Gerald Fralick

Gerald (Jerry) Fralick has more than 40 years of experience in the information technology field and public sector management and operations. As Lenovo’s Chief Security Officer (CSO) for the Research & Technology Group, and a member of the Product Security Office, Mr. Fralick has a multi-faceted role actively engaging with Federal/State agencies and commercial companies to further understand their IT security and procurement requirements. As CSO, Mr. Fralick works closely with Lenovo development and product engineers throughout the development life cycle of software and products. He provides assistance and oversight ensuring that appropriate product development security controls are met in accordance with new US Federal Government regulations, and that all Lenovo products meet the security control requirements for all low, moderate and high risk information systems.

Prior to joining Lenovo, Jerry was appointed by North Carolina’s Governor Beverly Perdue in late September 2009 to be the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the State. In this role, he oversaw the 600 person Office of Information Technology Services (ITS) that provided all infrastructure IT services and support to the Executive Branch agencies as well as all state agencies. Mr. Fralick also served on numerous statewide boards, commissions, and non-profit organizations. As the CIO for the State of North Carolina, from October 2009 – March 2012, with Mr. Fralick’s leadership, ITS realized significant savings by reducing yearly IT expenditures by 25% (from $246M to $184M), implementing a PC/laptop bulk purchase saving the State $7.4 M; established an enterprise license agreement with a geographic mapping software company saving the State $3.5M and allowed the opportunity for city, county and regional governments to reduce their software costs by 17%.

Before his post as CIO of NC, Mr. Fralick served 15 years with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), retiring as Chief Information Officer for the Office of Justice Programs (OJP). During his 15 years of service at the Justice Department, Jerry held senior executive IT management positions in the Antitrust Division, the FBI and the Justice Management Division. While at DOJ, Jerry served as the first Chairperson for Office of Management and Budget's Grants Executive Board, which oversaw all grant making activities for the 26 federal grant-making agencies. The board established grant policy and operating direction for the agencies. Jerry also was instrumental in developing the Antitrust Caseload and Evaluation System (ACES) for the Antitrust Division, was in charge of payroll and administrative systems for the FBI and was awarded the Attorney General's Special Commendation Award for his work on the Interpol Case Tracking System at the Justice Management Division.

As OJP’s CIO, Mr. Fralick reduced the IT operating budget in his initial year resulting in a cost savings of over $450,000 a month for the agency. He was responsible for the entire operations of the IT staff at OJP, including IT procurement, IT security, Customer Relations and oversaw a staff of more than 250 people including federal and contractor staff. He effected OMB’s decision to change the DOJ President Management Agenda scorecard from “red” to “green” for e-government initiatives specifically relating to DOJ grants. During his tenure at OJP, Mr. Fralick oversaw the improvements to the IT security and financial operations that allowed OJP to successfully “Pass” the Federal Government’s audit review.

Mr. Fralick holds a BS degree in Economics from Le Moyne College and a MS in Computers & Management of Technology from American University. Mr. Fralick is the recipient of numerous Federal awards, a recipient of the “Old State” award from North Carolina, and the recipient of the Triangle Business Journal’s/North Carolina Technology Association’s 2014 CIO Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Fralick is a sought after speaker and recently spoke at LeMoyne College, the Eisenhower Institute at Gettysburg College, Harvard University and many cyber security conferences. Mr. Fralick is a Combat Vietnam Veteran having served in a 155mm Artillery Unit, MACV from May 1969 to July 1970.