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Sacramento CIO: We Want Partners in Civic Tech

Sacramento’s chief information officer, Maria MacGunigal, advised vendors on what she looks for when considering a proposal — and she cautioned that she's not interested in "tech for tech's sake."

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Sacramento’s chief information officer, Maria MacGunigal, was straightforward in her takeaways Monday as one of four speakers at Techwire’s State of Technology industry briefing:

  • “I don’t want to do tech for tech’s sake,” she told the roomful of tech vendors.
  • Sacramento city leaders have officially relaxed certain strictures governing the RFP/bid process, with the goal of streamlining procurement and fostering innovation.
  • Her advice to vendors: Be “flexibly engaged” with the city; focus not merely on selling a product but also on helping to solve a problem; and prepare to work “more broadly” with the city.
As an example of that broader vendor engagement with the city, MacGunigal cited the example of Verizon, which chose Sacramento as one of a handful of U.S. cities in which to develop 5G wireless broadband and other technology.  

MacGunigal, who has been CIO since October 2013, said her department uses several criteria when judging the merits of a project and whether to approve it:

  • Does it meet the city's "structured metrics" for cost, value and service?
  • Does it address a specific problem?
  • Does it position the city for the future?
  • Does it promote "inclusiveness?"
Dennis Noone is Executive Editor of Industry Insider. He is a career journalist, having worked at small-town newspapers and major metropolitan dailies including USA Today in Washington, D.C.