In a Tweet Monday night, Carrie Bishop, who was appointed San Francisco’s inaugural chief digital services officer nearly five years ago, announced her departure.
“There are few teams with such talent, and we have accomplished some important things – during COVID-19 we led the city’s digital response and helped thousands of people book tests, get vaccinated and find out critical information,” Bishop said, noting the team enabled more than 2,500 businesses to secure the grants and permits they needed to keep their doors open during the pandemic. She said she has “something lined up for the summer, which I’ll share publicly nearer the time,” but will take “a few months off to decompress from a hectic few years!”
Bishop’s public-sector career began in London city government, at the Borough of Barnet, continuing as a founder of FutureGov, which created solutions to help U.K. municipal governments enhance online services. Her U.K. clients included the Government Digital Service. A panelist at events including the 2020 California Public Sector CIO Academy, her commentaries on govtech have appeared in Techwire. San Francisco announced her appointment Feb. 17, 2017, and creation of the role – Bishop’s first U.S. position – as “part of San Francisco’s recently adopted Digital Services Strategy,” adding: “Ms. Bishop’s focus will be on improving the experience of San Francisco’s residents, businesses and visitors as they access city government for information and services.”
Her friends and former colleagues offered congratulations on social media. “An amazing and impactful run! You built a great team in SF. Look forward to seeing what you do next,” Michael Wilkening, senior adviser for technology and delivery at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ¯ and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former special adviser on innovation and digital services ¯ said on Twitter. “Thanks for all your contributions not just to SF but the movement,” tweeted Luke Norris, vice president of platform strategy and digital transformation at Granicus and the former senior vice president for government relations and growth at OpenCities.
“Wow!!! This is news. So excited to hear where you’re headed and what the team has in store,” Angelica “Angie” Quirarte, federal partnerships director at the Tech Talent Project and the former deputy director of programs at the California Office of Digital Innovation, said on Twitter. The two met in 2019, she told Techwire, shortly before Quirarte – then assistant secretary for digital engagement for the California Government Operations Agency – and her group at the state began work on the Alpha project.
“I think that as a leader in this space you have to learn how to say no to things, and she was really good at keeping the team focused on projects that were reimagining services,” Quirarte said. She brought her colleagues to meet Bishop’s team, she said, “and they were able to provide coaching and advice on their experience creating and navigating a digital services team in the context of a city government.” Named for alpha.ca.gov, the initiative centered on reinventing the state’s website. Quirarte stayed in touch with Bishop to offer support and to have a “sounding board” on Alpha, but also on state work in permitting and cannabis licensing.
“It was great to establish a relationship with Carrie and her team and cheer each other on as we were working on our projects,” she added.
