for Local Governments

� Is headed by the city mayor or head of administration;
� Consists of the key persons in the main departments and sub-units of the
municipality;
� Coordinates the efforts of all actors involved in the ICT projects and integrates
the changes in the internal working of the departments;
� Benefits from the preparatory work of the CIO;
� Has the authority to approve all the strategic initiatives concerning the
development of ICT in the municipality, including propositions to initiate new
projects, the annual ICT budget, intermediate reports on ongoing projects and
measures needed to implement re-engineered processes.
The tasks of the ICT Council can, depending on the size and specialization and on the
existing organizations within the municipality, be taken up by the City Council itself. In
bigger municipalities and municipalities with a more complicated division of tasks, ICT
Correspondents can be appointed. Preferably, they have a better knowledge and understanding
of ICT issues. They support the implementation of new technology in the
department and act as contact persons for the CIO. IT Correspondents need to be offered
more intensive training on ICT and can be rewarded for their extra efforts using financial
and non-financial incentives.
With ICT comes the issue of data protection. Where at first basic physical and procedural
security measures can be sufficient, a comprehensive security policy has to be developed
over time. The need for such a policy grows with the development of different systems
and the exchange of data, enlarging the risk of unauthorized use of information.
The issue of data protection should be tackled by a Data Security Officer, who can be especially
appointed and trained or whose tasks can be observed by a senior official within
the municipality. The Data Security Officer implements organizational, physical and technical
data protection measures after analyzing the risks connected to the implemented
mechanisms of information gathering and exchange. Ideally, the work of the Data Security
Officer is supported through feedback gained from regular external security audits.
Part of the activities, such as training and software development, can be separated from
the municipal government and can grow into independent companies. Other tasks and
activities can be performed in cooperation with ICT departments of other municipalities,
either through direct cooperation or through creation of a specialized (non-profit) entity,
working primarily or exclusively for the municipalities that control it.
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