Labeling itself "City of Arts & Innovation," Riverside, Calif. no doubt places technology high on its list of priorities.
Steve Reneker, CIO, City of Riverside
It is almost completely wireless, has a fiber infrastructure, provides high-tech business and employee incentives, offers high-speed Internet choices and has implemented many cutting-edge applications for citizen safety and convenience—including a graffiti abatement solution that has generated over $200,000 in restitution.
Many of these successes are due to the work of a talented IT department led by Steve Reneker, who became Riverside’s chief innovation officer in 2007. Reneker also dually assumes the role of executive director for SmartRiverside, a nonprofit with a mission to develop high technology programs and initiatives that benefit the community through self-sustaining revenue sources.
With over 20 years of municipal government experience as well as four years at Dell, Inc., Reneker makes sure Riverside remains a model city for high technology collaboration. In fact, Riverside was named the 2012 World’s Most Intelligent Community in June, the first time a U.S. community was given the award.
Reneker recently shared with Techwire some of his department’s successes, challenges and how Riverside—his hometown—is currently "seizing its destiny."
What are some of the major projects or initiatives you are currently working on?
Riverside is undergoing a strategic initiative known as Seizing our Destiny [http://seizingourdestiny.com]. The three major programs are: educating our community regarding our recent award of World’s Most Intelligent Community 2012; the inauguration of our Long Night of Arts and Innovation where the community will hear about research and projects the city is involved with in order to foster interest of our youth in the math and sciences; and administering Give Big Day, an online philanthropy 24-hour giving campaign, which engages our community to benefit local programs.
From a technical perspective, our IT department is just completing a rollout of Avaya VoIP and starting a three-year effort of replacing our utility customer information system.
Any recent success stories you would like to talk about?
Riverside has competed in the Center for Digital Government’s Best of the Web and Digital Government Achievement Awards, and we’re proud to say that for the past six years, we have been recognized as top ten in the nation. The Intelligent Community Forum, a think tank in New York, evaluated the city in five categories—broadband, digital inclusion, innovation, knowledge workforce, and marketing and advocacy—and for four years in a row Riverside ranked in the Smart 21, and last two years ranked as a top seven city. This year, we won the 2012 World’s Most Intelligent Community ranking.
Can you discuss any challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our biggest challenge continues to be the economy. Our technology is aging and we have had to eliminate technology replacement accounts and most of our desktop, laptops and servers are nearing end of life. There are signs of growth, which is encouraging, but our staff has to be very creative in maintaining our existing infrastructure.
How many IT staffers work in your department? What is the size of your IT budget?
Our technology resources are outsourced to Xerox. There are 45 Xerox employees and eight city employees. Our budget is $11.9 million.
Who is on your leadership team? What is your approach or philosophy in leading the team?
As chief innovation officer, I have Saul Melara, reporting to me as our chief technology officer and Fred Speer, our Xerox account director.
Can you describe the career path that led to you being the CIO of Riverside?
I began my career in banking in 1982, setting up ATM machines and tracking commercial and consumer loans. My first introduction to government was in 1985 when I became an independent contractor for and eventually an employee of the City of Los Angeles. From there, I became the IT director for the Eastern Municipal Water District in 1990 and moved to Aurora, Colo., and then IT director in 1995. My first CIO position was in 1997 at the County of Riverside and in 2003 I went to work for Dell, Inc., running their public safety and criminal justice business development function. In 2007, the City of Riverside was looking to hire their first CIO, and the management team mostly came from the County of Riverside, which inspired me to return to government.
What advice would you give to other CIOs?
Don’t try to tackle too many initiatives at the same time. Focus on quality more than quantity and leverage a project management office to communicate and prioritize efforts to your peers. Keep open and frequent communication with all departments so they know you are approachable, customer service oriented and understand the priorities of the organization.
What do you do in your off time?
I am a volunteer ski patroller in the winter and enjoy backpacking and climbing in the summer. I also enjoy golfing, road biking and riding my Harley with my wife.
