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William Kosinetz

CIO, Sussex County, N.J.

William Kosinetz
With nearly 30 years under his belt as chief information officer of Sussex County, N.J., William Kosinetz knows a thing or two about IT in local government. But despite his longevity, he’s in no way bound by tradition.

“We can’t get any more efficient on our old legacy business processes,” Kosinetz said. “We can no longer rely on old practices, safe relationships, legacy technology and known vendors. We’ve exhausted the efficiencies of our existing legacy business processes.”

With the support of county leaders, Kosinetz has launched a number of tech-fueled efficiency initiatives — for one, Sussex County is 100 percent virtualized. The county’s initiatives are based on what Kosinetz calls a “bimodal plan” for IT: a reliable enterprise foundation paired with digitized business processes. The result? Much more efficient government.

“We need to digitize our business processes, that’s the first thing. The second thing is pursuing a digital business model,” he explained, adding that off-the-shelf tools are readily available to help get them there.

But the road map for the county doesn’t dead-end there. Kosinetz has his eye on a route that could completely reshape the way Sussex County does business. Despite the obstacles of human behavior and its aversion to change, he said patience ultimately wins out in making organizational business changes.

He envisions a future in which sensors, personnel and machines work in unison to provide taxpayers with totally efficient, accountable government. “What if every asset was digitally connected to our network; say every building had hundreds of sensors, every process was digitized, every person and machine has an activity stream that you can subscribe to?” he asked.

“We need to be digital leaders in order to define our future,” Kosinetz recommended. And it’s advice he is definitely following.

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Eyragon Eidam is the web editor for Government Technology magazine, after previously serving as assistant news editor and covering such topics as legislation, social media and public safety. He can be reached at eeidam@erepublic.com.