Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the It Modernization topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City IT director outlines Clarity cutover, security hire and automation pilots
Summary
Department of Information Technology told the Budget Committee it will replace a 27‑year old permitting system with Clarity, expand process automation and seek a chief information security officer while requesting modest equipment funding.
The Department of Information Technology briefed the budget committee on Tuesday about ongoing modernization efforts including a planned switch from a 27‑year old POSSE (POSI) system to Clarity, pilot automation projects and a proposed cybersecurity hire.
Director McKee said the city will migrate several major functions this fiscal year. "By September or so, we will turn off POSI and turn on Clarity," McKee said, describing an 18‑month rollout for the permitting system replacement. He also said the department is piloting AI chatbots and IVR tools for customer service and implementing process automation to accelerate recurring manual tasks such as utility bill processing.
Security and staffing: DIT requested a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) position and explained the hiring rationale: increased cyber threats and the need for centralized security leadership. The request included funds for a permanent CISO and contract programming support and a data processing analyst conversion to permanent staff for long‑running scanning and imaging work.
Budget ask and equipment: DIT proposed equipment spending to refresh aging network switches, servers and PCs and asked for modest increases in current expenses tied to mandatory software and hardware maintenance. The department also noted a major one‑time cost in the 9‑1‑1 recorder replacement and for pictometry (aerial imagery) maintenance in the coming year.
Procurement and process improvements: McKee said procurement friction is a recurring operational issue and that DIT is exploring opportunities inside the city’s existing ERP to streamline approvals and rollout built‑in functions to reduce bottlenecks. He described pilot work on electronic signatures, approved supplier lists and other process changes to reduce procurement delay.
Ending: DIT will continue phased rollouts for Clarity, expand automation pilots, pursue the proposed cybersecurity hire and coordinate with departments on Office365 migration timing and procurement improvements.
