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Baltimore County OIT requests capital funding for cybersecurity, broadband expansion and legacy system replacements
Summary
Chris Martin presented the Office of Information Technology’s FY26 capital priorities, highlighting cybersecurity resilience, the BCON fiber and broadband grants, digital equity work that distributed thousands of Chromebooks, replacement of aging systems (including the LARA permit system), and an emphasis on reducing technical debt.
Chris Martin, director of the Baltimore County Office of Information Technology, told the Planning Board subcommittee that OIT’s FY26 capital request focuses on cybersecurity, broadband expansion, digital equity and replacing aging core systems.
“OIT is a centralized IT department for the county government. We support all the departments that fall underneath the government umbrella,” Martin said, listing public safety, public works, budget and finance and other customers. He emphasized cyber‑resilience: “The future of wars will be fought in the cybersecurity space.”
Martin said OIT supports roughly 12,000 endpoint devices and handles about 50,000 help tickets annually; the office typically has about 55 active projects in its portfolio. The presentation described a multi‑pronged capital program that includes: an expanded cybersecurity program and incident‑response planning; continued build‑out of the county’s BCON fiber network to county buildings and volunteer fire stations; broadband grants and long‑driveway solutions to reach underserved homes; and digital‑equity initiatives.
Martin described recent digital‑equity work in partnership with libraries and other departments that delivered nearly 14,000 Chromebooks to residents through state and local programs. He said OIT is pursuing federal and state grants to fund remaining broadband gaps and expects the FY22 and FY23 grant cycles to deliver service to most remaining unserved or underserved homes; a separate “long driveway” program covers partial costs for difficult‑to‑reach properties and may require homeowner cost‑sharing.
The office also plans several application and infrastructure projects: a replacement for the county’s LARA land‑use/permit system, a centralized customer‑relationship management (CRM) platform, an upgraded procurement system, a learning‑management rollout tied to Workday, a law case management system, and continued modernization of public‑safety and jail management systems. Martin said the county removed its mainframe last year and replaced a legacy computer‑aided dispatch system as part of a broader effort to reduce technical debt.
On financing, Martin confirmed OIT’s FY26 capital ask (the presentation referenced roughly $9.2 million) and discussed contingency and carryover. He said the department generally uses its contingency line to respond to legislative or regulatory changes and cybersecurity needs; last year about $170,000 of contingency funds rolled over and OIT reported roughly $9 million in capital expenditures for the prior year.
Martin said OIT will emphasize “human‑centered design” for major replacements so that field inspectors, businesses and residents are involved in defining requirements, and he described plans to expand low‑code development to allow configurable solutions with less custom coding.
Board members asked about contingency use, broadband eligibility, school and community‑college system separations and monitoring of esports equipment in recreation centers. Martin said schools and community colleges have separate IT teams and that OIT segments public devices to limit access and reduce risk on shared or public machines.
OIT said it will continue to pursue grant funding where possible and to plan capital investments to reduce future operating costs by shifting legacy maintenance into modern, supported platforms.
