Jim Bates PMP (Project Management Professional), SSMBB (Six Sigma Master Black Belt), is the founder, President and CEO of Business Improvement Group, Inc. (BIG) and an Adjunct Professor in several schools at the University of Alaska Anchorage, including the MSPM program. Jim was elected as President-elect to the Project Management Institute Alaska Chapter (PMIAK) for 2018 and as an Executive Advisor for the nationwide Center for Technology. Jim's vast career spans 36 years with proficiencies in Business Management and Information Technology. Recently he spent three years (through March 2016) serving under two governors as Director of Enterprise Technology Services for the State of Alaska and represented Alaska nationally as it's CIO. Jim has been providing business benefits for clients in various industries including; Health Care, Education (K-12 and Higher-Ed), Utilities, Native Corporations, Oil Companies, Manufacturing and Distribution, Trucking, Airlines/Aircraft Maintenance, Insurance, Retail/Wholesalers, Law Firms, State/City Government agencies, and Technology since the early 1990's, including F500's. Mr. Bates has a passion for teaching and is a champion of outcome-based learning. Jim has been providing business and IT instruction since 1992 and has developed class syllabi for many courses including certification preparation. Mr. Bates has developed intellectual property for conducting risk assessments and security audits for HIPAA requirements, including gap analysis and corrective action plans. With 22 years of health care and 26 years of cybersecurity experience, he helps organizations comply with regulation quicker and more efficiently. Jim has helped organizations achieve ISO/IEC 27001 certification and was one of the individuals involved in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework review. Jim earned his Certified Information Security Systems Professional (CISSP from (ISC)²) and his Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA from ISACA) in 2007. He became a HITRUST Practitioner in 2013. Jim has been published in CIO Review page 102-104, and Government Technology magazines and various other publications, and is a public speaker and renown expert on cybersecurity and risk management.