An important gathering of county and city government officials will occur April 9–11, when NACo and Public Technology, Inc. (PTI) convene the 2003 Annual Congress of Public Technologists in Miami-Dade County, Fla.
The April 2003 meeting is the only technology-focused conference for county and city governments leaders. The conference expands on the NACo Technology Summit, first held in 1999, and is also being supported by the National League of Cities and the International City/County Management Association.
The theme chosen for the conference, “Crossing Boundaries through Technology Leadership,” captures the increasing need for local officials to collaborate both across and within jurisdictions.
In many instances, there are technology solutions to encourage that process, and participants will be able to learn about them during the conference. In addition, a variety of useful technologies exist that can help the county manager to translate the vision and policies of the elected county leader into effective and well-managed program initiatives.
The conference will cover a broad range of policy, management and technology solutions not just in IT and telecommunications, but in energy, transportation, environment and public safety as well.
Many of the sessions being developed for the conference embrace the concept of homeland security and will explore and showcase how such technologies as fuel cells, bioremediation and GIS can be deployed by local officials to prepare for or effectively respond to terrorism or other disasters. A number of emerging technologies with particular application in the local government environment will be showcased during the conference.
The expectations of citizens for improved service delivery and the need for counties to ensure a reasonable and realistic return on their technology investments will also be explored during the conference. Participants will have an opportunity to attend a variety of workshop sessions and roundtable discussions and network with colleagues from across the country who have been successful in managing their technology investments.
The sessions are designed to provide solutions to the challenges and issues confronting elected and appointed local government officials from counties and cities of all sizes.
Governing Magazine Editor and Publisher Peter Harkness will open the Congress on April 10. Harkness has been editor and publisher since the magazine was founded 14 years ago. He has watched government in all levels for 30 years. His thought-provoking and insightful perspective, from the outside looking in, should spark discussion throughout the conference. Harkness will talk about how local officials are using technology to confront the cross-boundary challenges of disaster response, intergovernmental communications, public safety and homeland security.
Conference activities begin on April 9 with a variety of events. NACo will host a pre-conference event developed specifically for the conference. Details about the event are being finalized and will be announced in the near future.
PTI is a technology research, development and commercialization organization of NACo, the National League of Cities (NLC), and the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). Since 1971, PTI has worked with its members, private industry and others to create and advance technology-based products, services and enterprises in cities and counties nationwide.
(Additional information about PTI and the conference is available online at www.pti.org. For conference inquiries, contact Susan Bonney at (202) 626-2454 or sbonney@pti.org.)
