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Butte-Silver Bow IT director says department understaffed, prioritizes cybersecurity, GIS and pragmatic AI use
Summary
The county—s new IT director told the study commission that local government technology is behind private sector practice, that cybersecurity and staffing are top priorities, and that GIS and modest AI uses can improve efficiency if matched with sustainable funding and procurement.
Craig Germaine, the information technology director for Butte-Silver Bow County, told the study commission his team provides infrastructure, cybersecurity, device and user support, software procurement and data/voice communications for the city-county. "If it has a blinking light, I know that we'll support it," he said.
He described the county—s technology posture as uneven: some projects funded by ARPA have modernized emergency services and vehicle-mounted mobile data terminals, but the organization remains "about 15 years behind" typical private-sector deployment in some areas. He said common productivity tools such as Microsoft Teams often are underused and the county still relies on…
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