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March 12th Newsletter

  

Welcome to the SIMCAC Weekly Newsletter....
....Where each week, we'll share SIMCAC announcements, member spotlights, local/national industry news, upcoming events, and recaps of past ones! 

This Thursday, March 14th!
      Smart communities are starting to transform where we live and work and will become a $2 trillion industry by 2020. Come learn more from a panel of experts on how ubiquitous broadband and WiFI, IoT, AI, Machine Learning, and Big Data will be part of these new and exciting communities.
 
 
Register Now

Our Confirmed Panelists:

Mr. David Ihrie

CTO, Center for Innovative Technology

Mr. Ihrie has over 35 years industry experience as a direct innovator in the fields of satellite and terrestrial communication, computing, and information science. He has been a principal in seven startup companies in industries ranging from Nuclear Power to Digital Broadcast to analytic software for the Intelligence Community.

Mr. Ihrie has used the CTO position as a platform to help build four breakthrough enterprise-scale innovation organizations. The National Technology Alliance brought non-traditional technology companies to help solve hard problems for the Intelligence Community. Mach37 is the first vertically-focused business accelerator for cybersecurity. Mr. Ihrie leads a program with DHS Science & Technology Directorate to bring leading edge innovation to the First Responder community, and has partnered with Smart City Works to create the world’s first infrastructure focused business actuator.

Currently he is co-leading the Virginia Smart Communities Working Group, and along with CIT Broadband is helping bring this new generation of capability to all Virginians.

Mr. Ihrie has a Master of Science degree in Business from MIT, specializing in the Management of Technological Innovation, and a B.S. from MIT in Electrical Engineering/Computer Science.
 

Mike Cannon

CTO, Stafford County, Virginia

Mike has over 30 years of information technology experience. He is a SIMCAC board member and is currently the Chief Technology Officer of Stafford County, Virginia, where his team of 18 supports a community of 144,000 residents and 1,000 users. Previously, he was an independent consultant providing services to local governments, nonprofits and for-profit organizations. Mike also recently served as the Chief Information Officer for the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) in Washington, D.C. Prior to joining ICMA, Mike was the Chief Information Officer for the City of Rockville, Maryland, a community of 70,000. He served as the head of the IT department for 14 years and lead a team of 20 IT professionals. Prior to working for the City of Rockville, Mike was the Director of Management Information Systems for the Council on Foundations, a national nonprofit organization serving 1,800 foundations throughout the world. For more on Mike and his role as Stafford County's CTO, check out the interview below!
Register Now

Panelist Interview - Mike Cannon 

Stafford County has a population of 150,000, which makes it the third fastest growing County in Virginia with a population that has more than doubled since the year 2000. Stafford County has over 1,000 employees including Public Safety, Public Works, Parks and Recreation, Planning and Zoning, Treasurer's Office, Human Resources, Finance, and IT 

-How would you describe your mission as the CTO of Stafford County, Virginia? 
 
To deliver high quality, efficient and cost effective technologies to support the mission of County departments and overall to improve services for employees, residents and businesses in Stafford County.  
 
-As the CTO for for Stafford County, Virginia of roughly the last three years, what has been your biggest lesson learned or takeaway thus far? Or, what are the main challenges you encounter as the CTO of Stafford County? 
 
My tenure at Stafford County is nearly three years and in that time I have been impressed with the IT team and how much they are able to support the County with limited budget we have.   The rapid growth in the County has led to increasing demands on IT, which has forced us to make some major improvements to our technology infrastructure, including SANs, Backup, extending our fiber network and moving more applications to the cloud. One major project in the future will be will be a new ERP.    
 
-What technologies has the Stafford County been implementing to make it a smarter community? 
 
We have a partnership with the Center for Innovative Technologies (CIT) to develop a plan for our new town center called "Downtown Stafford," which we expect to begin the RFP for its construction in the Fall of 2019.   CIT will be assisting the County to develop a technology plan, financial plan, operating plan, and information governance plan for Downtown Stafford, which we will make part of the construction RFP with the vision of making this area a model smart community for Virginia.  
 
-What is your vision of a smart city?    
 
Last year, I wrote an article about the subject that can be found through the following link:
-As you look a few years out, what technology or trends particularly excite you? 
 
AI and Machine learning are definitely ones that have a lot of potential and will change our work lives and personal lives.   I also am excited about how block chain can be used in local government especially for the creation of records for transactions and for critical documents like deeds, and other land-use applications.   

-Anything we missed or other questions/answer you'd like to add? 
 
I think it's important to note the role of the CIO/CTO is constantly evolving at a more rapid pace than we have ever seen.   It's more important than ever to be flexible and agile and to invest in your IT team and provide them with the training and tools they need to excel. 

 
      As companies strive to better meet the needs and expectations of its customers, CIOs and technology executives play a critical role in identifying how advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, Big Data, analytics, the Internet of Things, blockchain and cloud computing can be leveraged to enhance the customer experience, craft customer-focused business models and gain a competitive edge.

      The innovative mindset and courageous leadership required to partner with the C-suite and board of directors to transform the business will be the focal point of the 2019 Washington, D.C CIO Executive Leadership Summit.
 





 
Register Now For Summit!

Have You Registered for #SIMConnectLive19?


Will we see you in Orlando in May? This year’s event includes fewer tracks and more leadership sessions. This is the event to enhance your leadership competencies — come ready to grow and position yourself for amazing opportunities. Check out the program and sign up today.

Prices increase on April 1. Don't miss out! Don't miss out! Reserve your spot with hundreds of other IT leaders from around the country!
Learn More
This week's newsletter brought to you by ViON



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Attention SIMCAC members! Since our members are the lifeblood of this great chapter, the success of this newsletter depends on our ability to share the happenings within it! So we're going to ask for your help in making this newsletter the best it can be. If you or fellow SIMCAC members have announcements, articles, pictures, videos, or any other content you'd like to share (and please do!), email to jamesparks@simcac.org 
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