Strategic Overhaul of State IT Procurement

North Carolina has appointed Shannon Casucci as the state’s chief procurement transformation officer, a move aimed at centralizing and modernizing the state's approach to IT acquisition. Casucci, who brings 17 years of experience from the federal General Services Administration (GSA), is tasked with streamlining how state agencies interact with vendors. The initiative is a collaborative effort between the North Carolina Department of Information Technology (NCDIT) and the state’s Department of Administration, with the primary goals of increasing transparency, enhancing customer service, and achieving cost savings for taxpayers.

Leveraging Federal Expertise for State Modernization

Casucci’s background as the former acting deputy associate chief information officer and IT director at the GSA positions her to apply federal-level strategies—such as vendor optimization and IT investment planning—to the state level. State CIO Nate Denny emphasized that Casucci’s role is critical to the state’s broader digital modernization agenda. By focusing on the end-to-end lifecycle of technology delivery—from initial planning and purchasing to final implementation—the state aims to simplify government navigation for both internal agencies and the public. This appointment signals a shift toward a more professionalized, data-driven procurement model designed to support the state’s evolving technology infrastructure.