Mayor Eric Garcetti recommended Thursday that the city’s interim head of the city technology department get the job on a permanent basis.
Ted Ross was nominated to be the city’s Chief Information Officer and general manager of Information Technology Agency, which has 460 employees handling the city’s internal and public technology needs.
ITA handles communications for city employees and the police and fire departments, the city’s website, the television station and projects addressing cyber security and open data.
Ross, who was appointed the interim general manager of ITA earlier this year, must get City Council approval before he can assume the permanent post.
“Technology is at the core of my work to transform Los Angeles into the model modern city, and I know Ted Ross has the vision and experience necessary to help me get there,” Garcetti said.
Ross led projects such as an “open data portal” that makes city data available to the public, and has garnered high marks from Government Technology Magazine, which recently named the city “No. 1 Digital City,” Garcetti said.
Ross will “be key to achieving my goal of bridging the digital divide to bring internet and opportunity to Angelenos, regardless of their neighborhood or background,” Garcetti added.
Ross previously also worked in the offices of City Controllers Laura Chick and Wendy Greuel.
Ross will work with other technology officers in the city, including Chief Technology Officer Peter Marx, Chief Data Officer Abhi Nemani, Los Angeles Police Department CIO Maggie Goodrich and others.
— Wire reports