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Consultant outlines five‑year IT strategic plan, recommends $900,000 foundation investment and 2026 AI pilots
Summary
A Diversified Technologies consultant presented a citywide IT strategic plan to Brookhaven council recommending a roughly $900,000 2026 foundation investment to strengthen governance, systems integration and cybersecurity and proposing AI pilot projects in 2026; council asked for follow‑up collaboration with IT staff.
Terrence Thomas, a consultant with Diversified Technologies, briefed the Brookhaven City Council on a citywide information‑technology strategic plan that recommends governance changes, systems integration, performance dashboards and an initial 2026 investment of about $900,000.
The plan, presented at the Oct. 28 work session, synthesizes surveys and interviews with every department and lays out eight strategic pillars including connectivity, continuity, integration, performance management, public engagement, cybersecurity and disaster recovery, governance, and workforce development. "Once I met with the IT staff to get a foundation of what the technology landscape looked like here at Brookhaven...we put together a citywide plan," Thomas said.
Thomas said much of the city's work has already moved from on‑premises systems to the cloud and praised the existing IT staff while urging a governance framework to coordinate cross‑department integration. He proposed department‑level roadmaps and KPIs and recommended a phased five‑year approach: a 2026 "foundation" year with audits, interface identification, select Tyler ERP modules and cybersecurity enhancements; 2027 focused on integration and dashboards; 2028 on optimization and AI; and 2029 on transparency and resiliency.
"AI is out there. It's real. We've gotta use it, in order to stay productive and stay current...but we have to be careful with that too," Thomas said, adding the city should pilot AI projects in 2026 to test risks and benefits.
Council members asked how the consultant and IT staff will coordinate on next steps. Thomas said he expects to participate in departmental conversations alongside IT and recommended a quarterly governance team composed of representatives from each department. Robert, the city's IT staff member who coordinated the work, offered to share electronic copies of the plan for review.
The presentation included resource estimates but no formal appropriation. Thomas emphasized the plan is iterative and invited council feedback and additional business‑analysis work to refine recommendations.
