Cybersecurity is a bigger threat than terrorism, providing an opportunity for businesses that offer solutions and a challenge for governments, the state’s chief information officer says.
“Losing an identity costs, on average, $201 to an organization, to just notify people and make sure they have what they’re required to be given,” said Illinois CIO Hardik Bhatt, a former leader of global business development for Cisco. ”But the bigger threat is getting into the system and changing data. It can bring down an economy.”
It’s among the areas the state is focused on as it works to improve its own IT systems: “We have security vulnerabilities that we are grappling with,” he said.
Bhatt spoke Saturday at the Chicago Inventors Organization’s 2015 Conference at the Illinois Institute of Technology. The group, based in the Blue1647 tech hub, is a support group for independent inventors.
“As you build, invent, innovate, you need to think about security,’’ he said. “You should see this as a place where you can solve these puzzles and help the state.”
The daylong conference included sessions and panel discussions on patents, crowdfunding and the Internet of Everything, plus a product pitch competition.
Bhatt said the state also wants to focus on analytics and increase the number of tasks that can be completed on mobile apps.
“Why can we not ask a simple question like ‘How long does it take on average to take a kid and put the kid into a safe foster home?’ Right now, it takes a long time to get the answer. … Tools are out there, and we have to begin implementing those tools.”
The state is working with research firm International Data to bring systems together, he said.
“We have taken on a tremendous challenge. What we have is a technological debt that spans 40 years. We have technology that we’ve been invested in since 1974,” he said.
He said the state is trying to apply business management principles to the acquisition and use of technology.
“Every new technology investment will have an associated (return on investment) and a business case with that,” he said. “We have broken every project down. Every project has milestones measured in 75 days. We’re trying to bring the agile mindset in the development of our IT organization.”
Batt said he also wants to improve the number of mobile apps that allow residents to access state services and information.
“We are not very proud of the status of mobile applications in the state right now,’’ he said. “My parents are both 70 years old, and both have an iPhone 6S. They’ve adapted to the platform so quickly. If they get an application or app from the state of Illinois on how to get services, it will be very easy for them to learn that. We have to evolve. We have to start building solutions for the next generation.”
Later in the day, a team of health care workers won the pitch contest with an idea for breakaway pants for patients, in styles that accommodate tubes or devices for hospital wear or even nights out on the town.
Cheryl Carryl, Tania Thomas, Donnet Thomas and Melissa Szala won the $1,000 prize for their pants that close with velcro, snaps or magnets and can be put on patients even when they’re lying down.
Bret Gould, concept designer at Columbus, Ohio-based Trident Design, shared tips on running crowdfunding campaigns. Trident worked on a campaign for the Coolest Cooler, a cooler with a built-in blender, that raised $13 million.
Chief among his advice: the need to make folks aware of the campaign before it actually starts.
“You need to start out about 90 days before,” he said. “You need approximately 10,000 to 20,000 people waiting for the hour and minute that your campaign launched. You want … traffic at the beginning to build momentum.”
The campaign should try to get placed on the first page of the crowdfunding site. To do that, alert specialized bloggers in advance to the upcoming campaigns, post to blogs so that traffic can be directed to a site for the product, and take ads on Facebook pages of niche groups, he said.
