As I See It: Information expertise can make a ‘smart city’ work for all

Full and original article posted on Telegram.com

Recently I filed an order at a City Council meeting requesting the city manager to identify strategies on how Worcester can better utilize data and technology to improve the delivery of city services in Worcester’s residential neighborhoods. This request derives from the manager’s recent decision to elevate Worcester’s chief information officer (CIO) to a position within his cabinet. Among the leadership ranks of Fortune 500 companies since the 1990s, the responsibility of a CIO is to manage information technology to support an organization’s goals and objectives.

With a $650 million budget, 2,000 employees and 185,000 residents, it is fitting that the city of Worcester now has a CIO sitting at the city manager’s leadership table. Governments that not only embrace technology but make it a focal point of how they operate provide more efficient services to residents, take advantage of cost savings, provide more opportunities for citizen engagement, operate with a higher level of transparency and leverage data to make more informed policy decisions.

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