New MN.IT boss vows technology battle plan
Gov. Mark Dayton turned to a military general Wednesday to run the state technology agency that is still working to fix Minnesota's vehicle registration system.
Dayton named Johanna Clyborne to lead Minnesota IT Services. She'll replace Commissioner Tom Baden, who cited health problems for his upcoming retirement.
Clyborne is co-founder of a law firm and a brigadier general in the Minnesota National Guard, jobs she said she intends to keep doing on a part-time basis while taking on the new MN.IT duties. Clyborne does family law, concentrating on issues surrounding military benefits, and she said she will take steps to avoid any conflicts with her public duties.
A Bronze Star recipient from combat during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Clyborne was the first woman to command a brigade and hold the brigadier general rank in Minnesota's Guard.
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In her new assignment, she said an early focus will be to get the Minnesota Licensing and Registration System (MNLARS) running properly after months of glitches and customer complaints.
"The MNLARS improvement and development project will be a top priority for me in the weeks and months ahead," Clyborne said as she was introduced at a news conference. "Minnesotans, they deserve better. Improvements have already been made and there's been progress but that progress must continue and it's not enough at this point. We will not rest until we get this job done right."
Dayton's administration has promised to provide an action plan for the licensing system by the end of January. Clyborne takes over on Feb. 2. She declined to say if she had initial thoughts about things she'll do differently.
"I don't have very specific (plans). It's hard to say when I haven't even sat at the desk yet," she said. "But that said I do think we need to remind ourselves that Minnesota Information Technology Services is a customer service-based organization. And we need to take stakeholder concerns into account, we need to look at in the lens of the deputy registrars who are working the systems as well as what the software can and can't do and where that needs to be tweaked so it can meet the requirements that are being placed on it."
Dayton said the work to fix MNLARs problems has been occurring since July across state agencies.
"This is not starting from scratch," he said. "There are a lot of good people there working very hard, very concerned about the problems with MNLARs and are very much committed to working it out."
It's not the only big challenge awaiting Clyborne. Minnesota is also converting its driver's licenses to comply with the federal Real ID law, and it has brought on a contractor to help get that system in place by October.
Clyborne added that it's time for state government to put a greater emphasis on shoring up cyber security. She said threats to public websites and technology systems are on the rise, and she'll push for more money to fortify Minnesota's defenses. It's an area she built expertise in while helping manage operational affairs of the Minnesota National Guard.
"We're already behind the power curve. It is a mistake - and I think our legislators and the industry itself knows we need to invest in this infrastructure. We can pay for it now or we can pay for it later when stuff doesn't go the way it's supposed to go."
Dayton said February's economic forecast will determine how much he'll recommend toward that end but he sees it as a priority.
Dayton and lawmakers have been debating increased funding for cyber security for years but haven't made significant financial investments in those updates.
Clyborne lives in Minnetonka with her husband and a daughter.
It's possible she'll be on the job at MN.IT for just a year. Dayton is now in the final year of his last term and his successor will have the chance to build a new cabinet.