Abe Kani Chief Information Officer, City of Atlanta

The Chief Information Officer for the City of Atlanta is Abe Kani. Joining the city in May 2003, Kani is the very first CIO for the city.  Kani comes to Atlanta from Memphis where he was CIO since 1999. While in Memphis, he led  the city into the 21st century by developing an e-business model that is transforming the City into a premier digital government. Mayor Franklin says, “As the City moves to make great changes in information services such as implementing Wi-Fi resources, it is essential that we have a leader that will work progressively to meet the City's technological and enterprise solutions needs.  I am impressed with his professionalism, his accomplishments, and his leadership.  He brings a commitment to and a knowledge of information services that is very exciting.  The City Council and I welcome him to Atlanta.”

In accepting the appointment, Kani said,  “I feel strongly that joining the City of Atlanta is an excellent opportunity to take on the challenges of revitalizing the City's information technology environment. I also find the challenges facing the City to be very similar to the challenges facing the city of Memphis when I signed on there. I was able to meet those challenges very successfully and I intend to draw upon my years of progressive IT experience to transform the Department of Information Technology. My objective is to create a value-driven, customer-focused, well-managed and effective IT service provider. My vision is for the City of Atlanta information technology to be firmly aligned with the business needs of city government while providing the best possible IT value with available funding. The City of Atlanta information technology will soon be recognized as an effective organization by leveraging proven and best-of-class solutions.”

Mr. Kani has received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Utah State University and an MBA degree from Oklahoma State University.  His over 14 years of IT experience consist of various IT positions in banking, manufacturing, healthcare, and government sectors.