Focused on the person behind the technology

“My interest really is more from a business case standpoint,” he said. “I’m really fascinated by ‘how does technology solve problems and make things better for people?’”

Charged with maintaining the county’s email, payroll and human resources systems, among others, Walton and the 150 employees in his department monitor and maintain a wide array of technologies used by the county’s 7,000 workers. He said shifting the county’s systems to the cloud and replacing outdated devices were his top priorities when he started as the county’s CIO in 2013 after six years of serving as CIO in San Francisco.

But it wasn’t long before Walton turned his focus to understanding how technology could benefit the public more directly, a question he and his staff had been eager to explore given the county’s position in the heart of Silicon Valley. He said the department took steps to make data on county servers more accessible to the public on a platform called Open San Mateo County, now host to maps showing the electric vehicle charging stations in the county and restaurant health inspections data sets.

Walton said his work for San Francisco and San Jose was largely defined by the vision of one large city. But he said that in San Mateo County, which is home to 20 cities and towns, ideas for new technologies could come from any number of municipalities, which he felt gives the county a collaborative spirit when it comes to exploring new ways of delivering services. Walton credited the county’s Board of Supervisors, the County Manager’s Office and residents for embracing new technologies and analyzing how they could be applied to government services.

“It’s so unique in that you have so many people who live here who are supportive of technology,” he said, of San Mateo County. “There isn’t a lot of fear of trying new things.”

In part to capitalize on this interest, Walton dedicated a small portion of his department’s staff time and funding to in 2016 create SMC Labs, an innovation center where a three-person team could test forward-looking technologies with potential to address problems or enhance services offered by the county. Creating a Smart Region innovation center in the county also allowed residents, startups, county employees and others to submit ideas for technology they felt could improve government services and also have widespread implications for San Mateo County’s cities, he noted.

Walton said those who visit the SMC Labs website can submit ideas, which are reviewed several times a year by a committee who weighs which submissions show the most promise to benefit the county’s constituents.

He said he has been encouraged to see SMC Labs explore ways to address concerns San Mateo County residents had about air quality during recent major wildfires in neighboring counties. Though the air quality in San Mateo County can vary greatly depending on where one is in the county, residents are currently making decisions on whether they should go to work or school based on the readings from a limited number of air quality sensors, explained Walton. By partnering with companies focused on collecting environmental data and designing new sensors capturing air quality data, the county can expand the pool of information available to residents as they make everyday decisions about their health and wellness, noted Walton.

“We really think in the future that will give people a lot more information when they have to make decisions about their personal lives,” he said. “To me, that’s really what we’re trying to accomplish with SMC Labs.”

With an interest in becoming a scientist, Walton studied natural resources planning in college and in graduate school, which required him to program computers to create earthquake and habitat maps. Because jobs in the field were rare at the time, Walton ended up taking a job involving computer programming, spending time in the private sector before finding technology-focused roles in Bay Area governments.

Walton said he is looking forward to seeing how advancements in artificial intelligence, multilingual translation and voice-activated technology can make government services more responsive to the needs of those who seek them, adding he has been glad to move away from technology and systems that aren’t intuitive and require training before they can be used.

Though he acknowledged his department has to make decisions on which technologies they should implement regularly, Walton said ensuring the technology they adopt solves a problem for those using them is helpful as a guide. He said he thinks about the ease with which his 6-year-old son uses an iPhone without looking at a manual or taking a class when considering a new tool.

“Our goal is everything should be as easy to use as an iPhone,” he said. “That’s what I’d like all technology to be like.”

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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