About The Speaker
Doug Elkins is the Executive Chief Information Officer (ECIO) for the State of Arkansas. In this position, he serves on the Governor’s Cabinet and as the chief information technology policy advisor for the state. He works with the Governor, the legislature, and the judiciary to develop and implement strategies for the effective use of information technology in state government.
Prior to accepting the ECIO appointment, Mr. Elkins also served on the governor’s cabinet as the Director of the Arkansas Department of Information System (DIS) where he directed the development, implementation, integration, and operation of the state’s enterprise hosted services, professional services, and statewide telecommunication network. In total, over 250 enterprise programs and systems were managed within the department. Notable achievements during his tenure at DIS include the highly successful and award winning statewide implementation of SAP’s public sector bundle – the first statewide SAP roll-out in America, the development of the DIS Professional Services Division anchored by the Office of Project Management and supported by 10 PMI certified Project Management Professionals, the deployment of several cost cutting programs which resulted in a 30% reduction in budget while improving both the quality and quantity of services provided, and earning the Governor’s Award for Performance Excellence – Arkansas implementation of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Mr. Elkins’ tenure at DIS followed over 17 years in the private sector in a variety of technical, managerial, and leadership roles. He earned his BSEE degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and his MBA degree from Purdue’s Krannert School of Management. He currently serves on a variety of boards, commission, associations, and committees including the National Association of State Chief Information officers (NASCIO), Board of Directors for the Information Technology Research Center, the Board of Directors for the Information Network of Arkansas, and the national CIO Executive Council.