The Municipal Management Association of Southern California hosted their annual Winter Forum at the Ontario Convention Center on Thursday, March 5, 2015. Over 100 attendees gathered at the convention center for the all-day conference focused on the benefits and hindrances of technology in local city government.

The morning began with check-in, breakfast and a welcome from the new MMASC President Jorge Garcia. Following breakfast Mr. Garcia introduced the conference Keynote Speaker Cathilea Robinett.

Cathilea, Executive Vice President at e.Republic and internationally recognized expert in digital government, discussed current trends and best practices in government technology and how local governments can use technology to improve the way they do business.

Tony Cardenas, Regional Public Affairs Manager, League of California Cities led a discussion on bills affecting local city governments under consideration by the State Senate and Assembly this session. He encouraged members to reach out to the League with further questions and concerns regarding these bills.

“I am very pleased with the turnout at this year’s forum,” commented Jorge Garcia, MMASC President. “Technology is a timely topic, and as it changes we need to be able to change along with it. Having conferences like this one provides municipal leaders with the tools they need to tackle the ever changing technology trends”.

Following the legislative update, Abhi Nemani, Chief Data Officer from the City of Los Angeles, led a talk on open data and digital services. Los Angeles is leading the charge in opening up data for government and community use. They encourage the community to interact and use this data to help the city find solutions. They want to see the broader community, businesses, and citizens efficiently working together to put open data to work.

Attendees then took a break to eat lunch and welcome the 2015 Executive Board.

Kelly Trainer and Traci Park, Partners at Burke, Williams & Sorenson reconvened the session by delivering an engaging session which aimed to help employees and supervisors understand the potential pitfalls of social media.

Rancho Cucamonga employees Solomon Nimako, Bill Witkopff, and Ivan Rojer wrapped up the conference by discussing the importance of GIS technology in local city governments. They noted that growing populations have increased the demand for simple but effective GIS products, and how they, as a city have incorporated GIS technology in their Public Safety & Public Works departments.

The conference concluded with a farewell reception. Municipal leaders gathered to connect, network and discuss material covered at the conference. MMASC is looking forward to another great turnout at their Annual Conference being held on October 28-30, 2015 at the Renaissance Indian Wells Resort & Spa.