David J. Elges is Hartman’s State and Local Government Industry Lead.
David is a driven technologist with more than 35 years of experience in helping organizations navigate the intersection between technology and business outcomes. He delivers a unique balance of acumen and fiscal discipline, coupled with an in-depth understanding of diverse industries, business models and operating practices. Prior to joining the Hartman team as State and Local Government Industry Lead, David served as Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the City of Boston, where he created the organization’s first cybersecurity team and managed a multi-million-dollar government technology portfolio. Before working for the City of Boston, David was the CIO for the Government of the District of Columbia.
We sat down with David to get his take on top priorities and opportunities for state and local governments in 2023.
What is the biggest opportunity facing state and local governments?
One significant opportunity for local government is citizenship and participative governance. Residents engage with what they feel part of and value what they help to build. Engaging citizens along with local communities is critical and essential when it comes to developing a sense of ownership in local decision-making, and the service delivery to residents. Working alongside residents allows city councils to fine-tune services based on actual needs. Needs based assessments are a valuable research tool for prioritizing services to address unmet and under-met needs; they are essential to organizational and community planning efforts.
How can technology help state and local governments better serve their citizens?
Recently, local government transparency has become a broadly discussed topic. City and county leaders across the U.S. understand that to be truly effective, they need to be as open with their citizens as possible. Technology can play a significant role in creating a culture of transparency and openness, while fostering good visibility into government leaders’ strategic outcomes.
What do government executives ask you most often?
How can the public sector find and retain top talent to be able to deliver truly impactful services to residents? This has always been an issue but has been exacerbated by Covid-19.
What are the most important strategic priorities for government executives in 2023?
The top 6 priorities for governments are:
1) Cybersecurity and Risk Management: highlighting governance; budget and resource requirements; security frameworks; data protection; training and awareness; insider threats; third party risk
2) Digital Government/Digital Services: establishing a framework for digital services; portal; improving and digitizing citizen experience; accessibility; identity management; digital assistants; privacy
3) Broadband/Wireless Connectivity: strengthening connectivity for residents; implementing rural broadband expansion; 5G deployment
4) Cloud Services: developing a comprehensive cloud strategy; selection of service and deployment models; scalable and elastic services; governance; service management; security; privacy; procurement
5) Legacy Modernization: enhancing, renovating, replacing, legacy platforms and applications; business process improvement
6) Identity and Access Management: supporting citizen digital services; workforce access; access control; authentication; credentialing; digital standards
If you’re a state or local government executive, reach out today to talk to David about these topics and what the future looks like for your organization. You can also learn more about Hartman’s IT leadership and consulting offerings for governments here.