Mayor Mike Johnston appointed Nallapati, arguing that her expertise will help drive Denver’s future forward for residents, businesses, partners and visitors.
Her first day was Sept. 13, Denver Press Secretary Jordan Fuja told Government Technology in an email.
Nallapati is a tech veteran with more than 25 years of professional experience. She served as CIO for the state of Colorado under Gov. John Hickenlooper between 2014 and 2018. She left the state prior to the end of Hickenlooper’s term for a role as senior vice president and chief digital officer for Dish Network and has more recently worked as global CIO for Insight.
Nallapati is charged with leading the mayor’s vision, strategy and goals for the Department of Technology Services.
“Their combined expertise will help drive initiatives and policies aimed at creating a more inclusive, sustainable and prosperous city for all Denver residents, businesses, partners and visitors,” Johnston said in an announcement.
Nallapati takes the reigns from the city-county’s former CIO, David Edinger.
Edinger’s final day with Denver is still being determined, according to Fuja. She noted that Edinger’s original commitment was to serve Denver as CIO until a permanent hire was named, and he has maintained that commitment.
“We are grateful for his continued partnership in support of the transition and agency,” said Fuja.
Edinger has been with Denver since 2008 in various roles, serving as chief performance officer prior to taking on the CIO role in 2018.
As CPO, Edinger worked to attract top private-sector talent. He also led Denver’s Peak Academy, which aimed to create change agents in government. As CIO, Edinger helped Denver leverage what he referred to as “government widgets” — apps and updated processes powered by IT to make service more efficient and effective.
As Colorado’s CIO, Nallapati worked to modernize processes, including introducing cloud and consolidating government emails onto a single platform. Her office was also first in the country to appoint a digital transformation officer.
