Awards And Certifications From September 21-23
White House Highlights Phil Bertolini as a "Champion of Change" for Local Innovation: On Tuesday, Sept. 25, the White House will welcome Phil Bertolini as one of 13 Local Innovation Champions of Change who have committed themselves to creating a more open and innovative government through entrepreneurship. Whether making local government information and public data more accessible; creating local environments to encourage and support entrepreneurs; or developing workforce programs to provide residents with skills for the high-tech economy, these champions of change work tirelessly to build a better future for the citizens they serve, create jobs in their community, and ensure more efficient and effective government. As a result of their efforts, citizens across the country have access to a more transparent government, more opportunities for participation in the activities of their city or county, and tools that catalyze new types of collaboration between the public, private, non-profit, and citizen sectors of the local community. These leaders showcase the amazing movement of innovation in government across America. In addition to celebrating success, the Champions of Change event provides a great opportunity to share innovative city government products, services, and business models with other cities and discuss how to scale these innovations to others, challenging all cities across the nation to similar levels of improvement. The Champions of Change program was created as a part of President Obama's Winning the Future initiative. Each week, a different sector is highlighted and groups of Champions, ranging from educators to entrepreneurs to community leaders, are recognized for the work they are doing to serve and strengthen their communities. Bertolini is the CIO and Deputy County Executive for Oakland County, Michigan. Bertolini is a vocal advocate for enterprise solutions in government, cross-boundary resource sharing, and inter-jurisdictional cooperation. He has directed the development of unique sustainable government technology programs and created models that can be implemented by other governments interested in improving operations while containing costs. Bertolini has traveled extensively to speak about eGovernment best practices and has authored a growing collection of resources to help other organizations modernize IT within today's rapidly changing technology landscape.
