By Jim Welfley
June 27, 2005

Chicago CIO Chris O'Brien, Dearborn Mayor Michael Guido and Des Moines CIO Mike Armstrong. Cities Represented
CIOs Akron Atlanta Auburn (WA) Carson (CA) Chicago Dearborn Des Moines Kokomo (IN) Long Beach Macon Minnetonka New Haven (CT) North Little Rock Philadelphia Rock Island (IL) San Francisco Seattle	Mayors Anaheim Auburn (WA) Dearborn Fort Wayne Oak Park (IL) Redmond

Dearborn (MI) Mayor Michael Guido led mayors in a roundtable discussion with prominent information technology officials from cities around the country at the 73rd Annual Meeting in Chicago. The session gave mayors and city Chief Information Officers, or CIOs, the opportunity to talk face-to-face about technology issues such as 311 systems and enterprise consolidation.

"We need strong executive leadership when it comes to shaping our city's technology," said Chicago CIO Chris O'Brien, who led the discussion on 311 systems. "Our job as CIOs is to interpret and survey the technology landscape. It's up to the mayors to lead the movement for technology change in the city."

Guido agreed, noting that mayors need to work closely with the city CIO when taking the lead on technology issues. "It is incumbent upon me and my colleagues to give face time to the CIOs of our cities before making decisions with regard to technology," said Guido. "We like innovation but it can be a huge investment and we are terrified of making a mistake. These types of discussions are very helpful in that regard."

In discussing technology enterprise consolidation, a discussion led by Des Moines CIO Mike Armstrong, O'Brien said, "A city gets the IT it deserves. If there is no incentive culturally for the technology to talk to (different departments) and work across the board, it will not fulfill its promise." To fulfill the promise in Chicago, O'Brien has worked to merge the city's 311 data with its 911 data. "Small things may lead to bigger things," he said.

As for approaching future technology innovation in cities, Fort Wayne (IN) Mayor Graham Richard championed a strategic approach. Instead of addressing each issue as it comes up, mayors need to be proactive. "We need to have strategic discussions about technology," he said, using Fort Wayne's elaborate fiber network as an example. "Our city's fiber-to-premise network was a strategic decision: preventative, proactive and inspired. We need to think in those terms."

Participating mayors were Guido, Richard, Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle, Oak Park (IL) Mayor David Pope, Redmond (WA) Mayor Rosemary Ives and Auburn (WA) Mayor Peter Lewis. This was the second roundtable discussion featuring mayors and city CIOs. The two groups met in Boston last year as part of the Conference's 72nd Annual Meeting. Future sessions are currently being planned. For questions or comments about future sessions, please contact Jim Welfley of the Conference staff at jwelfley@usmayors.org.