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Q&A
Inquiry about in-house tech talent in city agencies
2:12:51
·
86 sec
Council Member Sanchez and Howard Slatkin discuss the challenges of maintaining in-house tech talent for city agencies and the implications for Housing Connect development.
- Slatkin shares experience from the Department of City Planning on creating tech development teams
- Highlights the difficulties in maintaining a stable tech workforce in city government
- Suggests considering a balance between in-house staffing and procurement for tech development
Pierina Ana Sanchez
2:12:51
And one one question that I was trying to get HPD to respond to, but I don't think I quite got them to is, or maybe I didn't ask it well, but the this question about where do you have the talent?
2:13:02
Do you have the talent in house to, you know, have web developers, have, designers, user experience experts, that sort of thing?
2:13:10
Do you have that inside of an agency, inside of city government, or do you contract it out?
2:13:14
And if you contract it out, how do you write the the, you know, the the piece the document that's gonna govern the relationship in a way that's flexible enough?
Howard Slatkin
2:13:22
Yeah.
2:13:22
I certainly would would not presume to answer in in terms of, like, that that the talent that HPD themselves have.
2:13:28
But from my own experience, it was in years at the Department of City Planning where actually the agency had done some really innovative things with creating a new tech development team.
2:13:38
It is a very in terms of the staffing and labor market challenges that exist for city government in general, it's like the most challenging corner is keeping the tech workforce sort of stable and secure and and fully staffed.
2:13:53
And I think it poses a particular challenge for agencies to try to do those kinds of things in house, I think, you know, in this moment and in even in ordinary times.
2:14:03
So I think it's worth looking at the procurement process as well as, you know, what is the staffing component that's sort of a permanent agency fixture and how much of this process is done through procurement.