Matelski will officially retire Friday from DeKalb County, and join e.Republic on Monday. It is not yet clear who may step in as interim CIO. At press time, a county representative had not responded to a request for comment.
CDG is a division of e.Republic, Government Technology's parent company. Its specialized programs and initiatives connect gov tech and the private sector. As executive director, Matelski will oversee a wide array of programs and services, offering decision support and communicating on information and opportunities to public- and private-sector leaders.
Matelski has been DeKalb County CIO and director of innovation and technology since September 2012, managing all facets of IT services including administration, applications and infrastructure services. His 25 years' experience in organizational technology development, coupled with his proven leadership and ability to inspire teams, made him a leading candidate to help guide CDG.
“He's consistently led DeKalb County to be one of the top 10 Digital Counties in the nation, and his leadership and collaboration with counties and with technology partners will provide CDG with valuable insights and direction,” said Teri Takai, CDG senior vice president. “The Center for Digital Government is excited to have John join our team.”
Reflecting on his tenure at the county, Matelski recounted how, despite initially having to push for the title of “innovation leader” when he was first hired, the term “innovation” ultimately became a hallmark of its IT department during his 12 years of leadership.
“I didn't want to just be a CIO,” Matelski said. “I wanted to be able to focus on innovation, so when I was hired, part of the hiring agreement was that they would bring me on as the chief innovation and information officer. From there, they allowed me to create an innovation branch within the IT department, and fully funded that.”
Matelski created and managed a first-of-its-kind team of eight, focused on innovation strategy and project management. Then in 2015, he led a complete reorganization of IT personnel — reviewing and modernizing all job roles and descriptions to make the unit more effective and cohesive.
Prior to joining DeKalb, Matelski was the CIO and director of IT Services for nearly five years at Gwinnett County, Ga.; and before that, he spent 11 years as deputy CIO and chief security officer at Orlando, Fla. He has a Bachelor of Science in computer information systems and an MBA in information technology, both from Arizona State University.
One of Matelski’s goals in joining CDG, he said, will be to energize local governments and to expand participation in CDG’s annual county and city survey and award series.
“My focus the last 20 years has really been at the county level, and I've had nine years of city experience, with a little bit of federal,” he said. “So, I just am really looking forward to bringing my experience to the table and the synergies that they'll bring with the rest of the team in terms of trying to enhance current programs and potentially build new ones.”
