Overview

April 27

Navigating county government and finding the help they need often isn’t easy for constituents. This has been more challenging as the pandemic has limited face-to-face interaction and shifted people online in search for services.

In Washington state, King County is consistently finding new ways to equitably serve constituents in a quest to “make life better and create opportunities for county residents to thrive,” according to CIO Tanya Hannah.

Hannah joins Government Technology and Amazon Web Services (AWS) on April 27 at 11:00 a.m. PT/2:00 p.m. ET for a 30-minute discussion on how the county has created a omnichannel citizen experience with a new cloud-based contact center and other technologies.

Join us to hear:

Why the county needed to upgrade to better serve its constituents – and how the solution is especially helping during the pandemic
How the cloud solution is creating a front-end to a modern 311 system offering new ways to engage with citizens
Best practices for improving processes to streamline constituent inquiries and requests for services

Speakers

Tanya Hannah

CIO, King County, WA

Tanya Hannah believes in using technology in new, surprising and smart ways to make life better for people, something that’s served the county well during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her recent work has included leading teams to stand up several field hospitals for COVID patients as well as a Public Health chatbot to aid the public with timely information. As the technology leader for the 12th largest county in the nation, Ms. Hannah is passionate about ensuring the more than two million county residents have equal access to the technology needed for civic and cultural participation, education, employment and other critical services. The department serves over 60 lines of businesses in areas from transportation and environment to human services. She previously served as a senior executive at Amazon and Computer Service Corporation. Under her leadership, King County has been recognized multiple times by the National Association of Counties as a top IT County in the Nation. Other recent honors include consecutive CIO 100 awards, national Government Experience awards and a Future Edge50 award. Last year, Ms. Hannah was named Golden Government: National (IT) County Executive of the Year by the StateScoop LocalSmart News Group. She’s a native of Philadelphia, and received her BA in government from the University of Maryland.

Jeff Friedman

Leader, Citizen Services, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Through his work with AWS, Jeff helps deliver world-class constituent services to local governments. Launched in 2006, AWS began offering key infrastructure services to businesses in the form of web services — now widely known as cloud computing. The ultimate benefit of cloud computing, and AWS, is the ability to leverage a new business model and turn capital infrastructure expenses into variable costs. Jeff works closely with local governments to ensure they can benefit from the same cloud technologies used by hundreds of thousands of businesses around the world. Prior to AWS, Jeff spent his career in the local government space, working as a management and productivity consultant, in technology, and for the City of Philadelphia where he had several different roles in various departments, including setting up the City's 311 system.

Phil Bertolini — Moderator

Co-Executive Director, Center for Digital Government

Phil Bertolini is the Co-Executive Director of the Center for Digital Government (CDG), a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. Previously, he served as deputy county executive and CIO for Oakland County, Michigan. During his 31-year tenure, Phil built a world-class IT organization in the second-largest county in Michigan, just north of Detroit. As Oakland County CIO, he oversaw more than 150 employees serving over 1.2 million residents. In 2005, he was also promoted to deputy county executive, holding dual positions until his retirement. Phil’s efforts earned the county national attention, winning numerous awards for technology innovation and excellence. He was named one of Governing Magazine’s Public Official of the Year and Government Technology Magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers. He was also honored by the President Obama White House as a Champion of Change for 2012.

Webinar

How King County connects: meeting residents where they are with omnichannel engagement