Tech leader leaving for industry

Office of the Idaho State Controller

J.D. Williams, Idaho's state controller for the past 14 years and a nationwide champion for the use of technology in government, recently resigned his post to join PeopleSoft Inc.

He will become director of state and local government for the company, which has its headquarters in Pleasanton, Calif.

As state controller, an elected position, Williams oversaw Idaho's main computer service center. He also modernized the state's accounting system, for which the state received several national awards.

Williams is a past chairman of the National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council (www.ec3.org), an alliance of several state government organizations promoting e-government, and he has spoken at many conferences and other venues touting technology's uses to improve efficiency and service within government.

During his involvement with the council, Williams helped produce a series of guides, spearheaded by Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, on how public-sector leaders can use information technology to improve their management and enhance their agencies and governments. He also helped produce several e-government guides and white papers for state and local government leaders.