Perry Appointed to Serve as Interim BIT Commissioner
PIERRE, S.D. – Governor Kristi Noem today announced that Heather Perry will serve as Interim Commissioner of the Bureau of Information and Telecommunications (BIT). The appointment will be effective September 9.
“Innovation happens quickly in today’s world, and the State must continually seek to revitalize and reform our technology capabilities,” said Noem. “Heather’s diverse background will position her to lead in a way that ensures BIT attracts and retains the innovative technological thinkers needed to modernize today’s state government.”
“BIT serves an incredibly important role in state government, and I’m honored to help lead the team through this interim period,” said Perry. “We will continue working to make our state’s technological capabilities a hub that expertly serves state employees and South Dakota’s citizens.”
Perry currently serves in the Bureau of Human Resources and oversees the Employee and Organizational Development team. Before taking this position, she was the director of special projects for the Bureau of Human Resources for three years, overseeing the BHR strategic plan, communications, and new employee outreach. Prior to her career in state government, Perry spent 17 years working in college athletics.
Perry and her husband are Pierre residents.
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Unfortunately she’s only another “interim” Commissioner, by her own statement, so let’s see if she can do anything to invigorate BIT’s recruitment and retention. With more than 50% of BIT’s staff eligible for retirement in the next 5 years, and tremendous difficulty filling vacancies, as well as losing experienced staff to the private sector, State Government agencies have a tremendous amount of backlog in software development, and BIT is overwhelmed trying to support all the software agencies already have.
She is a good person.