AeA Hosts Welcome Reception for California State CIO Teri Takai

Sacramento, CA (March 3, 2008) - In an event held on Friday at the Vizcaya in Sacramento, Teresa (Teri) Takai, the newly-appointed California State CIO, addressed nearly 300 high-tech leaders and government affairs professionals from AeA member companies including Apple; Intel Corporation; Microsoft Corporation; Natoma Technologies, Inc.; Sun Microsystems, and Symantec Corp. This event follows on the heels of AeA’s first reception for Ms. Takai, which was held on January 16.

“We were honored to welcome Ms. Takai to California,” said Roxanne Gould, AeA’s Senior Vice President for California Public and Legislative Affairs. “AeA looks forward to working with Ms. Takai in streamlining California's IT procurement process.”

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the appointment of Ms. Takai on December 6, 2007. This position was created by a bill sponsored by AeA at the behest of its members long frustrated by their inability to offer IT products and services to the government overseeing the world's sixth largest economy. Ms. Takai officially took office on January 7.

“I appreciate AeA welcoming me to Sacramento,” said Teri Takai. “I am looking forward to working with AeA to advance the business of technology in California. I share Governor Schwarzenegger’s commitment to making state government more accessible to Californians through information technology, and I will work closely with the Governor, the legislature and other California state officials to create more efficiency and accessibility in state government.”

Will Bush, Director of the Department of General Services said, "I look forward to working with Teri to continue the development of strategic partnerships with AeA, its members, and others that will drive a new-era in solutions-based IT procurement for California.”

P.K. Agarwal, CA Director of Technology Services said, "The welcome to Sacramento for our new CIO Teri Takai was great. I was happy to celebrate with some of our government leaders and folks from AeA. AeA has been a driving force for information technology companies in recent years and the Department of Technology Services looks forward to working with them as we head into 2008."

California state government, with an annual technology budget of several billion dollars, is one of the largest potential purchasers of technology in the world. AeA members had for years sought a California Chief Information Officer (CIO) with real statutory, enterprise-wide authority to facilitate and promote technology solutions, bring about a unified technology program throughout state agencies, and provide accountability for the direction of technology.

For more information about AeA’s efforts in Sacramento, please visit www.aeanet.org/sacramento.


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About AeA
AeA, the nation’s largest technology trade association representing all segments of the high-tech industry, is dedicated solely to helping our members’ top line and bottom line. We do this in partnership with our small, medium, and large member companies by lobbying governments at the state, federal, and international levels, providing access to capital and business opportunities, and offering select business services and networking programs. For more information, please visit www.aeanet.org.

This page was last updated on 03/03/08.