Los Angeles is a world class city. With over 4 million residents and 500,000 businesses spread across 469 square miles, the City of Los Angeles has the enormous responsibility of ensuring the safety, sanitation, public services, utilities, transportation, and recreation of a large metropolis. Moreover, these responsibilities are even more difficult in a modern age full of urban challenges: from racial injustice to natural disasters. To help address these challenges, the City of Los Angeles looks to technology. While not a silver bullet, technology uniquely provides solutions unavailable to the generations before us. The power of these technology solutions was on display during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In response to COVID-19, the Information Technology Agency (ITA) partnered with other departments to digitally convert 97 different department services, migrate 18,173 City staff to telework, and develop brand new COVID response solutions to Angelenos. From building the region's first COVID testing app, to supporting the nation's largest vaccination site at Dodger Stadium, to a rent relief app that distributed $350 Million to families in need, technology delivered lifesaving benefits at scale. These accomplishments were even recognized by Harvard University’s “Civic Innovation During the Pandemic” award.
And while the virus has had many terrible consequences for Angelenos, the pandemic has also been a catalyst for improving digital government services. This ITA Strategic Plan has been developed at a critical time in the history of Los Angeles, building on the progress made during the pandemic towards a “new better” (not just a “new normal”). To accomplish this, we must further digitally transform City department operations, provide new “smart city” solutions for the benefit of diverse L.A. communities, deliver next generation infrastructure for our remote teleworkers, and recruit top-tier IT human resources during the Great Resignation. Unlike some strategic plans, this document is not intended to be a comprehensive listing of everything we do. Simply put, this plan summarizes our environment, focus, key challenges, and strategic priorities for 2022-23, using what we call “Responsive, Responsible, and Excellent Tech.”