CompTIA Sharkbytes

Cities like Boston have struggled to find ways to bring broadband to more of its citizens – let alone supporting the growing needs of its mobile workforce. With the pandemic, the City had to pivot in lightening time to address the ever-expanding needs – but for how long? And is 5G still on track?

Mike Lynch transitioned from public policy and media into an IT/communications job just as the Telecommunications Act of 1996 became law. Twenty-five years later and he’s still doing the same job and loves it….  because it changes every day! He’s responsible for cable franchising, small cell licensing, city fiber deployment & network development, (PEG) access programming and funding.   Mike works closely with the Boston Neighborhood Network Media Group and Tech Goes Home, a digital equity initiative in Boston.

Pandemic or not, local governments are anticipating sharp drops in revenue for years to come. Learn how they are coping with immediate budget challenges and how they are planning for the future. What will technology look like in the years head? What can we learn from the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2009, and why this time it may be far worse? But there is plenty of reason for optimism and there are models and strategies awaiting to be applied.

Brian Moura is currently Senior Advisor, Finance, Project Management & Economic Development at Regional Government Services Authority. He is the former Assistant City Manager for the City of San Carlos and has served in similar senior positions in the city/County of San Francisco as well as other cities and counties in Northern California. Has worn many hats over the years and has served as a de facto CIO, HR director, Parks and recs director and more. that He is one of the brightest strategists in local government and what separates him apart for others is he is so very articulate and practical.

Learn about the art of information sharing – especially in a time of a pandemic at the local government level with nationally recognized Paul Wormeli. He has had a long career in the field of law enforcement and justice technology a prolific writer (blogger), keynote speaker, college professor, etc. the Committee on Law and Justice (CLAJ) of the National Academy of Sciences, and a past recipient by being named by Government Technology magazine as one of the Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers in Public Sector Innovation in the U.S.

Learn how Chris Lilly worked to become a CIO and had to learn how to apply information technology when a major tornado hit the Nashville area and then came the pandemic. Chris began his career in the private sector and has been the CIO at Murfreesboro for 8 years. He believes strongly in the need to be agile and practices what he preaches given the challenges of a rare F4 tornado in the Nashville are as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. Chris explains how they managed the near-immediate move to telework which required more VPN licenses and developed polices and procedures for safeguarding the network as well as making sure everyone had adequate broadband at remote locations.

Rosetta had a rich set of experiences where she was a former Senior Executive Service (SES) -Senior Contact Center Advisor & White House Presidential Exec Fellow, as well as Deputy Managing Director/Chief Customer Experience Officer. Rosetta discusses the importance of not only citizen customer service – but citizen customer experience and why this is more critical than ever with so many government services having turned to online only. The discussion focuses on lessons learned at the City of Philadelphia which ran a highly successful 311 Center and developed an award -winning app aimed at citizen engagement.

Laurel was recently named by Government Technology as one of the “Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, Drivers of 2020”. This discussion begins as the COVID-19 pandemic is just starting to take hold in Latah County, ID, and IT is asked to prepare for the worst. As the County monitors what is happening throughout the nation, they wisely took the time to plan out their response. It is not easy being a CIO – especially if you are a woman. But Laurel clearly has earned the respect of the entire county - regardless of gender. While Latah County wisely closed county offices to the public they turned instead to an innovative appointment only policy. But the biggest challenge was in supporting their workforce to be able to work remotely. Being a relatively small jurisdiction presents many challenges regarding scare resources and rural considerations.

Darryl tells his story about being on the “technical” front lines of a pandemic and shares how he has dealt with an unfolding crisis.  Darryl began his career as a 911 police dispatcher. Having worked for the police department for some 20 years he saw an opening for the CIO position. He thought he’d never get the position – and has never looked back When the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread Darryl and staff developed a 2 – fold response – getting staff access for remote work and making all services available to the public remotely. Of course, Darryl explains what types of challenges they faced and how they went about solving them. Like so many stories of success, so much comes down to leadership, team building, and clear and consistent communications.

Dr. Alan Shark, Executive Director of CompTIA’s Public Technology Institute (PTI), welcomes CIO Barry Condrey to the first episode of Sharkbytes. Barry was one of the first CIOs in Virginia and the nation to sound the alarm about preparing for COVID-19. Barry, who manages an IT staff of more than 100, tells us being a CIO of a large county presents challenges even under normal conditions. But Barry has built a capable and loyal team who have gone the extra mile to prepare and respond. The discussion delves into lessons learned, things one would have done differently in hindsight, and how much support the tech team received from top management.

Join Alan Shark, executive director of CompTIA's Public Technology Institute and Darryl Polk, CIO of Rancho Cucamonga, CA as they discuss challenge and solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Listen in as Alan Shark, executive director of CompTIA's Public Technology Institute talks with Laurel Caldwell, CIO of Latah County in Idaho.