N.C.'s IT staff shuffle continues

Former Citicorp executive Michael Fenton was named North Carolina's chief

technology officer Sept. 15, following a three-month review period.

As CTO, Fenton will be responsible for providing guidance to an oversight

policy commission and developing standards for the state's technical architecture.

He joined the Information Resources Management (IRM) division within the

Office of Information Technical Services in June as deputy CTO. He became

acting CTO, and head of IRM when CTO Emilie Schmidt left after five years.

The IRM provides analytical, technical and administrative support to the

Information Resource Management Commission, which formulates state-level

information technology strategies, plans, policies, and procedures, and

helps implement technology initiatives across state agencies.

Fenton's promotion is the latest in a series of transitions at the Office

of Information Technical Services. The office's new boss is Ron Hawley,

who replaced Rick Webb as North Carolina's chief information officer on

Sept. 1, the same day the office began reporting directly to Gov. Jim Hunt's

office instead of the state's Department of Commerce. Hawley previously

was chief operating officer for ITS.

In April, Jim Broadwell, director of Telecommunications Services, joined

Cisco Systems Inc., according to the June edition of the office's newsletter,

"ITS Update." Broadwell's position is being filled by an acting director.

Sharon Hayes was appointed manager of the IT Strategic Planning section

of IRM in May, the newsletter said.

ITS staff members contacted Wednesday declined to indicate whether or when

the positions of chief operating officer or deputy CTO would be filled.

Hawley was unavailable for comment.

As a Citicorp vice president, Fenton determined the financial giant's network

systems architecture and was the liaison between technology groups and bank

management. He relocated from South Korea to work with North Carolina's

state government.