Information Technology Becomes Standalone County Department

By the County of Santa Barbara

On July 1, 2023, the County of Santa Barbara launched a new standalone department, Information Technology Department (ITD). Previously, Information & Communications Technology was a division of the General Services Department. The transition to its own department will allow ITD to better deliver quality technology solutions that enable our communities to thrive and will improve productivity, cybersecurity, continuity and, efficiency throughout the County.

Chris Chirgwin, the County’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) is the new department head.  Chirgwin came to the County in September 2022 to lead and oversee the vision, strategy, launch, and operations of ITD.

“The Information Technology Department is committed to driving innovative and strategic solutions that will enable our entire community to thrive. We are looking at how county residents receive services and how departments operate, in order to better serve all constituents,” said County CIO Chris Chirgwin. “When the right technologies are used in a strategic and coordinated way, everyone benefits.”

“County leadership, including the Board of Supervisors, have recognized the critical role that Information Technology plays across all departments and in nearly every service we provide.  As part of the County’s Renew Initiative to transform our organization, we needed to elevate IT by having a Chief Information Officer to provide strategic IT leadership and to leverage IT more effectively across the entire county,” said County Executive Officer Mona Miyasato.

ITD will be continuing efforts toward modernizing technology and driving efficiencies through a multi-departmental approach to data sharing, application integration, and mobile-friendly solutions.  ITD is making it easier to access all of the services the County offers by focusing on digitizing processes.  This includes making services completely available online, a recent example of this is the new online permitting system through Accela for planning and building permits.