E64: Innovating Government Services with Data and Technology

On Gov Tech Today, host Jennifer Saha talks with Amanda Renteria, CEO of Code for America, about bridging technology and government to help residents access safety-net benefits like food assistance, school lunch programs, healthcare, SNAP, and Medicaid. Renteria argues modernization should start with real user experience—watching people apply at kitchen tables—and emphasizes “no wrong door” access across phone, in-person, and mobile, plus culturally competent language and iterative design tailored to each state. They discuss why the “apply once” vision is constrained by shifting policies such as new renewal and work requirements, and how better data sharing and common definitions across agencies are still lacking. Renteria outlines Code for America’s values-first approach to AI, warning it requires infrastructure and should be tested carefully with humans in the loop, while highlighting promising uses like document verification and caseworker support.

On this episode of Gov Tech Today, hosts Russell Lowery and Jennifer Saha step back from day-to-day procurement details to examine what California’s public data reveals about technology spending trends. Jen shares analysis comparing FY 2024–25 to 2025–26 across major contract vehicles, finding a sharp decline in IT services: about $3.8B down to $2.59B, nearly a 30% drop, with notable decreases in interagency agreements (down roughly 50%), formal competitive bids, and non-competitive bids. At the same time, IT goods spending is steadier and slightly up—from about $2.3B to $2.7B—suggesting continued purchases of software, hardware, and cloud while agencies reduce reliance on long-term vendor-managed services. They discuss policy changes enabling implementation services through the Software Licensing Program and consider political pressures, budget constraints, and potential pent-up demand ahead of the next administration.

On Gov Tech Today, host Jennifer Saha speaks with Chris Given, California’s new state CIO and director of the California Department of Technology, about his first 10 weeks in the role and priorities for the state’s tech organization. Given shares his background across 10 federal agencies via the U.S. Digital Service and work with several states, then discusses how CDT must adapt as departments modernize away from legacy data center services, reshaping CDT’s budget and service model. He outlines CDT’s push to act as a broker of services through SITES (Statewide IT Shared Services), aiming to consolidate common software purchases, reduce duplicative negotiations, and expand beyond initial AI contracts such as Anthropic’s Claude. They also cover Poppy as a safe AI experimentation tool, updates to California’s AI risk assessment process (5305F) with tiered review, leadership transitions including state CISO Vitaly Panich, and CalSecure 2.0 and CalNet’s expanded managed security offerings.

In this episode, Jennifer Saha interviews Jordan Burris, who leads Socure’s public sector business using AI to verify identity and predict fraud risk, drawing on his prior work in digital trust and as chief of staff to the U.S. CIO. Burris argues fraudsters—helped by digitized services and modern AI tools—are outpacing government, making old identity-proofing standards and “bouncer-at-the-club” checks insufficient at scale. They discuss how pandemic-era “pay and chase” benefit delivery created losses that are often unrecoverable once funds move overseas, and why agencies must shift to layered, preventative controls that reduce friction for legitimate users. Burris cites efforts in California (EDD, CalHEERS/ACA enrollment, DMV) and other states, and emphasizes sharing risk signals across agencies and with transparent vendor partners without broad PII transfer. He predicts success will mean manageable fraud rates and better citizen experience, with accountability led by senior agency leadership and organization-wide vigilance similar to cybersecurity.

On this episode of Gov Tech Today, host Jennifer Seha talks with longtime public-sector consultants Heide Cassidy and Eugene Martinez about why government IT procurement—especially in California—so often feels slow, expensive, and overly burdensome. They argue that the system is built for checks and balances, but growing complexity, centralized control, and shifting definitions of “success” drive up vendor risk and cost. The guests point to Washington State reforms as promising models, including master contracts with prequalified vendors, greater use of national cooperative agreements, and more consistent pre-procurement dialogue with industry. They also critique California’s heavy reliance on resumes and references, suggest weighting interviews more, and propose asking vendors to disclose project failures and lessons learned. The conversation closes with the launch of their new AI-native, women-owned public-sector firm, Lynxar.