City’s new technology chief confident in his preparation

Chris Tonjes, the recently appointed chief information officer for the Mayor’s Office of Information Technology, is new to Baltimore, but confident that his work in Washington, D.C., has prepared him for the job.

“I’ve worked in a big city IT for a while,” said Tonjes, the chief information officer for the D.C. Public Library system. “I think the most important thing for anybody is becoming really quickly acclimated to the city.”

Tonjes will officially start the job July 23, and will be responsible for coordinating all of the city’s technology systems, including networks, computers, websites and social media.

“It’s good to have both an inside perspective and an outside perspective,” said Ryan O’Doherty, director of the Mayor’s Office of Communications and Policy, “and he’s certainly bringing the outside perspective in.”

As the CIO of D.C.’s 25-branch library system, Tonjes oversaw the production of the library’s iPhone app, which was the first ever library iPhone app, as well as iPad and Blackberry apps. He also led the implementation of high-speed broadband Internet in all 25 library branches, and helped lead an effort to increase the number of public access computers in the city from 125 to 800.

What Tonjes is most proud of, he said, is his work to bring public Internet and computer access to more residents of the District, and his work toward “bridging the digital divide.” This is a problem he expects to find and address in Baltimore as well, by first finding how many people in the city lack access to computers and the Internet.

The former CIO for the Mayor’s Office of Information Technology, Rico Singleton, resigned in February after an audit revealed alleged ethical violations he committed while working for the New York state government. Since then, Robert E. Minor has served as the acting CIO.

The office was able to function fully following Singleton’s resignation, said O’Doherty, even launching the city’s new homepage.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced Tonjes’ appointment Friday, calling him “a qualified and forward-thinking individual … with years of experience as an innovator.”

Tonjes said he is unable to predict exactly where Baltimore’s information technology office is headed, but he is certainly thinking forward.

“We want to modernize the city’s technological infrastructure,” he said. “I’m really hoping to find new ways for citizens to participate in governmental activities.”

Some methods Tonjes mentioned for reaching these goals include utilizing cloud computing, improving the city website and making more use of social media.

“I’m really interested in improving things operationally” in the office, he said, “how it interacts with the public, and with other agencies.”