Welcome back to a Potomac Local News series, “Meet Prince William.”
We’ve started this series so Prince William County residents can get to know the important people working behind the scenes to make the county run smoothly and efficiently. This is an opportunity to learn from experts on the county. Potomac Local has asked each leader the same questions in bold, and their respective answers will be found below.
Today, get to know Rob Mancini, the county’s chief information officer and director of the Department of Information Technology. Mancini has been the director since 2017. Before Prince William County, Mancini served as the CIO of Lexington Technology and was the chief technology officer in the Washington, D.C. government.
What experiences and roles have shaped your approach to technology leadership, and how did they prepare you for directing the Department of Information Technology (DoIT)?
I was an early-days employee of AOL when it was a small start-up company in Vienna in 1986. (I was employee No. 34.) This exposed me to technology at scale very early in my career. It shaped how I approached technology in the years that followed and was an enormously valuable experience for me as a very young professional. From that experience, I discovered that I wanted a career in IT, and I set myself on a course to apply my math skills and engineering mindset to a career that helped me both enjoy my work and have a rewarding career.I have spent most of my time in private industry. Working in government was an awakening. It exposed the thrill of making a direct difference in a community, through the use of technology. Government IT done well can accomplish many more things in communities than I realized, until I experienced it. That is what the field of IT is really all about, when you boil it down. Building a community and helping people use technology to improve their lives.
If there’s one thing you wish residents and county employees understood about the Department of Information Technology, what would it be?
Your county IT department contains some of the finest people you would ever want to know. They work so hard for residents and colleagues across the government. I would also want them to know that we do not see ourselves as “Government IT.” We run this department like a private industry IT department. Since that is where I come from, it is my mission to prove that government IT shops can rival private industry in providing efficient, customer-service oriented solutions while ensuring we are meeting budgets and performance goals.I believe that this approach is, in part, why our county has finished in the top three digital counties nationally for five years running. No other county in our category can say that. We will never stop challenging ourselves to push the boundaries of performance that can be expected of this IT department to best serve our residents and other county agencies.
What do you see as the most significant technology opportunities or challenges currently facing Prince William County? And how is DoIT adapting to meet those evolving needs?
I’m excited that we’re embracing a fresh approach to technology through our new IT Strategy — one that puts Government Experience (GovX) at the center of everything we do. At Prince William County, we’re committed to improving how both residents and our workforce interact with government services. To make that happen, we’re asking every department to look at how they operate and identify new ways to automate, streamline and enhance those experiences.Improving government services means more than just upgrading systems. It means rethinking and redesigning processes with people’s needs front and center. DoIT is leading the charge in helping county agencies apply human-centered design to both technology and business processes.We’ve already made great strides in IT modernization, giving us the tools and foundation we need. Now, we’re entering the next phase: focusing on how we use those tools to transform services and deliver real value.It’s important to remember that digital government isn’t a final destination. It’s a long-term commitment to continuous improvement. New technologies are emerging all the time, and we have to be thoughtful about how we adopt them. That means being smart, strategic followers of innovation.Our goal is to align technology with the outcomes we want to achieve; using it to support smarter processes, better decisions, and more accessible services across every device, platform, and channel our community uses. This aligns with the county’s Strategic Plan goal of service delivery.At the end of the day, every government agency is in the business of delivering experiences. GovX represents our vision for how government can use technology to create better experiences for residents, employees and others.
Can you share more information about PWC 311? Why is this a major step for the county, and what does it represent for the department?
PWC311 is a major step in the county’s commitment to focus on constituent experiences as the driver for service delivery, innovation, transparency and accountability.With PWC 311, constituents have multiple options to connect with county government, when and how it’s convenient for them. Designed to optimize customer satisfaction and service delivery, 311 connects users to county departments through a single, user-friendly system available by phone, mobile app, web portal and “Will” — a multi-lingual Artificial Intelligence-powered chatbot that is available on the county’s website. It makes it easy for residents, businesses and visitors to request services, report issues and access government support. It’s a game changer in how the community engages with its local government.
How does feedback from county departments or the community influence the solutions, platforms or strategies developed by your team?
It has a lot to do with what we do. Sometimes initiatives come directly to us, sometimes they arrive indirectly. Sometimes the community or departments ask for something that only we can deliver, and other times the community or the Board of County Supervisors asks for something that can only be delivered via a particular agency through our help. Feedback on IT solutions is always invited, as it helps us address needs and provide greater services. In all cases, we welcome it.There are very few key initiatives in today’s enterprises that do not require IT excellence. And these initiatives require collaboration and partnership with our stakeholders to ensure we are providing the best solution possible for our customers. So, we always expect to get the call, and we are excited to answer it and work with our stakeholders and partners when we do.
Looking ahead, what are your biggest hopes or goals for the Department of Information Technology’s impact on Prince William County over the next few years?
To help the county modernize its application landscape; to continue replacing legacy technology with modern options; to help enhance the value-add opportunities from our department; and to help guide and protect the county through an era of high complexity from AI and the highly evolved threat landscape from cyberspace. I want people to be proud that we have an IT department like DoIT. I know that we have to earn it every day, and we are working hard to do just that.
