Government Technology - March 2008 - (Page 28)

C I O / D I R E C T O R O F I N F O R M AT I O N T E C H N O L O G I E S , L A S V E G A S JOSEPHMARCELLA Las Vegas is one of the most wired cities in America. Ironically that’s due in part to its late start in IT. When the city hired Joseph Marcella as its first CIO and director of information technologies 10 years ago, the new department had ground to make up. Bringing in Marcella from the private sector provided a great opportunity. “We started this process, basically with a blank slate,” said Marcella, who had previously worked in banking. “Coming to a city without an IT organization and building one, we didn’t necessarily build it according to the way government IT was built before. So I never had to unwind any of that.” The banking industry is extremely centralized. Marcella took the same approach by simplifying things across 15 departments. He was determined to make sure a citizen, for example, would only have to give his or her name and address one time when dealing with the city. “From my point of view, I didn’t know that you weren’t allowed to do that in government, so I just went and did it,” Marcella said. Though it was difficult at times, the city centralized numerous activities. As a result, the city IT department provides more services with the same number of staff as 10 years ago. It’s that sort of progress that earned Las Vegas consecutive Best of the Web awards in 2006 and 2007 from the Center for Digital Government. Las Vegas has been one of America’s fastest-growing cities for years now. As that continues, there will be more challenges ahead. But no one seems worried, Marcella said. “We’re confident because the foundation is so well laid out.” Marcella said there are three objectives within his organization: Give customers what they need; keep systems working at optimum efficiency; and give management the information it needs to run things. It’s a simple strategy. And it works. JIM MEYERS, STAFF WRITER DAVIDWENNERGREN D E P U T Y C I O, U . S . D E PA RT M E N T O F D E F E N S E The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest government agency in the world with the biggest IT budget of any organization — public or private — on Earth. The DoD has embarked on a massive transformation that will change the nation’s armed forces into a networkcentric military, where secure access to real-time information shapes the outcome of the next global conflict. Few people possess the skill to lead such a large organization through a unique, ITdriven change. But David Wennergren does. As the DoD’s deputy CIO and deputy assistant secretary of defense for information management, his task is to help the DoD create a 21st-century, net-centric military, where information is shared collaboratively across command structures, national boundaries and oceans. Wennergren also has a less glamorous, more prosaic role: He is vice chair of the federal CIO Council, which must ensure that federal CIOs and IT get the attention they deserve in 2009 from the next U.S. president. The role of today’s CIO is about being a team player, working with others in a network-centric world, where solutions are about the enterprise. Wennergren firmly believes that and applies the lessons of teamwork to his job every day. In an article published in The Business of Government, Wennergren mentions that as Navy CIO, he co-authored a book called The Power of Team. “It was geared to help organizations create effective CIO organizations, and the only way to have an effective CIO organization is to have an effective team,” he said. “And so this idea about being a positive force for change and being able to work with, rather than against, others is hugely important. … We really can find ways if we work together.” TOD NEWCOMBE, EDITOR, PUBLIC CIO T O P 25 D O E R S D R E A M E R S A N D D R I V E R S F I R S T D E P U T Y, C H I C A G O O F F I C E O F E M E R G E N C Y M A N A G E M E N T A N D C O M M U N I C AT I O N S JIMARGIROPOULOS Jim Argiropoulos presides over the most comprehensive city surveillance system in America — Chicago’s 3,000-plus video cameras that are part of the city’s Operation Virtual Shield. It’s an assignment that came from humble beginnings: Argiropoulos started his career as a 911 dispatcher at 15 years old, and then worked for a decade as a paramedic in Kentucky. “I’ve been there. I’ve jumped off the ambulance, I’ve had 10 people hurt in the middle of the interstate,” said Argiropoulos, who is first deputy of Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications (OEMC). “Now I’m on this side of the fence, implementing technology and strategies that assist the public safety entities,” he said. “It’s invaluable. You really can start to apply real-time and past intelligence with today’s modern technology.” The technology the OEMC uses is almost futuristic. In 2007, the city fine-tuned its Unified Communications Vehicle, a mobile rig that can serve as a full-service 911 call center in the field. The city also finished an additional 30-mile-long fiber network for downtown on top of the existing network, which will let Argiropoulos pursue his next initiative: video analytics via a contract signed with IBM. Chicago will start making its surveillance cameras “intelligent” this year. One of some 50 software algorithms will monitor suspicious activities. The camera, in turn, will zoom in and send the OEMC a visual and audio alert. Though public safety is the most robust part of the camera network, a video analytics “tripwire” feature could also be used to count cars and pedestrians for traffic congestion surveys. “Our mayor [Richard Daley] is so forwardthinking. What we’re very fortunate about in Chicago is — police, fire, EMS, homeland security — we all get along together as a family,” Argiropoulos said. “Because of the vision of our mayor, he’s always challenging us to do more.” MATT WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER MAR_08 28 http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - March 2008

Government Technology - March 2008 Contents Point of View Big Picture The Last Mile On the Scene Four Questions for... Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers Let's [Not] Get Physical No Data Left Behind Conservation King Community Drug Test Reinventing the System Better Late Than Never Closing the Deal Spectrum Products Personal Computing signal:noise Digital Communities The Expanding Focus of Digital Communities The Digital Imperative Hot Fusion Redefining Municipal Wireless Made in the USA Bridge Detectives The 2008 Agenda

Government Technology - March 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.