State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

Alabama Acting CIO Jim Purcell Is a Man on a Mission for Smarter State IT

Government Technology: Jim Purcell wasn’t expecting a call from Alabama’s new governor, Kay Ivey, and he certainly wasn’t expecting her to ask him to head up the Office of Information Technology (OIT) — but that’s exactly what happened last week.

Following a rocky patch in Alabama politics, which included a personal scandal terminating with former Gov. Robert Bentley's resignation, Ivey — Bentley’s former lieutenant — stepped in to stabilize the executive branch and make a few administrative changes. Among those changes was the appointment of Purcell as the OIT acting secretary. Purcell accepted, picking up where former Secretary Joanne Hale left off.

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