Indian American New York State Chief Technology Officer receives NASCIO 2018 State Technology Innovator Award

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Rajiv Rao, the Indian American New York State Chief Technology Officer, has received the National Association of State Chief Information Officers State Technology Innovator Award.

“Thank you to NASCIO for this wonderful award and to our state CIO, Bob Samson, for nominating me. It is a privilege to work with him and to be part of the executive team. We have an amazing team at ITS and I’m grateful for their talent and dedication. Technology is limitless in its potential to allow us to do great things,” Rao is quoted saying in a press release.

Rao was named New York State Chief Technology Officer in 2015 and he has been an IT professional for more than 20 years, working on numerous high-profile projects as he leveraged many different technologies throughout his career.

The award recognizes the individual contributions that advance state technology policy agenda through the promotion of best practices, adoption of new technologies and advancement in service delivery.

Rao received the honor at the NASCIO Awards Dinner on October 23 in San Diego, California, where New York State Chief Information Officer Robert H. Samson, called Rao a natural leader who takes pride in inspiring others and helping teams excel.

“In reading the description of this prestigious award, I could think of no one more deserving than Rajiv. His broad experience and bold vision drive his work with our clients to architect innovative technology solutions that deliver maximum impact for our clients and all New Yorkers. Through Rajiv’s work on complex projects like our data center consolidation, creation of the New York State Excelsior Cloud, enhancement of the NY.gov ID service and the deployment of Watson Chat to enhance our service delivery, Rajiv’s leadership is helping to drive innovation for ITS and New York State,” Samson is quoted saying in a press release.