Public Sector practice, where he supports the delivery of research and advisory services across key IT domains and public sector issues and helps IT leaders drive measurable results in their organizations.

  • Prior to joining Info-Tech, Andy had a diverse career in public sector innovation and digital modernization. As an independent public data advisor, he advised clients at all orders of government on data governance, strategy, and innovation programming, helping create data and IT strategies for multiple organizations.

  • Andy has held several public appointments in Ontario, first as a member of the Ontario Health Data Council, advising on the modernization of PHIPA and the future state of the provincial health data ecosystem. Also, as Special Advisor to the Ontario Data Authority, he wrote the business case for this exploratory provincial data institution, supported public consultations, and designed use cases and new data stewardship models before delivering a personal recommendations report to the responsible ministers on design, strategy, and future governance for the Data Authority.

  • Previously, Andy was the founding CEO of the Civic Digital Network, a research, development, and prototyping shop for digital public infrastructure. Under Andy’s leadership, the CDN completed a full cycle from deep research and development to public sector implementation in just four years. As manager of innovation and open government at the City of Guelph, he implemented Canada’s first municipal open government action plan, designed the award-winning Civic Accelerator innovation procurement model, and created the Improvement Network, a coordinated suite of innovation programs and tools to help drive modernization and results.

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