King County names first CIO
The Washington county's former information services director will take the new top technology slot
Dave Martinez is slated to become the first chief information officer in
King County, Wash. County officials said the naming of a dedicated information
technology chief brings accountability and visibility to IT functions.
County Executive Ron Sims selected Martinez last week to fill the position
created by the county in December.
As CIO, Martinez will coordinate IT policy-making, strategic planning,
standardization, budgeting and purchasing.
Martinez is a known quantity in King County, which has a population
of 1.7 million and is the 11th-largest county in the nation. He headed the
county's Department of Information and Administrative Services for an 11-month
period from 1998 to 1999, during which he was credited with streamlining
operations and saving $1.4 million.
Martinez has worked as a consultant for Sims since June, after a short
stint with Nextlink Communications Inc. As a consultant, Martinez helped
the county evaluate problems implementing new enterprise resource planning
solutions for financial management, payroll and human resources systems.
"I can think of no one better suited to help the county relate technology
initiatives to our business goals, such as e-commerce, financial systems
coordination, government institutional network upgrades and informational
offerings over the Internet," Sims said in a release.
Martinez said he is looking for a replacement to fill the consulting
role before completing the transition to his new position by mid-February.
County officials are still debating whether Martinez's appointment requires
approval by the council, according to Sims' spokeswoman, Elaine Kraft. The
council will decide jurisdiction over the new position this week, but Kraft
expressed confidence that Martinez would sail through the approval process
should it be necessary.
Prior to working for King County and Nextlink, Martinez was the director
of wireless engineering and operation for AT&T Wireless Services Inc.
He also spent 15 years at Digital Equipment Corp., and was the manager of
technology services for King County Metro Transit.
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