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City IT seeks to shore up cybersecurity, expand public Wi‑Fi and lay groundwork for AI governance
Summary
At a Rochester City Council budget hearing, City Chief Technology Officer Harriet Fisher outlined an IT budget that preserves core services, adds cybersecurity planning and public‑facing digital equity work, and funds preparatory steps for future AI use while stressing education and governance.
City Chief Technology Officer Harriet Fisher told the finance committee that the information technology budget preserves core services while prioritizing cybersecurity, public Wi‑Fi in city facilities and foundational policies for future AI use.
Fisher said the department has dedicated annual cybersecurity awareness training for all city network users and is contracting outside expertise for incident response exercises. The budget includes vendor funding for a Palo Alto tabletop exercise to test incident response, Fisher said, and Fisher and Chief Information Security Officer Joe Rossi described ransomware and threats to public utilities as continuing concerns.
The nut graf: the IT department proposed a largely status‑quo operating budget that refocuses limited new dollars on cyber incident preparedness and on expanding community access to broadband through guest Wi‑Fi at city facilities, while deliberately treating AI as a governance problem rather than a set of immediate projects.
Fisher said education remains the first line of defense against phishing and social‑engineering threats and described work to harden utility control systems in partnership with the water bureau following a New York state assessment. Rossi told council the department is buying outside incident‑response training and review capacity to improve the city’s playbook for a breach.
On broadband equity, Fisher said city IT has completed guest Wi‑Fi upgrades at many public facilities — rec centers, the public market and MLK Park were cited — and that the next step is signage and public information so residents know those access points exist. Network manager Rich Wright confirmed the city has guest Wi‑Fi at most gathering sites, and councilors urged a public map or web page listing locations.
Fisher described a partnership with Pathways in Technology (P‑TECH) at Edison Tech High School that has provided interns and entry‑level hires for the city’s network teams, and she said the department expanded summer internships this year.
On artificial intelligence, Fisher said IT has not launched a city‑wide AI project but is forming cross‑departmental governance: an AI working group with the mayor’s office, IT, law and HR; an AI policy is under review and expected to be published this fiscal year (chief information security officer Joe Rossi flagged an internal target of June 30). She said the city is piloting productivity tools such as Microsoft Copilot in a limited IT pilot and testing Grammarly in communications, but will require IT approval and security review before broad technology purchases are accepted.
Why it matters: the city faces evolving cybersecurity threats and a recognized digital divide; the budget preserves basic operations while directing scarce new resources toward incident response, staff training and practical, facility‑based access to the Internet.
Ending: Fisher and Rossi told council they will provide a timeline for the AI policy rollout and a list of public‑Wi‑Fi locations; councilors asked for a public web page and clearer signage so residents can find guest Wi‑Fi at rec centers and park sites.
