Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »
Public Council Teleconference: Application Rationalization — Hidden Costs and Smart Decisions
November 17 at 11:00 am US/Eastern (GMT-5)
Join Honorio Padrón, of The Hackett Group, who will share the drivers for companies to tackle application rationalization and the results of research that define the hidden cost of complexity. Additionally, we will discuss key decision milestones—to start or not, holding the course steady and fulfilling expectations.
Virtual Desktop Cost-Benefit Analysis — Michael Jacobs, Catlin Group
The analysis contained in this presentation measures the cost of everything from the machines and licenses to the infrastructure for virtual vs. traditional desktop environments.
Honor your best senior team members - Apply for the CIO Ones to Watch Award
Get well-earned public recognition for your top up-and-coming team members, your IT organization and your enterprise. Award winners will be announced, publicized and feted in May 2010, great timing to help attract new IT recruits to your company.
Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »October 01, 2001 — CIO —
Fourteen-month-old Anna (not her real name) was kidnapped from her San Diego home early one morning in 1990. Sixty police officers searched door-to-door, aided by dogs and helicopters. They turned up no trace of the little girl.
Seven years later, police in Puerto Rico arrested a woman for child abuse. Questioned about the girl she claimed was her daughter, the woman produced a fake birth certificate. That led police to check the online database maintained by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) in Alexandria, Va. There they found a photo of Anna, and even though it was 7 years old, police recognized a birthmark on her face. DNA testing later proved that they had finally found the missing girl.
Credit for cracking this case can be shared by IT?and by Rick Minicucci, CTO of NCMEC. Since coming to the 17-year-old organization in 1996, Minicucci has helped transform the nonprofit from an IT have-not (with a case resolution rate in 1989 of only 60 percent) to a technologically advanced organization (with a 90 percent success rate today).
With an IT staff of just 10 and a budget contingent each year on federal dollars and charity, Minicucci depends on partnerships to make IT happen. And when it comes to making those partnerships work for both parties, Minicucci has the magic touch.
Minicucci doesn’t settle for corporate castoffs. He asks for the best technology and gets it. The proof:
NCMEC was founded in 1984 by America’s Most Wanted Host John Walsh and his wife, RŽve, whose child Adam was kidnapped and murdered in 1981. Today the center is the nation’s official resource on young runaways and children who have been kidnapped, as well as children who have been sexually exploited through prostitution, pornography or on the Internet. Inside its five-story headquarters on a street heavy with nonprofit associations in downtown Alexandria, some of the rooms and spaces are named after children who were killed by abductors, reminding the 166 staffers of their mission. Noise levels are low; concentration is high. Workers refer to cases by the child’s full name, not by numbers. Everyone has a favorite recovery story. Although NCMEC does not investigate crimes (that’s left to the FBI and local law enforcement), it educates the public about child safety and assists police efforts by prioritizing leads, disseminating information and analyzing data.