San Diego County CIO outlines IT contract, governance and innovation program ahead of AI procurement decisions
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Summary
CIO David Smith reviewed the county's long-term IT contract model, governance structure, service frameworks and the Innovation Fund process and timeline the county plans to use as it evaluates AI projects and future procurements.
David Smith, San Diego County Chief Information Officer, told the AI Ad Hoc Subcommittee the county's current outsourced IT arrangement (originating in 1999 and later awarded to providers including Northrop Grumman and Hewlett Packard) is structured to support continuous improvement and to incorporate new technologies such as AI.
Smith said the county's current service provider (operating under names including Hewlett Packard and known currently as Peraton Enterprise Solutions LLC) provides six service frameworks that together cover governance, service-desk operations, end-user devices, network services, cloud and data-center work, and application services. He noted the contract defines IT services broadly so future technologies can be integrated without rewriting the baseline scope.
Governance and procurement timeline
Smith described the county's governance structure: the Board of Supervisors sets policy while the IT Management Committee (ITMC), chaired by an assistant chief administrative officer, brings general managers and department leads together with County Counsel and Human Resources to review large IT issues. He said the district attorney and sheriff maintain their own IT but that telephony is still routed through the county platform.
Smith gave budget and scale figures: fiscal-year 2023'1024 IT spend reported at about $212 million and a 2024'1025 projection of about $218 million; roughly 18,000 laptops/PCs and another 18,600 network access points; approximately 8,600 managed mobile devices. He said the current contract term runs through Dec. 31, 2028, with planning, procurement and transition activities expected across 2025'2028: strategy development in 2025, procurements in 2027, and transitions in 2028.
Service features and innovation process
Smith highlighted components intended to support rapid adoption and testing: ServiceNow as an integrated request-and-tracking platform; a "network-in-a-box" briefcase solution for rapid field connectivity during incidents; the use of cloud/virtual servers to reduce server-deployment times from months to days; and the Innovation Fund, which Smith said provides proof-of-concept funding governed by an innovation board. Proofs of concept are time-boxed, subject-matter experts are involved in testing, and successful proofs may be productionized through standard procurement if departments fund follow-up.
Smith said the Innovation Fund received dozens of idea submissions, funded multiple proofs of concept and recommended several for production subject to departmental funding. He said projects such as automated transcription for council videos and a Treasury/Tax Collector interactive voice system are in progress. He described a Rover AI pothole/trash-detection proof that moved out of proof-of-concept and is under consideration for procurement but not yet deployed.
Barriers and closing
Smith told the subcommittee the two principal barriers to faster adoption are money and matching expectations to current technical capability. He said the county intends to adopt AI in lower-risk areas first and emphasized continuous improvement and oversight rather than rapid, untested rollouts.
Ending
Smith said county staff will work with the subcommittee and department leads to set strategy for the next contract cycle and to evaluate AI proofs and procurements.
