Jerele Neeld named as new CIO of Chattanooga

The Tennessean City of Chattanooga has a new Chief Information Officer (CIO), as the mayor’s selection was approved by the city council.

Neeld had been serving as interim CIO since March and had also been Director of Intelligent Cities.

“Since joining city government in January, I’ve been motivated by the public servants at the Department of Technology Services, who are committed to delivering the best possible services to the people of Chattanooga,” he said.

A 20-year veteran at Dell Technologies before joining city government, Neeld remains inspired by his belief in the power of technology to improve the lives of residents.

“I believe the Department of Technology Services can set an example for how governments use tech to find innovative solutions to everyday problems,” he added.

Tim Kelly, Mayor of Chattanooga, said that since Neeld became interim CIO, he has shown strong leadership.

“His strategic thinking, calm demeanour, and genuine care for his team has consistently shone through,” said Kelly. “We’re fortunate that [Neeld] felt a call to public service after retiring from Dell and relocating from Austin to Chattanooga. I’m looking forward to working with him as we continue to leverage technology to make city government more efficient and responsive to the needs of our people.”

Chattanooga made a name for itself a decade ago when it established EPB, the city-owned energy and telecom utility, and the launch of a gigabit-speed, community-wide fibre optic network. It is now in the process of another ‘first’ with an industry-led, commercially available quantum network, working with Qubitekk.

The ‘quantum-as-a-service’ offering will allow private companies, government and university researchers to run quantum equipment and applications in an established fibre optic environment.

And with the city’s own Enterprise Center, a non-profit economic development partner, it has established such programmes as:

• HCS EdConnect – During the pandemic, a partnership between the local school system, EPB the city and county, and the Enterpise Center was created to provide no-cost in-home Internet. That programme is guaranteed for at least 10 years and currently serves more than 17,000 students and their families.
• Chattamatters – to increase understanding of local government and make participation more accessible, Chattamatters creates non-partisan explainers through videos, social content, and newsletters.

Image: City of Chattanooga