INCLUSIVE COMMUNITIES MAKE SMARTER CITIES

Michael Pegues and E.G. Nadhan discuss how an open and inclusive mindset with the purposeful application of technology has realized tangible, quantified outcomes for the citizens in a smart community.

The more connected we are, the more sustainable and resilient we will be,” said Michael Pegues, CIO of the City of Aurora, Illinois, and vice chair of Quad County African American Chamber of Commerce. Pegues was talking about being open and inclusive as a society, and when doing so, how do we ensure that people aren’t left behind? He made a strong assertion that it is the role of the government to make sure that those basic services of connectivity are being provided to everyone— including those that are underserved and disenfranchised. If we must be inclusive, then fiber or the internet is the foundation of a lot of that. We must get everybody connected as much as possible.

Purposeful connectivity and inclusivity was the theme that stood out in this fireside chat between Pegues and E.G. Nadhan, global chief architect leader, CTO organization at Red Hat. Nadhan started the chat by contrasting the role of the CIO vs. the CTO in bringing the community together. Pegues explained that a CIO traditionally has an inward-facing focus around policies, processes, driving efficiencies, and managing people and vendors, whereas the CTO has more of an outward-facing focus on the customer regarding the product portfolio and what they deliver. Cities are municipalities with their citizens being their shareholders. True to his word, Pegues chose to be the CIO even though the mayor had wanted him to be the CTO. Because for Pegues, “Execution is a chariot of genius,” and for that to come true, that role needs to have a seat at the table and report to the mayor.

But it takes more than public sector CIOs like Pegues for inclusive communities to make smarter cities. It takes collaboration across public and private sector CIOs with an open mindset to drive the relevant areas around education, public safety, economic development, and citizen engagement. You must focus on the outcome-based collaboration and not necessarily the technology.

Nadhan highlighted open source as a common channel for collaboration to that end. Red Hat is the world’s largest enterprise software company with an open-source development model, taking the lead in engaging with the open-source community for software development and a global ecosystem for technology innovation around the clock. But really, it is about an open mindset. It is about reaching out and collaborating, obtaining diverse perspectives. It doesn’t matter who you are; your perspective matters, with a fair opportunity to be heard and included. That open mindset triggers the innovation that the world of technology has seen over the years.

In the public sector, shareholders are the citizens, explained Pegues. You’re trying to drive those areas around education, public safety, economic development, and citizen engagement. You must focus on the outcomes and not necessarily the technology.

“Communities matter when it comes to the public sector CIOs because the customers are the citizens,” asserted Nadhan, asking Pegues to characterize the role of the CIO in this context, who explained: CIOs must be advocates and ambassadors to say, “Here’s a solution, as crazy as it may sound,” and put those options in front of the mayor, chief of staff, executives, and city council. You have the elected officials, which is another dynamic you must get into from a political perspective because they’re managing the constituents. You must make sure they understand what you’re doing. And that gets back to the citizen engagement and using different tools to see the sentiment, so you don’t get those same 10 people, the citizens against virtually everything. When they don’t have that information to make informed decisions, we must provide it.

Pegues is a living example of a public sector CIO serving the needs of the broader community, including the underserved and

CIO, City of Aurora, IL Aurora, Illinois the disenfranchised. There are probably less than 3% of African American CIOs nationwide, and when Pegues sees the community, he sees himself. With such leadership in place, the community hears they’re not being dismissed, they have valid points, and the government is listening to them and giving them feedback. It might not be the answer, but they’re listening. Some of the steps the City of Aurora put in place were listening sessions and sentiment analysis. They do surveys. The city leadership is very good with people, getting out in the community, and trust-building.

Michael Pegues was appointed by Mayor Richard C. Irvin as the first-ever CIO for the City of Aurora in June 2017. He began his career in various IT support roles for AT&T and PepsiCo. Michael has held various senior IT leadership positions in HewlettPackard France, VSSB, and Morgan Stanley in Budapest and New York. He holds a bachelor’s from DeVry University and an MBA from Central European University Business School in Vienna.

Perhaps it is providence that brought these two leaders together—Nadhan representing a leader in enterprise open source and Pegues being the community-oriented public sector leader. The open mindset that is common to both organizations and individuals has yielded outcomes. One of the biggest initiatives the City of Aurora is currently working on is knocking down the digital divide and broadband access. During the pandemic, schools were shut down, and kids had to do their schoolwork from home. And those underserved and disenfranchised were left behind. When we talk about being open and inclusive, technology is a great way to ensure that people are not left behind. Technology can resist the status quo for the underserved!

It starts with the grassroots, explained Pegues. It starts with the municipalities. You must start at the city level; you need to take the initiative and move forward. That can become a model for the state and federal government and any other agency. For example, when COVID hit, the City of Aurora took the first step and set up mass centers for immunization, and it got over 70,000 citizens vaccinated before the state even lifted a finger. The governor decided to use that model for the state and scaled it out.

There you have it! The infrastructure required for sustaining smart cities requires active engagement from both the public and private sectors based on a foundation of purposeful collaboration with the engagement of the very citizens who will benefit from the outcomes. It takes communities (individuals and enterprises) across the ecosystem to work with each other.

Because, you see, “Execution is a chariot of genius,” like Pegues always reminds us.

Chief Architect Leader, Red Hat Naperville, Illinois

E.G. Nadhan is the global chief architect leader, CTO organization at Red Hat. As a practicing chief architect, Nadhan provides thought leadership on open innovation, cloud, quantum, analytics and edge through industry conferences and executive briefings. He has 25+ years of industry experience and engages in strategic dialogue to drive business outcomes for customers/partners. He is an IBM Quantum Senior Ambassador and a board member at The HDF Group.