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Marin County IT director urges 'digital first' shift, warns of tech debt and need for managed services and ADA compliance

2434691 · February 27, 2025

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Summary

Chief Information Officer Liza Massey briefed supervisors on the county’s digital strategy, explaining a move toward digital adoption, cloud and AI pilots, .gov transition and accessibility requirements, and warned that long‑standing tech debt and pending mandates will require staffing, contracted managed services and multiyear investments.

Liza Massey, Marin County’s Chief Information Officer, told the Board on Feb. 26 that the county is shifting from a “fast follower” posture to a “digital first” approach that emphasizes cloud services, off‑the‑shelf SaaS, pilot projects, generative AI and digital adoption supports.

Massey said the county maintains steady staffing but faces a backlog of projects and significant technology debt stemming from long‑running, custom, in‑house systems (for example, legacy property and justice systems). She described roughly 20 active projects with a queue of about 45 items and said roughly three times as many projects are replacements, upgrades or expansions of existing systems (tech‑debt work) compared with truly new initiatives.

Key operational challenges Massey cited included recruiting and retaining IT staff, the need for pre‑vetted contractor pools and managed services (help desk, device deployment, vendor management), and a federal Department of Justice requirement that digital public services meet accessibility standards; she said many county digital services will need remediation ahead of an April deadline. Massey also referenced broadband investments (county broadband program) and said governance will be adjusted to allow quicker pilots and district‑level trials while preserving enterprise architecture and security.

Supervisors welcomed experimentation and asked for quick, low‑cost “customer‑facing” wins such as digitizing forms and considering a 3‑1‑1 or constituent reporting app as a piloted district‑level service. Massey said staff will prioritize digital adoption resources and evaluate managed services to reduce tech debt and accelerate delivery; she asked for board patience as multiyear modernization work continues.