TECHNOLOGY
to one municipal building . There was no choice but to install fibre . “ That worked , so we built out a little bit more fibre , and quickly saw we could build a complete network .” Other adjacent municipalities came in to share the cost and today the fibre network , a registered not for profit telecommunications provider , exceeding over 40,000 strand kilometres of fibre ; enough to circle the planet .
The early wins were succeeded by many more as technology developed . “ We found that we could make significant savings , many of them in ways we did not anticipate .” The reduced spend on leasing lines and other telecom infrastructure costs was immediate , and with a single network to carry both came other benefits . “ There was only one network to manage for voice and data to our buildings and key amenities . The City of Mississauga network is comprised of Wired and Wireless networks supporte by cellular primarily for the City ’ s fleet of vehicles . We no longer had to rely on commercially available telecom to
Shawn Slack
Director Information Technology and CIO
Shawn Slack is the Director of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer for the City of Mississauga . Early in his career with the City of Mississauga , he led the vision and plan to provide all City services online . He also oversaw the implementation of the City ’ s first Customer Service Strategy which transformed customer service across all channels including internet , phone and counters as well as the implementation of 311 . Currently , Slack is engaged in many great initiatives and projects guided by a new IT Master Plan endorsed by Council in 2015 which focusses on Fostering Open and Accessible Government , Enabling Decisions through Research & Analytics , Creating a Connected & Engaged Workplace and Improving Services through Innovation & Partnerships . www . mississauga . ca 119