(Published October 26, 2006)
Mario Armstrong was hired in 2002 as the Technology Advocate for
Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley. Different from a CIO who
focuses on internal systems, applications, and integration, Mario
is central to the Mayor’s efforts to promote the region as
a technology hub and to institute technology programs for city residents.
For the second of a two-part series that looks at the successes
and challenges of the state’s gubernatorial candidates as
they relate to the technology community, Digital Harbor Online spoke
with Mario last week.
Q: What achievements during the Mayor’s tenure can be cited
as having benefited owners, investors, employees, customers, and
suppliers of technology companies?
A. There are four major efforts that I can point to, the first
of which is Citistat, a signature program of the Mayor that has
become essential in running city operations. It is an accountability
tool that measures how well we are meeting citizens’ needs,
such as the number of complaints called in, missed trash pickups,
and how many pot holes have been filled. Information is collected
in a central database from which agency heads track progress and
then report weekly to the Mayor.
Another program initiated by the Mayor addresses the Digital Divide
by putting computers and Internet access into the hands of less
fortunate users. Through an agreement with Harbor Bank, the city
created the Digital Access Fund from which it makes loans to qualified
residents for the purchase of a Dell computer. Knowing this would
partially deal with the broader goal of getting these residents
into the mainstream, we made financial literacy part of the package,
too, and we offer them training that starts with the specifics of
the loan. They put down $50 for a $300 loan that can be paid back
over two years.
A third undertaking is the Web portal www.baltimorebeehive.org
that has been a big hit. It was developed for city residents who
need a convenient place to go for information that helps them in
their daily lives. Money, health, jobs, school, and family issues
are all addressed here in a fun, engaging way at an elementary level
for the broadest possible audience. Users can even use a resume
builder and free email.
The last major area of concentration is connectivity. In one example
of this focus, the Mayor issued an Executive Order that requires
developers of residential properties to ensure access to broadband
if they receive any city assistance. The increasing popularity of
high-speed Internet access in the city opens the door to more educational,
financial, housing, and other opportunities for residents, all with
much greater efficiency and with a richer Web experience.
Also, in terms of connectivity, we learned how important wireless
access is during our pilot program called Baltimore Unwired. Local
residents and tourists who came to see the Volvo ocean race found
it very helpful to have the ability to log onto their laptops or
PDAs near the Inner Harbor, so we are exploring the business models
on how we can offer wireless city-wide. The only criteria we know
for certain is that it has to be revenue-neutral in terms of city
funds, and the city will not be responsible for construction or
maintenance. The private sector is better equipped to handle the
building and management of a network, but there are still many other
questions to answer so we created a task force and put out a Request
for Information to providers and all sorts of stakeholders. How
can this help healthcare delivery? Tourism? Students? Public safety?
Should it be advertising or subscription based? How will it help
those who are cut off from technology? We are collecting the necessary
information and expect to put out a Request for Proposal before
the end of the year, then we’ll award a contract in early
2007 for the program. It will be called “Digital Inclusion.”
Q: Have any programs not lived up to expectations, and why?
A: We didn’t plan on the huge level of interest in the Digital
Access Fund. It started out at about $30,000 and quickly had to
be replenished with more than twice that amount. That’s a
case of a program exceeding expectations, I suppose, but perhaps
we could have handled it better.
Q: What could the technology community expect from a Governor O’Malley?
A: The Mayor’s mindset is that we need to invest in technology
because it can bridge gaps between people and equalize communities.
He believes in that strongly enough that he created my position,
even after the dot.com bust. Under his watch the city has deployed
several programs that capitalize on technology, and I would look
for him to do the same from the state house. He is very interested
in programs that can commercialize technology from university labs,
for example, and he wants to create incentives to do that. He really
“gets” technology.
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