The 2022 Annual Conference is only two months away! The 2022 Annual Conference will be held at Moody Gardens in Galveston. The Education Committee is putting the final touches on the agenda, continuing to put together strong education sessions. I hope to see many familiar faces as well as new.

The Award Committee has opened nominations. This is your chance to highlight your agency’s project achievements for Excellence. Three winners will be selected, and the awards will be presented at the annual conference.

We recently wrapped up the South Texas Regional Summit, discussing Texas DIR cybersecurity efforts and MFA. DIR took comments and suggestions from several members, and have since reached out to the board for further input.

As a reminder we recently added the career center to the TAGITM website for agencies to post recruiting opportunities.

William Pham
TAGITM President

The onset of the new year means a fresh start after a nice break from the office, picking up where you left off before the holiday down time, and that the TAGITM conference is right around the corner. If you’re thinking you’d like to join the festivities this year, mark your calendars for the week of April 26–29, 2022.

TAGITM is proud to announce our 2022 Call for Awards Nominations. All awards will be judged by the Awards Committee and award recommendations will be submitted to the Executive Board for review. Please note the deadline for submissions is Tuesday, March 15.

TAGITM is now accepting nominations for President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer for one-year terms. Nominations can be submitted via the online form below and must be received by 5:00 pm on Tuesday, March 15, 2022.

The TAGITM nominating committee will verify nominee eligibility, willingness to serve, and review qualifications. Once the nomination period is complete, TAGITM will distribute an electronic ballot via email with specific login credentials to the Master Account Holder for each Agency.

Election results will be announced at the 2022 Annual Conference, April 26 - 29 in Galveston, TX. Please email info@tagitm.org with any questions.

Tracy Beekman has accepted the position of IT Director for the City of Cibolo. His anticipated start date is January 10th. The Cibolo City Manager, Wayne Reed, stated "This is a vital position for the City of Cibolo to plan, organize and direct the City's Information Technology (IT) Department including infrastructure, internal operations, security, VoIP, network systems, emergency communications, and emergency notification programs."

Beekman was previously serving as IT Director for the City of Duncanville. In his 10 years with Duncanville, he worked tirelessly with staff to forge a new path to help better the city using technology. Beekman also planned, organized, and deployed major systems changes to technology infrastructure to include migration of City systems to a virtual environment.

Mr. Beekman served in the U.S. Navy from 1993 to 1997 and was a Hospital Corpsman. He completed his enlistment at Naval Medical Center San Diego. During his service, he received the National Defense Service Medal.

Please join us in welcoming Tracy and congratulating him on his new position.

GovTech
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says that Facebook broke a 2009 consent law and "will no longer take advantage of people and their children with the intent to turn a profit at the expense of one’s safety and well-being."

GovTech
States are developing electric vehicle public charging plans for approval, and they will need more collaborations among data analysts, utilities, and neighboring states.

StateScoop
The nonprofit NewDEAL Forum has released a report that includes use cases, case studies and profiles of broadband technologies that have been successfully implemented by state and local policymakers.