District Technology Chief Testifies On Agency Performance - Releases

Contact: Ayanna Smith, (202) 724- 5178, ayanna.smith@dc.gov

District of Columbia Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Vivek Kundra today testified before the District Council on the FY 2008 performance of the District’s technology agency, the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO).

Mr. Kundra took office as District CTO 284 days ago on May 7, 2007. Appearing before the Committee on Workforce Development and Government Operations, chaired by Councilmember Carol Schwartz (R-At Large), he detailed nine months of achievement and innovation.

Mr. Kundra presented his testimony as a film that he and his staff produced in-house at no cost to taxpayers.

The film, narrated by Mr. Kundra, reviewed OCTO’s accomplishments supporting education, public safety, online services, and more. For example, the agency:

Deployed over 6000 brand-new, centrally managed PCs in classrooms throughout DC Public Schools (DCPS), providing teachers the tools to teach in the 21st Century;
Digitized 4.6 million DCPS paper records that had been neglected for a decade in just 54 days;
Connected 80 DCPS sites to OCTO’s high-speed fiber-optic network to access voice, video and data, making the DCPS network 60 times faster;
Launched a project to install 802 mobile computers in police cruisers so District officers can spend less time on paperwork and more time keeping citizens safe;
Created an innovative website to help District police and procurement officials solicit ideas and partners to fast-track procurement of a new Evidence Warehouse, using a "Wiki" template;
Adapted the District’s multi-agency health and human services data sharing system to incorporate risk indicators so agencies can collaborate to help the neediest residents better and faster;
Added 15 new online services and 18 new websites to the District’s dc.gov web portal—from a real-time snowplow tracker to an emergency readiness planner to a more customer-friendly public libraries site;
Pooled wireless minutes across the government to cut cell phone costs; and
Created a new “OCTO Labs” unit to test the most promising new technologies to improve, speed, and simplify District government services.

In response to questions from Councilmember Schwartz, Mr. Kundra acknowledged that he and his staff had encountered significant challenges during his first 284 days. In written testimony for the record*, he vowed they would “continue working diligently” to address the many challenges facing the District.

At the close of his filmed testimony, Mr. Kundra invited Councilmembers and the public to “stay tuned as we continue to leverage the power of technology to improve service delivery, drive innovation and bridge the digital divide to build a world-class city.”