Alan Shark on how PTI works with state & local government

For Alan Shark, the executive director of the Public Technology Institute, his organization is primarily one of reinvention.

“PTI has been around for such a long time that we almost have to reinvent ourselves every three or four years,” Shark said. “Our mission is to represent state and local government.”

Though the organization has focused on cities and counties in the past, Shark said the institute has branched out and does not overlap in coverage areas with the National Association of State Chief Information Officers.

PTI works to provide the forums and specific consulting and help for CIOs and other state & local information technology officials. In addition, Shark said the institute runs about 20 webinars per year.

“We’re kind of like a therapy ward,” said Shark, who spoke with StateScoop recently. “I’ve learned in my ‘old age’ that sometimes the best thing to do when you have a CIO is to listen.