Montgomery Co., Md., CIO leaving for PTI

The nonprofit technology organization that works with cities and counties

nationwide has hired wooed Montgomery County, Md.'s chief information officer

to become the organization's first CIO.

As Public Technology Inc.'s CIO, Donald Evans will manage the organization's

technology research and oversee its internal technology infrastructure.

He will become the director of the Urban Consortium Telecommunications and

Information Task Force and will manage the organization's local-area network

administrator, World Wide Web manager, and other internal technology positions.

Evans will also lead PTI's electronic government initiatives, information

technology planning, and work to create strategies to best deploy PTI's

technology information to localities.

Evans is known for his work on the Year 2000 bug as the chief information

officer and director of information systems and telecommunications at Montgomery

County. In his five years with the county, his department received 15 national

awards for its work. Evans previously worked for eight years at IBM Corp.,

providing management systems support for national and international contracts.

Thom McCloud, PTI's chief operating officer, said Evans was hired because

of both his experience and his prior interactions with PTI, of which the

county is a longtime member.

"Don's got a real strong background in local government and has done some

great things there at the county," McCloud said. "He's got a great track

in information technology."

Evans said he is "exhilarated" about joining PTI and working for an organization

that is "already adept at information technology." He said he looks forward

to working on the national scene.

"I think we can keep local government flexible in this rapidly changing

time," he said. By providing timely and accurate information to officials

about technology, the cities and counties will be properly prepared to deal

with the change, he said.

PTI is associated with several organizations, including the National Association

of Counties and the National League of Cities. Evans will begin at PTI July

1.