Agarwal trades public for private

P.K. Agarwal, a well-known and respected chief information officer, will

leave his post at the California Franchise Tax Board to run National Information

Consortium's electronic government operations.

As the chief information officer and executive vice president for eGovernment

Applications, Agarwal will work to create new e-government applications

and continue advocate e-government internationally. "I want to continue

to be on the soapbox for e-government, almost an evangelist," he said.

To Agarwal, e-government is a revolution that cannot be ignored. "I believe

that the government of the 21st century is so different," he said. "We all

have to pay attention as it moves in warp speed."

Agarwal said he chose to enter the private sector because he feels it is

the best way for him to continue to advocate a revolution in government.

"I just came to the conclusion that I can continue my great passion in e-government

better in the private sector," he said. He said he sees his job in the private

sector as the same as it was in government, "working to continue to transform

government, but in a different hat."

He said he chose NIC because it has a "solid business model," and "is truly

an Internet Age company."

Agarwal has worked for state and local agencies for more than 30 years,

25 of which were in information technology. His work has earned him numerous

awards. He has also served on various national information technology committees,

including being the former chairman of the National Electronic Commerce

Coordinating Council and president of the National Association of State

Information Resource Executives.

He said his greatest accomplishment at California's FTB was twofold: Transitioning

the "conservative tax agency" into a government of the new age, and creating

a "shared vision," or governance model to guide a decentralized department

in one direction.

NIC is a leading e-government provider partnered with local, state and federal

governments worldwide. Agarwal will officially join NIC on July 1.