The Justices of the Supreme Judicial Court have announced the appointment of Steven Duncan as the Judiciary’s new Chief Information Officer effective April 1. In this role, Duncan, a technology professional with more than 20 years of experience, will oversee technology planning and implementation for the Massachusetts Appellate and Trial Courts. Most recently, he served as the Director of Information Technology for Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
“Technology is a critical component to ensuring access to justice for court users,” said Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Kimberly Budd. “The state’s courts will benefit greatly from Steve Duncan’s experience across the range of IT functions needed to modernize and enhance court system operations.”
“During the pandemic, the innovative use of technology has improved the court’s ability to respond to the needs of court users,” said Trial Court Administrator John Bello. “As we seek capital resources to modernize our infrastructure and practices, we welcome Steve’s knowledge and skills as a manager who has implemented new technology with a focus on collaboration and continuous improvement.”
As Harvard Kennedy School’s Director of Information Technology, Duncan helped shape the institution’s technology and capital investment strategies, while leading a transformation across critical digital infrastructure areas, including: enhanced information security programs, migration to cloud-based server infrastructure, and the expansion of internal and external digital communication channels.
“I’m incredibly honored to join the Judiciary in the role of CIO at such an important and critical time,” said Duncan. “Enhancing the court’s delivery of services and simplifying access to justice for residents across the state through emerging technology is a challenging, compelling goal for the Judicial Information Services Department.”
Duncan directed a team of 30 IT professionals and served on a number of university committees, including the Enterprise Architecture Steering Committee and Cloud Steering Committee. He previously spent four years as the Application Development Manager for the Kennedy School. From 1998 to 2008 he was a partner at the Software Consulting Alliance, which provided custom software solutions across a variety of industries and sectors.
The Judiciary Information Services Department is focused on transitioning to an eCourt system, while overseeing a network that serves 6,300 judges and staff and 97 courthouses across the state. The current case management system handles approximately one million transactions daily. An IT Bond Bill filed for the courts would enable much-needed investment in systems, security and infrastructure.
Duncan received a Bachelor of Science degree and a master’s degree in business administration from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He assumes the role of Judiciary CIO following the retirement of Craig Burlingame.