For any IT leader in local government, the story is a familiar one. The world outside is accelerating, powered by cloud technology and artificial intelligence, while inside the machinery of government often runs on systems built decades ago. The pressure is immense, the resources are tight, and the stakes have never been higher.
This was the exact situation facing Stephen Hawkes, director of Information Technology for the City of Charlottesville, Virginia. But instead of just managing the present, he and his team decided to build the future.
The perfect storm of challenges
For the City of Charlottesville, it was a perfect storm of challenges converging at once. At the heart of it all was a ticking clock: its aging, on-premise legacy system nearing its end-of-support date. This was more than a technical issue, it was a foundational risk to its operations.
At the same time, the expectations of its own employees were skyrocketing. “Everyone is an expert now,” Hawkes explains, pointing to the powerful smartphones and intuitive apps we all use daily. “City employees expected the same simplicity and modern design from their workplace software, but the old systems are causing friction and frustration.”
