Chief Information Officer
William Rutherford
Tele: (404) 656-3720
Fax: (404) 656-0545
Our Office of Information Technology (IT) is comprised of 5 sections - Application Development, Help Desk, Network, Telecommunications, and Project Management. Collaboratively, this office supports the entire Department’s infrastructure for applications, website, network, and peripherals to include IT vendor outsourcing. Our aim is to provide quality customer service, subject matter expertise, knowledge and efficient management of all IT resources. We constantly strive to meet our goal in the pursuit of excellence. Our motto for FY2016 is Excellence in Execution Everyday!
The Administration Section of Information Technology contains the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and staff. The CIO oversees the total operation of computing environment for the agency. The CIO must ensure IT systems meet the needs of the organization, complies with governance from other Federal and State agencies. The CIO must also ensure a solid strategic plan with achievable IT initiatives based on the business needs of customers.
Development Team includes two Application Development Specialists, the Webmaster, and the Database Administrator. This team works with the department to develop the agencies desktop applications, website, and databases.
Application Development has contributed to the various applications the department uses for its daily functions. Some of the responsibilities include: Animal Protection System, Livestock Poultry System, Fuel Sampling System, Market Bulletin Subscriber System (with Interfaces to Melissa Data/Runner Postal Address Standardization/Correction and Address Change Service), and Reporting Services, as well as maintenance of the Weights System. Additional duties include participating in or overseeing a variety of analytical and programming assignments that provide for the development, enhancement, and maintenance of application programs in the Department’s software environment.
The Webmaster manages the department’s Internet sites agr.georgia.gov, georgiagrown.com, feedmyschool.org, GGatTheFair.com and SharePoint portal solutions. The responsibilities include providing support to end users’ modification of information and content, training, and form creation. Tracking page statistics, monitoring out-of-date and content inaccuracies, site maintenance and backups are also performed and managed.
The Database Administrator (DBA) works as a part of the Development Team to develop, maintain, manage, and administer enterprise databases. The DBA engages in cross-functional responsibilities to meet the needs of the organization in an efficient manner. Business analysis and project management responsibilities are also conducted.
Help Desk Support provides desktop support for the Georgia Department of Agriculture; both onsite and remotely. They respond to requests for technical assistance via in person, telephone, and through remote desktop to diagnose and resolve technical hardware and software issues.
This team also manages all wireless devices including phones and tablets. The Help Desk maintains a high level of technical skills by attending and completing training courses and seminars according to established schedule and availability of courses. They also coordinate desktop and network support functions by submitting recommendations and problem alerts to the CIO and Network Engineers.
The Networking Team is responsible for the local area network installation, maintenance, and support for the department. Installation of the routing infrastructure, servers, wireless, and email, security patches, and software updates are all handled through this team. This team also manages the Department's desktop phones and VOIP solutions.
Our Project Management (PMO) team works on large projects, specialized support, and vendor management. The Project team within the Georgia Department of Agriculture is designing a new food safety application to help improve, manage, and communicate with the national food safety system. The application will improve gathering and distributing information from prior and current examinations, inspections, investigations and other related food safety activities. The application will have the capability to assign a risk assignment to manufacturing facilities by analyzing the compliance history, cited violations and documented preventive controls and processes.