After four years as Philadelphia’s Chief Data Officer, Tome Wisniewski will step down from office in January. The city will not begin a search for Wisniewski’s successor until the current shake-up of the state data operations is finished.
Wisniewski said that he will help with the reorganization before moving to London next year to ponder his next career move.
Betty Foresman reported on Wisniewski’s impending departure for StateScoop:
City CDO Tim Wisniewski’s resignation came alongside an announcement from Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney to reorganize Philadelphia’s Office of Open Data & Digital Transformation, which Wisniewski directs.
Under the restructuring of ODDT, the open data program will now be supervised by the Office of Innovation and Technology, directed by Philadelphia’s chief innovation officer Mark Wheeler, according to the press release. Digital transformation work will continue to operate under ODDT, led by Liana Dragoman who has been named the interim director of ODDT.
According to Wheeler, the decision to move the open data program back under the control of OIT is largely a matter of efficiency. Currently split between two teams, the open data project will be reorganized under OIT to unify the data sharing effort, according to Wheeler. “It just makes sense to take a wall down between that operation,” he said.
Chief Administrative Officer Christine Derenick-Lopez, whose cabinet includes both ODDT and OIT, said, “Tim’s decision is a perfect opportunity to re-align the two units that have been under his leadership, and I know these vital initiatives are in good hands under Mark and Liana.”
