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Tech Leaders Preview Breakout Themes for Conference

IT executives from cities, a key transit agency and industry will be presenting at the October conference of the Municipal Information Systems Association of California.

Technology leaders from several California jurisdictions will be among those speaking and presenting at workshops when the Municipal Information Systems Association of California (MISAC) holds its annual conference in October.

The annual conference is scheduled for Oct. 2-5 at the Portola Hotel and Spa at Monterey Bay. A registration link and other information about the conference can be found on the MISAC website.

But those attending the conference will have to choose between two concurrent breakout sessions, as both will run from 2:50 to 3:45 p.m. Monday, Oct. 3. They are:
  • “Council’s Role in Cyber Risk Management,” which will answer two questions for tech professionals working for cities, transit districts and other jurisdictions: Do your city council and city manager “get” cybersecurity? And how can you help them? Presenting will be Donald Hester, cybersecurity manager for the city of Livermore; and Ron Puccinelli, chief information officer and IT director for the city of Menifee. Both also serve on the MISAC Cybersecurity Committee.
    In a brief overview of their presentation, the two write: “In this presentation, we will share lessons learned from research into cyber risk management and experiences communicating with elected and appointed officials. We will present specific strategies to consider when measuring risk, communicating risk, and helping IT or cybersecurity teams realistically set expectations with stakeholders.”
  • “AC Transit and Rezolve.AI Optimize IT Support Using Artificial Intelligence,” from Alameda and Contra Costa counties’ AC Transit. Speaking and presenting will be AC Transit’s chief information officer, Ahsan Baig; Lyell Amora, the transit agency’s computer operations administrator; and Saurabh Kumar, Rezolve.AI’s co-founder and chief executive officer.
    “Historically, IT departments struggle to calculate what is the correct headcount for IT support staff,” they write in their overview. “Too many factors are in play to accurately determine what that number is. The number of users. The number of devices. The complexity of the environment. AC Transit and Rezolve.AI will show how the AC Transit IT Support team improved service quality and availability to district staff with minimal increase in resources.”

The theme of the conference is “Make IT Matter, Make IT Happen.”
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.