The city’s innovation chief, Grace Simrall, has replaced Ballard as interim CIO. Simrall was hired by Louisville last summer when then-civic innovation chief Ted Smith left the municipal government for a CEO position with a health tech company. In about a year on the job, Simrall has been active in a diverse range of projects, from launching a public center that offers high-speed Internet connectivity to an award-winning visualization of historical data mapping.
Ballard spent more than three years in Louisville’s CIO role and also served as a senior adviser to Mayor Greg Fischer. The Courier-Journal characterized his departure as abrupt. City officials have said questions about why he left were best asked of Ballard, who has not commented on the matter.
In recent years, Louisville has been increasingly lauded for its tech efforts, most recently winning a Government Experience Award from the Center for Digital Government*. The specific innovation award the city won has to do with a tool called If This Then That, which Louisville first deployed in January, connecting it to open data about air quality.
Requests for comment from Simrall were not answered by press time.
*The Center for Digital Government is part of e.Republic, Government Technology’s parent company.
