Press release from the City of Fort Wayne, dated March 22, 2010:
Local government collaboration gains momentum with City, County IT agreement
Mayor, Commissioners Formalize Relationship with Joint Data Board MOU(March 22, 2010) – Demonstrating their mutual commitment to building a more competitive community with more responsive and effective local governments, Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry and Allen County Commissioners Linda Bloom, Bill Brown and Nelson Peters have formalized the good working relationship the City of Fort Wayne and Allen County information technology (IT) departments have developed in recent years.
Through a memorandum of understanding, the two entities now have established a joint data board to review and prioritize IT projects. The City and County share a contract IT provider, ATOS Origin.
“Our IT capacity is key to local government’s ability to increase efficiencies while delivering high-quality services every day,” said Mayor Henry. “As we strive in these tough times to position our community for growth and meet the expectations of businesses and residents alike, our ‘one community’ message on IT infrastructure and planning becomes more and more important. As we share additional software platforms and components, a single entity representing both the City and County makes operational sense.”
The Mayor and Commissioners each have eight appointments to the board. The MOU outlines the respective departments and offices to have a seat. The board will have a chair and vice chair with a City and County appointee serving in the leadership capacity. The City and County will alternate chair and vice chair roles annually.
“Our IT departments have worked very well on a collaborative basis in the past,” said County Commissioner Nelson Peters. “This agreement will allow us to serve our constituents on an even more efficient, cost-effective basis.”
The agreement has an initial period of six months and then automatically renews for one-year terms. Mayor Henry signed the agreement March 15 with the County Commissioners inking the agreement Feb. 12.
Webmaster’s note: This post was being added May 14, 2010.
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