Making Information Technology Work Across Massachusetts:
A Statewide Conference for Municipal Officials and Staff
Making IT Work will consist of a half-day conference exploring how the Commonwealth’s cities and towns are leveraging data and technology to improve operations and better serve residents. Join this growing community of municipal information technology professionals and town managers to learn about best IT practices, develop relationships across the Commonwealth, and activate existing state resources for solving information technology problems and advancing government into the 21st century.
At the conference you will learn about
+ State grants and technical assistance that can help your city and town raise its game on data and technology
+ Best practices in planning, budgeting, staffing and improving the culture around I.T. in municipal government
+ Procuring what you need and working across city and town lines to enhance I.T. services
+ The new Public Records Law and how open data can help your city or town more easily provide residents the information they seek
What does the new Public Records Law require of cities and towns? What do the press and public expect from municipalities? How can municipal IT professionals help their city or town appropriately and efficiently respond to requests under the new law? How can open data help cities and towns more easily and proactively provide the public with the information they seek? Join a discussion on these topics from the perspectives of a public records law expert, a journalist, and a data scientist.
Cities and towns are increasingly working together to enhance their IT capacity and knowledge-base. Whether it’s sharing personnel or services between cities and towns, or between municipal and school departments, communities are finding value in collaboration. But while collaboration can provide benefits to all parties involved there are different approaches and steps communities can take to make it work. Join this breakout to learn from panelists who have taken collaborative approaches to municipal IT and can speak to its benefits, challenges and steps to success.
Information Technology (IT) continues to play an increasingly important role in local government, with many daily operations dependent upon various technologies. IT can play a transformative role in the delivery of services at the local level, thereby increasing efficiencies, saving taxpayer monies and improving overall performance. In order to successfully integrate IT into local government operations, a Strategic Plan can be employed. Done properly, the Strategic Plan serves as a long-term guide for how to organize, staff and fund IT. The next step should be building those recommendations into both operating and capital budgets, which will better enable your community to fund the costs associated with this vital investment that is quickly becoming a must-have rather than a nice-to-have. Panelists will provide examples of how their community was able to operationalize a Strategic Plan
How do you find people who can support your technical initiatives? What are the right roles and how do you retain talent once you've found it? Navigating information technology talent in government can be one of the biggest obstacles to developing a modern IT infrastructure and staff. This panel will explore the best practices and failures of finding, hiring, and retaining IT staff in a highly competitive market. This panel will focus on public sector strategies for finding and retaining tech talent, explore the challenges of hiring across sectors (budgetary constraints and workplace culture) and how local governments have found new roles for technologists across Massachusetts.
Purchasing the right IT at the right time is not easy for any entity and, for government, the public procurement process can raise additional hurdles. There are however solutions that can make the IT purchasing process smoother: statewide contracts offer a range of solutions that communities can use from finance to GIS products; and communities can learn from each other about what vendors and goods provide best value. Join this panel to consider the pitfalls to procuring needed IT and the potential pathways to avoiding those bumps in the road.
When members of the public read about “analytics” in government, the topics are usually things like big data, expensive dashboards, and predictive analytics. But just as Massachusetts municipalities vary widely, so does what those municipalities can and should be doing to become more data-driven. In some places, using analytics may mean regularly analyzing and discussing data to inform strategy (as some municipalities do through CitiStat programs). In other places, it may mean collecting data to restructure departments or processes to make them more effective and efficient. In still others, it may mean starting by simply collecting data to tell the story of the department’s achievements and needs. Panelists will discuss successes and challenges municipalities have had using analytics for policy and operations, with a particular focus on the relationship between analytics and IT.
Making IT Work is organized by a diverse team of experts in municipal collaboration and information technology including: Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), Massachusetts Association of Regional Planning Agencies (MARPA), Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, MassIT, DOR's Division of Local Services, and The UMASS Boston Collins Center for Public Management.