Director Sam Orth
Born in Columbus Ohio, Sam Orth has spent the last 34 years helping government and education use technology to create value for citizens in Ohio.
He recently served as the Chief Technology Officer for the Management Council of the Ohio Education Computer Network where he worked with Information Technology Centers, the Ohio Department of Education and school districts to help ensure that information technology is advancing the achievement of Ohio's K-12 students.
Prior to serving as the CTO for the MCOECN he served for five years at the state of Ohio, Ohio Office of Information Technology where he served as the State Chief Information Officer. While State CIO he worked with IT leaders across government to modernize state IT operations by fostering inter-agency collaboration, IT consolidation and shared services.
From 1997 to 2004, Sam served as the Executive Director of the Ohio SchoolNet Commission (now eTech Ohio), where his team implemented nearly $1B in educational technology programs - including expanding the capacity of broadband connectivity for Ohio's schools and placing over 600,000 computers in Ohio's classrooms.
Before joining the state government in 1996, he spent 14 years in the private sector IT where he owned his own consulting company, worked for central Ohio computer resellers and served as a Systems Engineer and Market Development Executive for Apple Computer. His private sector career was focused extensively on K-12 and government.
He is passionate about information technology's role in serving government and education, and is well known for his collaborative, team-oriented, citizen-focused approach.
Sam lives in Central Ohio with his wife and son. He attended The Ohio State University.