Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor has appointed Sylvia Harris to serve as CIO and director of innovation and performance (IP) for the city.
“I am so grateful and humbled,” Harris said in a weekend post on LinkedIn.
Harris has been serving as acting CIO following the departure of former CIO Heidi Norman in January; her acting CIO status was effective Jan. 5, per an email from Molly Onufer, press secretary for the Office of the Mayor. Norman had been serving as the city’s CIO since 2022 after being acting CIO for about two years.
Under the leadership of O’Connor, a tech-focused mayor who took office in January, city government and industry are working together to make the city a hub for emerging technologies such as robotics and AI.
Harris brings experience to the position from an array of technology-related roles she has held during her 18 years with the city of Pittsburgh. Before taking on the responsibilities of acting CIO, she served as CISO and assistant director of security. She has also served as an information security analyst, deputy director of operations, and assistant director of security. Prior to joining the city, she worked for Dollar Bank for more than a decade, per her LinkedIn profile.
During Harris’ time with the city of Pittsburgh, her IT-related accomplishments include implementation of a disaster recovery solution, establishing IT infrastructure library training, creating the incident response and training team and establishing the city’s cybersecurity program.
“The administration considers her a director and CIO now, but her appointment is subject to Council’s approval,” Onufer said in an email. Her appointment by the mayor was submitted to the City Council on Friday and will be presented at the council’s regular meeting Tuesday, Onufer explained; the approval process will follow.
From left to right: Rea Price, appointee for director of OMB and chief financial officer; Mat Davis, appointee for chief of the Bureau of Fire; and Sylvia Harris, appointee for director of I&P and chief information officer.
City of Pittsburgh
O’Connor also announced the appointment of Mat Davis to serve as chief of the Bureau of Fire and Rea Price to serve as director of the Office of Management and Budget on Friday — both of whom must also be confirmed by the City Council.
Julia Edinger is a senior staff writer for Government Technology. She has a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Toledo and has since worked in publishing and media. She’s currently located in Ohio.