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Enterprise Technology reports cybersecurity upgrades and staffing challenges
Summary
The city’s Enterprise Technology Solutions (ETS) department described recent radio and mobile data terminal upgrades and ongoing cybersecurity work, and it flagged staffing and recruitment challenges for IT roles.
Sean Blair, director of Enterprise Technology Solutions, briefed the Finance Committee on ETS operations, security upgrades and staffing. Blair said ETS has upgraded radios and is replacing mobile data terminals (MDCs) for law enforcement vehicles; roughly 480 of an expected 900 devices are already upgraded.
Blair said ETS has improved the city’s security posture by upgrading software, adding dark‑web monitoring, and updating operating systems. He recommended shifting an existing phishing‑simulation performance metric to track actual click‑rates rather than reporting rates and to use training follow‑ups to reduce repeat offenders.
Why it matters: ETS said it is managing critical infrastructure that supports public safety and city operations. Blair said the department struggles to recruit and retain IT staff because of market demand for remote work and higher private‑sector compensation. Approximately 10% of ETS positions were vacant, the presentation said, and about 20% of ETS staff support county law enforcement or the emergency communications center, which reduces capacity available to city departments.
Workforce initiatives: Blair outlined plans to expand co‑op and business‑analyst internships to build a more robust local pipeline for technical talent and to expose students to skills like requirements gathering and business‑process mapping.
Ending: Council members expressed interest in apprenticeships and internships; ETS said it will reorganize some functions to enable safer and more instructive co‑op experiences and to accelerate digital transformation.
