“No longer is IT about information technology," Secretary Teena Piccione told 500 state and local public-sector IT leaders at the North Carolina IT Leadership Forum.
"IT is about telling the story of what that information can do and what technology it rides on.”
IT professionals need to be able to tell the story of “why,” Piccione said. Government IT staff must make strong business cases about why a technology or solution will have a “return on investment for every single citizen.”
“We need to tell the story in a compelling way, that’s exciting and makes everyone want to buy in to what you’re selling," she said. "Because in the end, you’re selling information technology in such a way that’s going to unlock budgets, unlock opportunity and unlock a way for you do to do your job even better.”
Storytelling about IT was a dominant theme at the forum hosted by the N.C. Department of Information Technology in Durham on March 27.
Sharon Delaney McCloud, Emmy-winning broadcaster and business communicator, stressed the power of storytelling to advance an organization’s mission. She pointed to the importance of telling an audience what’s in it for them and keeping a bank of stories about the impact of your work to use whenever needed.
Piccione urged IT leaders to involve all their teams in thinking of new ways to talk about – as well as do – their work, especially in a time of rapid change.
“My staff will tell you, I always ask, ‘Why?’” she said. “I want everybody to rethink the way we do things. Is there a way to do it faster, smarter and easier?”
Other notable sessions at the forum included productive discussions on IT workforce recruitment and retention, bridging IT and business, strategies to reskill and uplift staff, knowledge retention and workforce transition, and the economic outlook for IT.