Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the It Cybersecurity topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Fort Lauderdale CIO seeks sustained funding for cybersecurity and continued modernization after major IT upgrades
Summary
CIO Tamika McKay told the Budget Advisory Board the IT department has replaced aging systems and reduced help-desk times but still needs funding for cybersecurity tools, professional services and governance as the city moves from reactive to proactive IT management.
Tamika McKay, Chief Information Officer and Director of Information Technology Services, told the Budget Advisory Board on Dec. 19 that the city has completed a series of major IT upgrades but needs to invest further in cybersecurity governance and specialized services to protect city systems and data.
McKay said the department — about 74 employees and a roughly $27 million budget — has replaced or modernized a large share of end-of-life hardware and a 50-year-old ERP, improved backup and disaster-recovery systems, reduced help-desk wait times and boosted professional development. She said those achievements have decreased operational risk but that a measured shift from reactive fixes to proactive governance is still required.
The CIO highlighted cybersecurity vulnerabilities identified in a recent assessment and said the city contracted outside cybersecurity expertise that, in six months, materially improved the city’s security posture. She said the department will request funding for cybersecurity tools and professional services in the coming budget to address identity and access controls, governance, and risk management.
McKay gave one operational example: when a member of a police IT team departed the organization and sent threatening messages, the city’s lack of centralized access-management controls exposed the city to risk; she said stronger identity governance would reduce that exposure going forward.
Board members praised recent IT progress and asked for details on timelines for outstanding projects such as payroll modernization; McKay said payroll and W-2 issuance have been successful following the recent payroll system migration and that further optimizations continue.
