A decade on, Charlotte CIO Jeff Stovall is resigning

Jeff Stovall, who became Charlotte, North Carolina’s first-ever chief information officer when he was hired in 2008, announced this week he is resigning later this month to take a private-sector job.

Jeremy Mills, a spokesman for Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, confirmed with StateScoop that Stovall’s last day with the city government will be Sept. 28. Stovall has accepted a position as the chief operating officer of PMMC, a Charlotte-based healthcare software provider that serves more than 450 hospitals and health systems around the country.

Hired by then-Mayor Pat McCrory, who went on to serve one term as North Carolina’s governor, Mills joined the city government following 15 years with major firms that include DuPont and Sprint Nextel. As Charlotte’s CIO, Mills was tasked with modernizing its information technology systems and introducing municipal agencies to cloud and mobile services.

“During Jeff’s ten years with the city, he created IT strategies and changes to reduce redundancies,” Mills said.

Among the public-facing upgrades the city introduced during Stovall’s tenure were an open-data website , launched in 2014, and the installation of a fiber network built by Google.

Stovall was also tasked with bolstering the city’s cybersecurity. Last December, Charlotte avoided a ransomware attack that took down several computer systems in surrounding Mecklenburg County . During that incident, Stovall said the city severed its network connections to the county government.

Mills said Stovall also oversaw many of the city’s preparations to host the 2012 Democratic National Convention, which included the deployment of security and surveillance technology and a significant expansion of local mobile networks. The city will face similar technical challenges when it hosts the Republican National Convention in 2020.

Stovall’s interim successor has not yet been named.