As part of Industry Insider — California’s ongoing efforts to inform readers about state agencies, their IT plans and initiatives, here’s the latest in our periodic series of interviews with departmental IT leaders.
Julie Goebel is the inaugural Innovation Program manager at San Mateo County, a role she has had since November 2022. A county employee of nearly 23 years, she was most recently web administrator with its Human Resources Department, where she created and managed all web content. Her other roles at the county have included IT technician, confidential.
Goebel has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in digital communication and media/multimedia from the Academy of Art University.
Industry Insider — California: As Innovation Program manager at your organization, how do you describe your role and its responsibilities? Are you the county’s first-ever Innovation Program manager?
Goebel: As the first Innovation Program manager for the county of San Mateo (SMC), I have the privilege of working with county departments and community partners to research, design and prototype innovative solutions. The position builds upon the achievements of SMC Labs, which set a high bar with initiatives like the SMC Public Wi-Fi. Under the leadership of our CIO, Michael Wentworth, we are expanding our horizons and reimagining what innovation within the county, and throughout the region, looks like. Beyond project management, my role is also about fostering a culture of innovation by spotlighting the innovative work of our teams, like our award-winning SMC HOME app to optimize homeless outreach operations. I have recruited innovation champions from various departments to encourage collaboration across departments and streamline the exchange of knowledge and resources. I also introduced an app within Microsoft Teams to gather and evaluate ideas from our employees. I want to ensure all the good ideas get support to create meaningful improvements for our community.
IICA: Does your organization have a strategic plan, and may we hyperlink to it? How big a role do you personally play in writing that strategic plan?
Goebel: The county has Shared Vision 2025, which has helped me align the goals and services of the Innovation Program with the aspirations of our organization. The Information Services Department has a 2023-2025 Strategic Plan that was recently updated and will be online soon.
Editor’s note: Find ISD’s 2023-2025 Strategic Plan here, and Shared Vision 2025 here.
IICA: What big initiatives or projects are coming up? What sorts of developing opportunities and RFPs should we be watching for in the next six to 12 months?
Goebel: One of our public-facing innovation projects in progress right now is a Smart City IoT Innovation Zone. The goal is to make a section of Middlefield Road in Redwood City the most connected data-driven corridor in the county. Planned for the immediate future is deploying SMC Public Wi-Fi, smart parking, connected streetlights, digital signage and kiosks, smart trash bins and benches, displays for buses with real-time updates for schedules and routes, and traffic monitoring with pedestrian analytics. Beyond Middlefield Road we are looking at what is possible with robotic process automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, low-code/no-code application platforms, and data. Our Business and Finance Administration team has started a pilot project to automate invoice processing with RPA. We are in the process of drafting a new county policy for the use of AI and I anticipate a lot of projects utilizing AI once that is finalized. Several departments are interested in developing chatbots/virtual assistants. Innovation Champions are starting to ask about using virtual reality and augmented reality. I’m excited to think about what we will be able to do with emerging technology.
IICA: In your opinion, what should local government be doing more of in technology?
Goebel: We need to make dealing with local government simpler and more secure. It’s about looking at every form and service to make sure we’re not stuck in old ways. I am inspired by apps like DoorDash or Instacart that bring everything you need into one spot. That’s what I want for our government services too — an easy-to-use app with one login, easy payment options, and transaction history. My goal is to make interacting with our government as straightforward and user-friendly as possible. Our award-winning SMC HOME app is a great example of this principle. It transformed what was a siloed and manual process with a streamlined GIS app and automated processes. Field personnel can use the app to identify, photograph, and report suspected homeless encampments and vehicles used by unhoused individuals. The app uses the GIS location of the field personnel to send an automated alert to a community-based organization (CBO) that is responsible for the appropriate region. The CBO then dispatches an employee to contact the unhoused individual(s) and offer services. The reporting and follow-up, along with other statistics and a map showing GIS locations of encampments, is available in a dashboard. This new system allows CBOs and county departments to identify locations that are frequently used by homeless people so they can be more proactive in offering services to unhoused individuals. You can read more about the project here.
IICA: How do you define “digital transformation?” How far along is your organization in that process, and how will you know when it’s finished?
Goebel: Digital transformation isn’t just about digitizing manual processes; it’s about fundamentally rethinking how we operate to enhance service delivery. It’s a shift that moves us from paper forms and manual data entry to streamlined, digital-first interactions.
But digital transformation isn’t a destination; it’s a continuous journey. There’s no final checkbox because technology and community needs are always evolving. It’s about staying agile and responsive, ready to adopt new tools and processes to serve our community better. We’ll measure our progress not by whether we’ve “finished,” but by how effectively our digital strategy continues to evolve and align with the needs of those we serve.
IICA: Does the Innovation Program manager role have staff and its own budget stipend, or does it sit wholly within the county’s IT organization? What is the county’s overall IT budget?
Goebel: The Innovation Program sits within the Information Services Department in the Office of the CIO but works with all departments. We have a group of departmental Innovation Champions and are in the process of selecting a consultant to assist with innovation consulting and project management. The county’s budget can be found here.
IICA: If you work with vendors, how do you prefer they contact you, including via social media such as LinkedIn? How might vendors best educate themselves before meeting with you?
Goebel: I enjoy attending conferences where vendors are presenting their products or services. Public-sector procurement is a transparent and competitive process; vendors need to monitor our procurement portal to participate in the process.
IICA: In your tenure in this position or in a previous role, which project or achievement are you most proud of?
Goebel: One of the highlights of my career has been launching our county’s first civic hackathon in 2015 and Apps Challenge in 2016. Those events were a game-changer; they not only inspired me to alter the trajectory of my career but also paved the way for our biannual Employee Innovation Challenge — it’s a bit like “Shark Tank,” but with more high-fives and encouragement all around. Watching our teams come together to pitch their innovative ideas is a great day at work. During the 2020 lockdown I was working for the county’s HR department in the Organizational Development and Communications Division. Like many organizations, we had to deal with a situation that was changing daily. Talk about being innovative! Our focus in HR was on keeping our 6,000 employees connected and supported, and I’m incredibly proud of what we achieved under those circumstances. I started working at the county of San Mateo in 2001. Bringing ideas to life and nurturing a culture of “can-do” attitudes is what I love most about my time here. It’s creating those “aha!” moments and the opportunity to make a real difference that keeps me going.
IICA: What has surprised you most this year in government technology?
Goebel: AI is not necessarily a new technology, but it’s making a lot of headlines right now, and more people are experimenting with generative AI than ever before. While I do think there needs to be some guardrails on AI, I don’t think it is something to fear. I think using AI responsibly will supercharge our ability to be more efficient and allow our employees to focus their efforts more on meaningful interactions with the public and less on repetitive tasks.
IICA: What do you read to stay abreast of developments in the gov tech/SLED sector?
Goebel: I subscribe to most of the e.Republic/Government Technology* publications. I check Govlaunch regularly to see what other agencies are doing. I follow some user groups and individuals on social media that are more about specific technologies I am interested in using, like Power Apps and Power Automate. I subscribe to the TLDR [Too Long, Didn’t Read], Code for America, CivStart, and InnovateUS newsletters. I also subscribe to news from county-centric organizations like the California State Association of Counties and the National Association of Counties.
IICA: What are your hobbies, and what do you enjoy reading?
Goebel: I love getting together with my friends and playing poker; my dining room table is a poker table. I also enjoy cooking and am teaching my two boys, ages 11 and 14, to cook. I am all over the place on reading; I enjoy just about any book I can check out of the digital library and read on my phone when I have the time. I tend to pick a specific subject or genre, read a bunch of books about it, get bored, and move on to something new.
*Government Technology magazine is a publication of e.Republic, which also produces Industry Insider — California.
Editor’s note: This interview has been lightly edited for style and brevity.
County Innovation Manager: ‘We Are Expanding Our Horizons’
