EL SEGUNDO HERALD March 30, 2017 Page 7 Eagles from page 5 the devastation behind and free their minds of the turmoil that had wreaked havoc on their city and country. He invited the squad and their supporters to El Segundo to play a tournament of games against local teams right here at Brett Field. Murad said, “It was the least we could do for all the suffering they had to overcome.” Over the past five years the tournament has gained local, regional and national attention--not Cory Lund and Luke Roscoe. Cayman Barber. German Little League team. Kitasuna Little League team. Technology Committee from front page in Tori Lieberstein (VP at New Improved Media) and Brian Hauer (CTO for TechEmpower). Mayor Pro Tem Drew Boyles, one of two City Council representatives along with Carol Pirsztuk, noted that the Technology Committee is a prime example of “enlisting the help of our incredibly talented and proud residents and businesses” to make El Segundo a better place. “We have assembled technology subject matter experts with skill sets spanning technical architecture, software development, systems integration, enterprise implementation, networking and security, media and user experience, to name a few,” said Boyles. “This committee is helping us create a safer, more responsive, transparent and fiscally responsible city. Exciting innovations are in store!” One such innovation at the top of the priority list is a new software platform for the Recreation and Parks Department since the current system is no longer supported and will be shelved in July. “The Technology Committee has been working closely with Recreation and Parks leadership in vetting, defining requirements and developing an implementation plan for a new application,” reported Boyles. “This application will greatly improve our city’s ability to serve our residents’ recreation needs and wants.” The committee also recently helped the City’s Information Technology (IT) staff work through some scenarios related to long-term operating system purchase decisions—in one case recommending to hold off proceeding on a new website (for which the Council had already set aside $250,000) in order to first resolve legacy system issues and develop a more comprehensive technology strategy. “The committee also determined a feasible way to improve our business license and permitting process leveraging technology, which will help us achieve one of our goals of bringing the initial licensing and renewal process online to create a much more efficient, cost-effective and customer-friendly experience,” added Boyles. Pirsztuk pointed to the importance of the committee’s work to help the City launch into the digital world. “El Segundo is very fortunate to have talented residents who are willing to lend their skill sets in technology to help the City,” she said. “The committee has been focusing on developing a technology road map that encompasses the City’s current system and application architecture. While the intent is to give strategic guidance to the City on the development and enhancement of new technology, the committee is also working to ensure that the adoption of any new technology is compatible across key systems and that those systems are secure from hacking threats.” Since its formation, the committee has been in discovery mode to learn about technology operations citywide. Department heads have rotated through the committee to present overviews of the challenges they face as they look for recommendations going forward. The City also expects to bring on an IT Director sometime this spring who will head a new department. The committee will work closely with the new hire to advise that person in developing sustainable technology solutions. Shortterm goals are to help identify constituents’ needs and technology requirements, and to prioritize and help vet potential technology investments. The long-term objective is to help support staff in developing a comprehensive technology strategy and to support the innovation occurring every day in El Segundo with leading-edge technology. “This committee was formed to bring the best and brightest minds together to get El Segundo current first and foremost—and then to become a leading example of leveraging technology for improving the lives of our residents and businesses while creating more cost-effective and sustainable civic operations,” said Boyles. Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, committee member Lanyi said they are “delighted to work with such a committed group of IT and other City employees” who share a common goal. “We as parents, residents and business owners in El Segundo want to see the City thrive and for the City to have as efficient a TCO [total cost of ownership] as possible,” he said. “We see it as essential to understand the perceived needs of the City in terms of IT and recommend, based on our collective IT and Strategic Business experiences, what we believe should happen strategically in IT and interdepartmentally, today and tomorrow.” • only because of the international teams playing, but the local teams that participate in it as well. According to Ryan Lopez, tournament director and coach of the BC team, this year’s tournament will once again be very competitive. Lopez’s team defeated Kitasuna in last year’s final and he expects both international squads to be good. Kitasuna has won the Little League World Series three of the last years and this year’s team could do the same. •
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