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City IT seeks funding to replace aging hardware, shore up cybersecurity and pilot AI over 15 months
Summary
The Information & Technology department told the Finance Committee it will spend FY2026 funds on hardware replacement, expanded cybersecurity, an internship expansion and a measured rollout for municipal AI tools while continuing radio and communications investments for public safety.
The City of Wilmington's Information & Technology (IT) department asked the finance committee to support a FY2026 operating plan that increases equipment and consultant lines to replace aging devices, expand cybersecurity and pilot limited artificial-intelligence tools for city staff.
Director Desmond May told council the department's operating request totals about $11.6 million, an increase of roughly $400,000 from FY2025. The request includes line-item increases for field PC replacements, public-safety workstation upgrades and communications upgrades for EMS and police, and a reallocation that trades a webmaster position for an application support specialist.
May said the city is spending roughly 10 percent of its IT budget on cybersecurity and has treated ransomware preparedness as a top priority for more than a decade. "It's not as much how much we spend as where we spend it," May said, noting the department balances technology investments with staff training and compliance. The department currently uses external consultants for security services, network architecture and help-desk support.
The department highlighted a near-term hardware challenge: it estimates roughly 57 percent of city endpoint systems (PCs and laptops) are at or past their planned service life and require replacement; the proposed FY2026 request includes funds to move devices back on a typical four-year update cycle. The department also said it will upgrade Windows 10 systems before that operating system reaches end-of-life in October 2025.
On artificial intelligence, May described a cautious, 15-month approach: identify use cases, strengthen data governance, pilot limited deployments with early-adopter staff and expand training and compliance controls before rolling out generative tools broadly. He said about $50,000 in cloud/AI research and development has been set aside and that the vendor discussions include Microsoft Copilot, but that some ERP and other vendor-supplied AI features may be safer near-term options.
IT also requested increases in professional fees to pay consultants and temporary personnel as the department scales a larger internship program and addresses a large hardware refresh. May said the department uses contracted specialists for specialized roles (a chief information security officer supplied by a contractor, network architects and database consultants) and is expanding the internship program in partnership with local training programs and schools.
Communications changes include replacing the city's wide-area network provider from Comcast to a state-approved vendor, Crown Castle, to improve uptime and performance; the change will slightly raise the communications line. The department also continues a previously approved capital lease schedule related to public-safety radios that remain partly dependent on state infrastructure upgrades.
Council members thanked IT staff for after-hours support and asked about a single, citywide mobile app for services and whether that would appear in FY2026. May said work to modernize business licensing, timekeeping and ERP systems will precede a consolidated app; an all-in-one city app is likely a later-year initiative tied to those platform upgrades. The hearing produced requests for follow-up lists of vendors, device replacement schedules and consultant contract details. No formal votes took place during the hearing.
