Overview

June 17

It’s that time again to work with cities across the country to share the innovative work you all do! The Center for Digital Government’s Digital Cities Survey provides the opportunity for city information technology organizations to highlight the great work being done, benchmark with their peers and identify future trends. This year’s survey will reflect current challenges and the changing technology landscape as everyone strives to navigate the "new normal". We are excited to share the changes we made to the survey for 2022!

On this webcast, CDG Vice President Brian Cohen and Surveys and Awards Director Janet Grenslitt will walk you through this year’s survey – the overall structure, what’s new and approaches you can use to fill it out. Lea Eriksen, the CIO of Long Beach, CA will also join us on the webinar to talk about how she uses the survey and tips for success. The webinar will also cover:

The objectives and intent of the survey
How to navigate the survey tool
Next steps and timing for survey submissions
Any questions the audience has and how to use the FAQs
Announcing regular touchpoints with CDG staff throughout the survey

We encourage you to invite anyone in the city who will be involved in the survey to attend. We look forward to having you joins us!

Speakers

Lea Eriksen

Director and Chief Information Officer, City of Long Beach, CA

Lea Eriksen is the Director of Technology and Innovation and CIO of the City of Long Beach and is in charge of implementing the City’s technology vision, developing a staff of 178 FTE and managing a $75 million annual budget. With more than 20 years of experience working in local government, Lea’s background includes positions related to economic development, budget and finance, and technology. She has an MBA from Xavier University and graduated cum laude from Miami University. Lea also has extensive experience serving on non-profit boards and committees, including the Long Beach Transit Board. Lea is passionate about advancing digital equity and using emerging technology and data to solve civic challenges in Long Beach.

Janet Grenslitt

Director of Surveys and Awards, Center for Digital Government

Janet Grenslitt is the Center for Digital Government’s Director of Surveys and Awards. She manages the Center’s flagship surveys and awards programs for state and local government. Working with subject matter experts, she created the Digital Cities and Digital Counties surveys more than 15 years ago. Prior to joining e.Republic, Janet managed programs for state and local government in Florida, North Carolina and California. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Duke University, with a certificate in Social Administration from Hull University in England, and her Master’s degree from University of California at Berkeley.

Brian Cohen — Moderator

Vice President, Center for Digital Government and Center for Digital Education

Brian Cohen is the Vice President of the Center for Digital Government and Center for Digital Education. Prior to joining the Center, Brian was Vice Chancellor and University CIO for the City University of New York (CUNY). As the Vice-Chancellor and University CIO at CUNY, Brian developed and managed the enterprise IT vision, strategy, and day-to-day technology operations of the University. His areas of focus included academic and business systems, cloud strategies, IT policies and procedures, Cybersecurity, project management, IT resiliency and disaster recovery, and network and telecommunications. Brian also served in leadership roles with the City of New York. Among his accomplishments are the City of New York’s E-Government strategy, the City’s award-winning nyc.gov website, and the City’s effort to address the Y2K technology challenge.

Webinar

The 2022 Digital Cities Survey is Live!