General DNR News

Office of Group Benefits’ CIO Named to Prestigious Technology List by Computerworld

Rizwan Ahmed Recognized for Creative, Innovative Approaches

Rizwan Ahmed

Baton Rouge -- The Louisiana Office of Group Benefits (OGB) today announced that Rizwan Ahmed, the agency’s chief information officer, has been recognized by IDG’s Computerworld, the weekly newspaper for IT leaders, as one of the business world’s Premier 100 IT Leaders. OGB is a state-run health insurance organization covering more than 240,000 lives.

The Premier 100 IT Leaders award, now entering its fourth year, recognizes exceptional technology leadership, innovative approaches to business challenges, and effective execution of comprehensive IT strategies.

Ahmed will be honored at the Computerworld Premier 100 IT Leaders Conference, February 23-25, 2003, in Arizona.

Ahmed was selected from hundreds of nominees. Other award winners include leading IT executives from corporations such as Bayer Pharmaceutical, Circuit City Stores, Inc., Dow Chemical Company, and MasterCard International.

“IT leaders are responsible for a wide variety of initiatives that are vital to business -- ranging from customer service to security assurance to a cost-effective supply chain,” said Maryfran Johnson, editor in chief of Computerworld.

At OGB, Ahmed has managed the design and implementation of the State Employee Benefit Online Information System, SeBois, a web-based system including claims processing, premium billing, customer service and other aspects of health care. SeBois replaced a legacy-based system at OGB, and the conversion was accomplished within six months (a record time according to many health care industry experts). The conversion also included a new electronic document imaging system, a new FAX-back system, a knowledge-based help system, and a new unified messaging system. The hardware infrastructure also was completely overhauled, including the tape library, SAN, server farms and PCs.

Ahmed also serves as IT Director for the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and has been recognized for bringing thousands of historical oil and gas records online.

His formal education includes studies at the Thames University located in London, UK. He is an electronics engineer with B.S. degrees in physics and statistics.

The complete list of Premier 100 IT Leaders can be found in the January 6, 2003 issue of Computerworld and online atwww.computerworld.com/premier100/2003.

Editors: For additional information, contact Sharon Runyan, public information director at the Office of Group Benefits at 225-925-7982.