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May 10, 2021

Interviewing the Interviewer: Dennis Noone's Journey

Dennis Noone knew he wanted to be a journalist since he was a young boy. Now Managing Editor of Techwire, Dennis is a veteran journalist with a background in writing and editing local, state, national and political news from California to Washington, D.C.. Tune in as we interview the interviewer! We chat with Dennis about his career as a journalist and his journey into the tech space. https://www.techwire.net/

Transcript

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;23;05

Narrator

We're in an era of rapid change where resilience is vital. The Davood for Thought podcast dives into the most important topics in government and technology today. Our host, Davood Ghods, sits down with his vast network of colleagues to dish on the tech challenges that affect us all. Follow this podcast on your favorite platform and join the conversation by sharing it on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.

 

00;00;23;07 - 00;00;50;23

Davood Ghods

Hello, everyone. Welcome to Direct Technologies, Davood for Thought Podcast. I am Davood Ghods and I will be your host today. The way I stay up with the pressing topics of tech and government of today is to tap into the panel of experts I've had the honor of connecting with over the years. Today we have Dennis Noone joining us on the podcast.

 

00;00;50;25 - 00;01;30;25

Davood Ghods

Dennis is the managing editor of Tech Wire, a newsletter that all of us in California community know well. He's a career journalist who has worked as a reporter and editor at news organizations in California, Nevada, Texas and Virginia, as well as with USA Today in Washington, DC and in his role at Tech World. Dennis has interviewed many I.T. leaders and we thought it would be interesting and perhaps thought provoking if we interviewed the interviewer without going too much into your background.

 

00;01;30;26 - 00;01;52;19

Davood Ghods

Dennis, I want to welcome you to this episode of the Food for Thought Podcast and asked you to tell us about your background. For someone who doesn't know about your area of expertise, please give us a brief overview of what you do and how much have you learned about it since you've been attacked by it?  

 

00;01;52;19 - 00;02;15;17

Dennis Noone

Thank you, Davood. It's great to be here with you. I'll answer your last question first. Everything I know about it and technology in government has pretty much happened in the last four or five years since I've been with Tech Wire. My background professionally is as a longtime newspaper journalist. I was in for about 40 years in newspapers from small community papers up to USA.

 

00;02;15;17 - 00;02;47;07

Dennis Noone

Today was the biggest one where I worked. My background has always been editing and writing straight news, general news, including politics, police, sports, what have you. So the technology moved to me when I came to a republic and to Tech Wire four and a half, almost five years ago now was a very, very steep learning curve, which I would endorse and suggest for anybody among my peers who is contemplating a change in career as people migrate from newspapers into other fields.

 

00;02;47;10 - 00;03;08;21

Dennis Noone

Technology is rife with opportunity, and it's a good thing mid-career to have to learn a few new tricks. You were kind enough to vowed early on in my tenure here at Tech Wire to kind of give me the grounding on a lot of what I needed to know. Your facility was the first tech office that I toured. It knocked my eye out.

 

00;03;08;21 - 00;03;43;26

Dennis Noone

With the technology you've got and the capabilities you have at direct technology. And since then it's been a bit of a rollercoaster learning, learning, learning. Yeah. And as I said, I think it's refreshing and healthy.  

 

00;03;43;28 - 00;04;07;13

Davood Ghods

Excellent. Excellent. Well, thank you for that introduction and yeah, it is probably the fastest changing area and it has proven to be so even more during the pandemic and the past 12, 14 months that we have experienced. Dennis In your role, you interview a lot of CEOs and I.T. leaders. In your role. What emerging trends are you seeing that we in the light field should be paying more attention to? What do you hear most?  

 

00;04;07;15 - 00;04;36;24

Dennis Noone

Well, one of the sources that I use my myself and my partner, SEO Douglas, who is the assistant managing editor of Tech Wire. We like to keep keep track of procurement. That tends to be sort of a leading indicator of what's coming just over the horizon and what's around the corner. We use a number of resources, as you mentioned. We interview CIOs and CTOs and CISOs regularly. We also keep the keep track of Kalli Procure, which is the the database that indicates what departments are spending what on I.T. goods and services and telecom.

 

00;04;36;26 - 00;04;59;24

Dennis Noone

That tends to, as I mentioned, is kind of an early indicator of what's coming among the trends and emerging trends. I think I probably hear the same thing you do with the webinars that we all attend. You know, back to Work is sort of the next step. We went from the all of a sudden we're going to be home for two weeks to okay, we've been home for over a year working remotely.

 

00;04;59;27 - 00;05;22;26

Dennis Noone

Is it time to go back or are we going to stay put or is there going to be a hybrid? And I think the answers to all of those questions lie in technology. So I think the back to work is the next coming trend with governments figuring out how to deal with telephone calls and how to deal with email forwarding and how to deal with cybersecurity with a distributed workforce.

 

00;05;22;28 - 00;05;52;16

Dennis Noone

I think that those things are fueled by the availability of funding. Obviously, those in the vendor community are interested in new funding streams that governments have coming because that will directly translate to opportunities for them to do business with government. So I think if you if you follow the trends are obviously artificial intelligence machine learning, robotic process, automation, those things all seem to be kind of the current technologies of today.

 

00;05;52;18 - 00;06;19;06

Dennis Noone

And I think some of those go to another point that you and I have talked about earlier, which is resiliency. I think all of those things help with resiliency. I think that as governments collaborate, governments small and large now, I think play a bigger role. It's not just the big fish calling the tunes. I think that there are some smaller governments that are doing some pretty revolutionary things to stay ahead of the curve and in some ways to lead the curve.

 

00;06;19;09 - 00;07;01;00

Davood Ghods

Yeah, excellent. I do read the articles on procurement and that you guys do a great job in analysis of the procurements in the state. And I agree with you that is a good indicator of what the state is spending on. And therefore those are the trends that we see. But, you know, the also machine learning, AI, robotics, resiliency and things like that that you mentioned are exactly what the CIOs are saying to some of the interviews that we have done already on this podcast also indicate that those are some of the emerging trends.

 

00;07;01;02 - 00;07;31;12

Davood Ghods

You know, one of the related to this topic, one of the books that came out about ten, 12 years ago was Does it matter? And, you know, I think the last 12, 14 months have proved that proven to us that not only it does matter, but it has been an integral part of us having to work remotely and making sure that we can continue and be resilient.

 

00;07;31;14 - 00;07;57;21

Davood Ghods

So thank you for that answer. My next question is about how we do things at different organizations. Like most organizations at Direct Technology, when we engage with the client, we always talk about how are we going to do a project to get the project done. But we also are direct technology. We ask why? Why are we doing what we are doing? So my question to you, what is your why? What motivates you in your work?

 

00;07;57;23 - 00;08;22;18

Dennis Noone

That's a great question. I have always been motivated as a journalist. My interest has always been to digest and and and repeat back and interpret information that I've gotten from my sources that I tried to be a neutral vessel just to convey the message.

 

00;08;22;20 - 00;08;49;25

Dennis Noone

As that has changed, as the landscape has changed in some ways. My role calls for me to be a bit of a connector or even an evangelist. I love the networking, I miss the in-person events, and I love how the online events are adapting the webinars to the networking to that need. I think sometimes the accidental meetings or talks in the lobby are the ones that do spur innovation most.

 

00;08;49;27 - 00;09;11;10

Dennis Noone  

So for me, I get a charge out of connecting people. I get a charge out of understanding somebody to the point that I can figure out this person's been a source for me for news for two or three years, but I also enjoy them personally. So it's allowed me to get to know some really, really smart people and have a good time while learning a whole lot.

 

00;09;11;12 - 00;09;33;26

Dennis Noone

And I think that I consider myself very fortunate to be in the position I'm in because I don't have a direct tie to any one particular faction of the ecosystem of Govtech. I've got a leg in the private sector. I've got a leg in the public sector. I am able to kind of float back and forth between them and pick and choose.

 

00;09;33;26 - 00;10;03;02

Dennis Noone

And that to me is the big pleasure, is the the variety of people and opportunities. No two days are ever the same. Yeah, exactly. I miss the talks in the lobby too. Yeah. And to tell you honestly, when I attended the Beyond the Beltway conference not too long ago, I noticed that I was pleasantly surprised to see a virtual talk in the lobby there.

 

00;10;03;05 - 00;10;22;09

Dennis Noone

The most pretty cool, actually. What is the next best thing? I guess. But nothing will take the place of one on one personal interactions or group interactions, and I think we're coming back toward that. I think more and more things as things open up and more people get vaccinated and more restaurants open. I think we have an opportunity.

 

00;10;22;09 - 00;10;43;23

Dennis Noone

I have a couple of things on my calendar, coffee and lunch meetings that it's been a whole year and I just can't wait to get eyeball to eyeball with somebody again. I know the technology had an in-person meeting with Diggs last week, so hopefully it will happen. That sounds like a pretty good story. We can talk about that later on.

 

00;10;43;25 - 00;11;16;29

Davood Ghods

That was good. My next question revolves around two critical awards in an organization Inspirational innovation. What inspires innovation in your organization and on your team Dennis?  

 

00;11;17;01 - 00;11;39;02

Dennis Noone

Within our organization, you know, I'll take the micro view Tech Wire specifically, as well as our sister publications, government Technology, Governing magazine. We all are driven by the news of the day. You know, we try to report what's happening and see around corners to what's happening next. And I think that a lot of innovation is driven by need. I think the first thing is need. And I think we saw that with COVID when everybody went home last March. Organizations large and small across the country had to adapt, some of them in a matter of days to equipping thousands of people with laptops and remote work capabilities.

 

00;11;39;04 - 00;11;59;16

Dennis Noone

That was a need that then translated into innovation. And there have been some things that have come from that. I mean, the explosion of teams and zoom and video meetings, I think the the coming adoption of new technologies in terms of collaboration, whether it be Google Docs or some other platform. All of those things are driven by need.

 

00;11;59;16 - 00;12;28;10

Dennis Noone

And I think, as they say, necessity is the mother of invention. I think that that opens up options and then the natural winners emerge. You know, when a social media platform begins, it's it's in its infancy. And who would have ever predicted Facebook would become what it became or LinkedIn or Twitter or any of those? So I think a lot of it is the need drives innovation and then the innovation creates new avenues and new opportunities.

 

00;12;28;12 - 00;13;00;09

Davood Ghods

Yeah. And you're organization is definitely getting pretty innovative on around putting conferences in the virtual world, that's for sure. This next question then is something that you ask all your interviewees, or most of them anyway. So on their behalf, I want to ask you the same question What are your hobbies and what do you enjoy reading?  

 

00;13;00;11 - 00;13;24;09

Dennis Noone

Well, obviously I read Tech Wire, I read the parts that I haven't already written. I like to keep up with while my inboxes Zoom is a nightmare, but I get all kinds of newsletters and updates and I follow a lot of different media. Wired, Politico, you name it, Cal Matters, I think is a huge resource that that this state has and should consider itself lucky to have, because I think there's nothing like Cal Matters as a nonprofit.

 

00;13;24;09 - 00;13;47;28

Dennis Noone

They provide a tremendous platform and a clearinghouse, and they're very talented, ethical people. That's an I'm not nakedly plugged in here, but it's Cal matters dot org and we sometimes use some of their content. We have agreements with them where we're able to use some of their stuff. Those sorts of things are what intrigued me. As far as me personally, what excites me is I love meeting people.

 

00;13;47;28 - 00;14;06;18

Dennis Noone

I'm a very social animal. I have enjoyed working remotely for the past year, but I can't wait to get back out and have a cup of coffee with you or take a ride over to CDC and see their new offices when they move. I enjoy the social side of it as well. I think there's also room in our relationships for humor.

 

00;14;06;20 - 00;14;29;11

Dennis Noone

I think we have to remember that we're not just A or B one or zero public or private sector, but I think we're all people who work together in an ecosystem. And I would tell you one thing that has impressed me since I got into technology is specific, specifically in California, is the the idealism in the altruism of state employees.

 

00;14;29;11 - 00;14;54;04

Dennis Noone

I think there are a lot of people in state leadership and in mid-level management and even in the trenches that the engineer level and the developer level who are motivated by good, they're not motivated by the dollar, they're not motivated by ego. They want to make government better in California. That to me, happily aligns with E Republic's mission, which is to use digital technology to create better government.

 

00;14;54;07 - 00;15;18;07

Dennis Noone

So whatever hand we can take in that is what excites me and motivates me personally. I have some outside interests. I enjoy sculpting. I sculpt heads in in water, bass, clay. I've been doing that for about five years. Never had an artistic bone in my body and wound up taking the class on a dare. And I've just absolutely loved it.

 

00;15;18;09 - 00;15;39;02

Dennis Noone

I've gotten to do a lot of fun things in my career, and I've begun doing some some freelance personal writing about some of the adventures I've had as a journalist over the years. I got to fly a Blue Angels jet one time. I got to go to the White House Correspondents Dinner. I got to do some very cool things that I continue to feel very fortunate about.

 

00;15;39;05 - 00;16;15;21

Davood Ghods

Wow, We could do another whole session on those. I've got pictures in some of your some pictures of your sculptures and you do a really good job and good work. So please tell us more on future tech articles. Maybe.  

 

00;16;15;21 - 00;16;49;25

Dennis Noone

Well, we've got we started a little over a year ago, a weekly series called Tech Wire, one on One, in which we do a Q&A with the CIO or a CTO of either a State Department or an influential city or county in California, that that feature has proven to be quite successful. And one of our best read features. And I think it's because a good number of our subscribers are in the private sector who want to do business and serve the state. And learning about CIOs gives them some insight, what they like to read and what their hobbies may be. There's nothing like a warm introduction, but if you don't have that and you're making a sales call on a CTO or a CIO, you know, if your kids went to the same college or if you enjoy the same pastime, whether you you both golf or fly drones or whatever you do, I think those things can be the glue for relationships as well.

 

00;16;49;27 - 00;17;20;24

Davood Ghods

Absolutely. Absolutely. And I really like your comments about there has to be room for humor and that the one on one interaction is not going to go away. We have direct technology. I want to shed more light on the human side of tech. That's why we ask the personal questions like this one. What is something that would surprise people about your background or interest?

 

00;17;20;26 - 00;17;38;25

Dennis Noone

Probably. I don't know if it's surprising or not, but I would say I've known since I was about 11 years old that I wanted to be a journalist. I always consider myself very lucky to never have to ask what I wanted to be when I grow up, because I always knew. I didn't imagine that my career path would take me into technology.

 

00;17;38;25 - 00;18;10;16

Dennis Noone

But what better place to be right now? Because if there's anything that's dynamic and fluid and ever changing, it's technology. And if there's one thing a journalist needs, it's change and fluidity. Otherwise, we'd have nothing to write about. So I see the the hockey stick curve of innovation continuing to dramatically rise. And I think as we look around in some ways, the the COVID work from home protocols have sort of been an equalizer among different governments in California.

 

00;18;10;19 - 00;18;38;11

Dennis Noone

I think some smaller cities have emerged through this as being at the forefront. There's some fantastic things going on in relatively small to midsize cities Carlsbad, California, Foster City, San Leandro, Roseville, particularly. A lot of those cities are leading the edge when it comes to adoption of things like fiber optics or broadband among the community that didn't have access before and counties as well.

 

00;18;38;14 - 00;19;06;18

Dennis Noone

San Joaquin County, Sonoma County, Ventura County have all been leaders and have been recognized in in contests that my parent company, you Republic award ceremonies that we have digital cities digital counties. The cream is rising to the top across all levels of government. And I find that very exciting that no longer does a city of 70 or 80,000 people have to take a back seat to one of the big mega cities in California.

 

00;19;06;20 - 00;19;34;22

Dennis Noone

These smaller cities can emerge as leaders, and I think that the individuals leading technology in those cities are emerging as leaders. To take an example, I think Roseville Hong say is the very talented CIO over there. He's also the president of the Municipal Information Systems Association of California. So he has a role within the city, regionally and statewide that is a thought leader that may not come from.

 

00;19;34;22 - 00;19;59;20

Dennis Noone

I mean, Roseville is not a small city, but it's not Los Angeles or San Francisco. But that that's giving rise to a lot of talent and giving oxygen to a level of the industry that I think was not, I want to say, elbowed aside, but maybe overlooked before.  

 

00;19;59;20 - 00;20;22;29

Davood Ghods

Right, Right. Thank you. Yeah, that's that's great, Dennis. Digitization is definitely on the forefront. And by the way, I have a I have a email to Mr. say in Roseville for a future podcast that he's going to give back to me. So hopefully I will get to interview him as well. But like you said, you know that proverb that says May you live in interesting times. We have definitely are living in interesting times. Indeed we are. And I wouldn't have it any other way. That's right. That's right. So my last question then is, besides that quire, where can people find you and keep tabs on what you're working on?

 

00;20;23;06 - 00;20;43;06

Dennis Noone

Sure. So I'm all over LinkedIn. I live on LinkedIn. I use that as a newsgathering source. I use that as a social platform.

 

00;20;43;09 - 00;21;05;09

Dennis Noone

I use that to connect with friends and to make new friends. And so please find me on LinkedIn and in Tech Wire. The bottom of every morning's newsletter is going to directly to my email address, right? And as I tell our folks, I love to hear from people we are only as good as our sources. Everybody is a potential source, either on or off the record.

 

00;21;05;12 - 00;21;27;09

Dennis Noone

And I just love engaging with people. So if you have an idea for a story or feedback about something or an observation about a trend in the industry, please drop me a note. I'd love to hear from you.  

00;21;27;12 - 00;21;40;12

Davood Ghods

Excellent. Thank you so much for joining us today, Dennis. Thank you to all the listeners out there for joining us as well. We will see you in the next episode of Davood for Thought, where we will shed more light on the human side of tech.

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