Phoenix CIO Danny Murphy, One of Government Technology's 25 'Doers Dreamers and Drivers'

Phoenix cracked the top 10 for its population category in the 2004 Digital Cities Survey -- the first time the city placed that high.

As CIO, Danny Murphy said one of his biggest roles is to collaborate with the mayor, City Council and the city manager to get the most value out of technology from both an investment standpoint and a practical standpoint.

"That's primarily my job -- to work with department heads and the city manager to make sure department heads are comfortable and assured the technology is being applied properly," he said. "Working with the top managers is how we achieve getting technology to be part of everyday business."

That approach helped Phoenix become the first SAP implementation in a local government in the country.

Murphy said work on a $120 million wireless communication system for public safety and other agencies in Phoenix and 18 surrounding towns and cities is one of his proudest accomplishments.

"We now have about 4,000 police officers on the system," he said. "This is a digital, 800 MHz system that's Project 25 compliant. That's a bond-funded program that the citizens approved. One of the things we're very proud of is that citizens here approve technology bond programs that allow us to do a lot of the things we do outside of normal operating budgets as they continue to decrease."

It's a vote of confidence from the citizens, he said, because the projects go before a citizens' committee appointed by the mayor and City Council. Getting the system up and running also required a regional approach, not necessarily the easiest road to travel.

"It's a primary goal of the mayor to enhance the regional efforts among his colleagues," Murphy said. "This system is very consistent with the mayor's vision of Phoenix working with neighboring cities and towns to leverage public investment and provide services."

Congratulations to this year's group of "Doers, Dreamers and Drivers," who appear in the March issue of Government Technology magazine.