Two leaders from the N.C. Department of Information Technology and a leader from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) have been honored by a national publication for being among the best in their fields.
Chief Data Officer John Correllus received the Golden Gov award for State Executive of the Year Award; State Chief Risk Officer Maria Thompson won the State Cybersecurity Leader of the Year Award; Deputy Chief Technology Officer Corey Mercy received the State Leadership of the Year Award; and the DHHS Business Intelligence Data Platform received the State IT Innovation of the Year Award at the 2021 StateScoop 50 Awards.
Correllus leads the Government Data Analytics Center (GDAC) as the chief data officer at NCDIT. Under his leadership, GDAC’s scope has expanded significantly. Originally focused on criminal justice and law enforcement support with small fraud and compliance programs, GDAC now includes educational, workforce, health care, and exponentially larger criminal justice and fraud footprints. GDAC focuses on expanding and integrating analytics into state business strategies and business intelligence initiatives. During Correllus’ tenure, GDAC has become a trusted partner across state government, leveraging the state’s vast data assets to provide information for state leaders to make informed decisions.
As North Carolina’s first chief risk officer, Thompson has developed an integrated statewide framework to manage information risk, including operations, security and data protection. She tirelessly promotes cybersecurity, establishing a state-supported cybersecurity apprenticeship for disabled veterans and promoting cyber awareness and careers to students from elementary schools to universities. Thompson sits on multiple state-level and federal cybersecurity boards and is also a commissioner on the State Emergency Response Commission.
“We are very proud of the work our department has done and the efforts of the IT leaders here in our state,” said NCDIT Secretary Jim Weaver. “These individuals have shown tremendous dedication to improving the state of North Carolina and are deserving of this honor and recognition.”
Mercy leads the Technology Center as the Deputy Chief Technology Officer at DHHS. He has led the development of the Cloud Center of Innovation and works continuously to improve and support the lives of North Carolinians by leveraging technology solutions. During the Department’s COVID-19 response, he and his team have led numerous technology deployments to meet data analytics, reporting, remote healthcare delivery, COVID-19 testing, exposure notification, vaccine administration, and interoperability with external partners. Mercy has served in the health IT field with a focus on the effective use and advancement of technology across both the public and private sectors of health care. He is also an adjunct professor with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill teaching courses on digital health and health analytics.
The DHHS Business Intelligence Data Platform (BIDP) is a HIPAA-compliant cloud-based enterprise platform built to ingest and integrate data in different formats from multiple internal and external sources. BIDP serves as a central repository, having disease surveillance, COVID-19, Medicaid, vaccination, hospital bed availability, personal protective equipment and data from numerous sources including several health information exchanges and external electronic health record systems. Enabling the utilization of these disparate data in analytics, reporting and multiple dashboards for DHHS, the N.C. General Assembly, the N.C. Office of the Governor, other state agencies, news media and the public. BIDP has reduced overall operational costs and increased agility through cloud infrastructure efficiencies that enable supply and demand for environments and employ elastic cost base and transparency.
Each year, StateScoop – which reports on news and events affecting technology decisions in state and local government – recognizes outstanding leaders in state government from across the country while celebrating their accomplishments and impact on their communities. The awarded individuals exemplify what it means to be a trusted and dedicated leader in public service and in the government IT industry.