Craig Hopkins is the CIO of San Antonio, rich with history, but the city has a view to modern and innovative approaches in serving at least 1.4 million residents and 39 million visitors each year.
Hopkins has been the Alamo City's IT leader for six years with about 20 years in the public sector. He is active at home, across the state and in national IT communities; he volunteers regularly in his city and across professional groups. Hopkins served in the U.S. Coast Guard and holds an MBA from Western Michigan University.
Industry Insider — Texas: As CIO of your organization, how do you describe your role?
Hopkins: CIOs have a broad range of technology responsibilities, but also must act more like COOs overseeing operations, transformation and integration, not just technology. Recent changes at the city of San Antonio have added physical security, chief data officer, data governance, digital officer, customer experience and various critical infrastructure responsibilities to the CIO role.
IITX: How have the role and responsibilities of the CIO changed in recent years?
Hopkins: The role of CIO has evolved significantly due to rapid advancements in technology and its integration into business strategies over the years. Here is what I believe the role now requires:
- Strategic leadership: aligning technology with organizational objectives and playing a crucial role in decision-making processes.
- Business alignment: a deep understanding of the business and aligning IT initiatives with the overall goals and strategies of the organization.
- Data management and analysis: responsible for managing and leveraging vast amounts of data to derive actionable insights for the organization. Data has become a critical asset, and CIOs are tasked with ensuring its security, quality and strategic utilization.
- Cybersecurity leadership: must ensure the organization's security posture, establishing robust cybersecurity strategies and educating the organization on best practices to mitigate risks.
- Digital transformation: driving innovation and identifying emerging technologies that can give their organization a competitive edge, and implementing them effectively.
- Vendor and stakeholder management: managing a complex ecosystem of technology vendors and stakeholders ensuring the organization receives the best value and remains agile in a rapidly changing tech landscape.
- User and customer experience: enhancing the end-user experience, whether it's internal employees or external residents. Must ensure that the technology solutions in place are intuitive, efficient and user-friendly.
- Agility and flexibility: lead IT departments that are agile, adaptable and able to respond quickly to changes in technology, market dynamics and business requirements.
- Regulatory compliance and ethics: ensuring compliance with various regulations concerning data privacy, security and other industry-specific standards as well as ethical considerations related to technology.
- Communication and collaboration skills: must possess strong communication and collaboration skills to effectively interact with other executives, council members and various teams across the organization. Clear communication of technology strategies and their business impact is crucial.
IITX: In your tenure in this position, which project or achievement are you most proud of?
Hopkins: I am most proud of this team of technology professionals who are always vigilant and aligned to the mission in every event that we encounter, whether it’s COVID-19, a hurricane, winter storm or security attacks. Sometimes the operational tempo can be long and tough, but this team of skilled technicians, leaders and high-performing teammates never says no to a request or a challenge. They always ask how we can solve it.
I lead by the principle of “People First, Mission Always,” and I am proud to work with a team that personifies this every day.
IITX: What projects will you be looking to fund in this budget cycle?
Hopkins: We typically fund between $5 million to $7 million in new projects every year. Through our IT governance process, we try to split the funds equally between legacy replacement/cloud migration efforts and new capabilities, both for individual departments and for citywide use.
The larger new capabilities include:
- Case management, Human Services
- Vital records, City Clerk
- Merchant banking, Finance
- E-citation devices, Police
- ArcGIS tree management, Parks and Recreation
- Automated court reporter, Municipal Court
- Visitor root-traffic tool, World Heritage
The larger legacy replacement/cloud migration efforts include:
- Remedy upgrade, IT Services
- Axon body cameras, Police
- Accela permit system, Development Services
- EMR replacement, Metropolitan Health District
- Data ecosystem, Transportation
- Chameleon, Animal Care Services
- 311 work order, 311
- SAP ERP system for Finance, Management and Budget, HR and IT
IITX: What big initiatives or projects are coming up? What sorts of developing opportunities and requests for proposals (RFPs) should we be looking for in the next six to 12 months?
Hopkins: Many of the projects mentioned above will be underway in the next year. We are also in the process of developing multiple system integrator RFPs to support the implementation of our SAP S/4 HANA upgrade in the following three areas:
- SAP SuccessFactors System Integrator (estimated at $3.5 million): employee management, employee benefits management, employee self-service, manager self-service, organizational management, learning management
- SAP Budget AR System Integrator (estimated at $3.5 million): budget planning, personnel cost planning, decision package management
- SAP Ariba and S/4 HANA System Integrator (estimated at $9.7 million): supplier management, strategic sourcing, procurement processing, financial supply chain, core financials, funds management, grants management
IITX: How do you define “digital transformation?” How far along is your organization in that process, and how will you know when it is finished?
Hopkins: Digital transformation is the strategic integration of key skills, digital technologies, business processes and data-driven insights to modernize operations, enhance resident services, optimize resource allocation and foster transparency. The goal is to improve efficiency, agility and responsiveness in our organization and operations, but the ultimate outcome is to continue to build trust in delivering public services and engaging with constituents.
The city had made significant strides in our digital transformation before COVID-19, but like other municipalities, COVID-19 was able to jump-start several new initiatives with new funding and urgent priorities.
Digital transformation is never done and is continuously defined by the residents and employees through their feedback on our services and by the data we collect on usage, satisfaction and efficiency.
IITX: How often do you update your organization’s enterprise catalog?
Hopkins: Quarterly adjustments and annual review.
IITX: What is your estimated IT budget, and how many employees do you have? What is the overall budget?
Hopkins: The Information Technology Services Department (ITSD) opex budget for FY24 is about $89 million. The ITSD capital projects budget for FY24 is about $27 million but can range between $20 million and $40 million in different years. ITSD has 358 FTE authorizations and approximately 100 consultants and staff augmentation support.
IITX: What do you read to stay abreast of developments in the government technology/SLED sector?
Hopkins: I don’t read a lot about government technology. I leverage my relationships and connections with my CIO peers across different agencies in San Antonio (there are 11 of us who stay connected with a monthly breakfast and through chats), strong connections with municipal CIOs across 50 to 60 U.S. cities, and paying attention to what residents are telling us through 311, digital channels and resident town halls.
IITX: What do you think is the greatest technology challenge in Texas?
Hopkins: Cybersecurity. There is an increasing frequency and sophistication of cyber threats targeting government agencies, employees, critical infrastructure and private organizations. Enhancing cybersecurity measures, protecting sensitive data and ensuring resilience against cyber attacks are critical priorities for my team and for all the agencies who need to work together across San Antonio and the state.
Resident access to information: Getting and keeping people connected to information is a significant priority. We established a public-private-community collaboration called SA Digital Connects to close the digital divide through the execution of the San Antonio and Greater Bexar County Digital Equity Plan. The plan ensures every household has:
- Access/infrastructure: reliable access to the Internet at speeds of 100/100 Mbp
- Affordability: service levels at prices households can afford
- Adoption/digital skills: people feel smart, safe and secure online
IITX: If you could change one thing about IT procurement, what would it be?
Hopkins: I would start by saying that I would not change the rules. Although adherence to the rules makes the process slow, I understand the intent and purpose of the rules and support why they are there.
The change I would recommend would be to streamline and modernize the procurement processes, while still following the state and city rules that we have been required to adhere to. This would involve leveraging technology to reduce bureaucracy, improve transparency and expedite decision-making. Implementing digital platforms that automate repetitive tasks, providing real-time updates on procurement status and allowing for easier collaboration between stakeholders would enhance efficiency and ensure a more agile procurement process.
We are planning to achieve this in our current SAP S4/HANA upgrade with Ariba.
IITX: How do you prefer to be contacted by vendors, including via social media such as LinkedIn?
Hopkins: I rarely respond to a cold call or contact on social media or LinkedIn. The best way to connect with me is through someone I already trust and have a relationship with.
IITX: How might vendors best educate themselves before meeting with you?
Hopkins: Understand the vast needs and problems of the residents and employees of our city. Don’t assume your product solves all problems or that the problems of another city are the same as what we are working on. Focus on the outcomes that we need to create together. Focus on improving residents’ lives, not selling them a product.
When I know you understand our needs, and you are committed and ready to help us solve it, we will build a great relationship.
IITX: What professional or affinity groups do you belong to? Do you volunteer and would you like to share that experience with readers?
Hopkins:
- Metropolitan Information eXchange: Assembly of large city and county CIOs across the U.S. where you can share knowledge and technology best practices with other CIOs in a safe environment.
- South Alamo Regional Alliance for the Homeless: HUD’s designated Homeless Continuum of Care lead agency for San Antonio and Bexar County and the regional coordinating body for homelessness strategy, funding and data collection. I was the board president for many years and am dedicated to achieving the vision of a community where everyone has a safe place to call home.
- Western Michigan University Center for Principled Leadership and Business Strategy: The center is founded on the premise that the path to purpose and profit is in creating genuine value for others. I am an executive leadership fellow focused on working with students in capstone courses, who are taking part in a real-world project experience, focused on leadership, analysis and teamwork.
- Collaborative Gain: Leaders helping leaders. I am a moderator and executive coach for C-suite-level general managers from a variety of Fortune 500 companies who focus on asking for help from smart peers and career coaches.
Hopkins: Gartner IT Symposium, Orlando; Gartner CIO Leadership Forum, Phoenix; and Metropolitan Information eXchange.
IITX: What are you reading or listening to for fun? What do you do to unplug in your downtime?
Hopkins: I don’t read a lot, but when I do I like to read about Great Lakes shipwrecks and U.S. Coast Guard rescue stories. When I do read business books, I like those that give practical frameworks that you can apply to your own business situation and help you think through your own solutions.
To unplug, I love spending time with my wife Trish on our boat or sitting out on the beach watching the water. In the last couple of years, we have especially enjoyed doing this with our two grandsons, who are 2 and 4.
