The MGISA is a state-wide association of information technology professionals working in local government. Its primary purpose is twofold:
(1) To provide a forum where members can exchange information, compare practices, be introduced to new concepts, ideas and technologies; and
(2) To foster collaboration between state and local government.
Membership
Membership in the MGISA is open to all Massachusetts cities and towns with annual dues an affordable $75 per municipality. Renewal invoices are sent to member communities in early Fall. New member communities are encouraged to join and should contact the Membership Chair at MGISAmembership@mgisa.org. Membership includes a discounted luncheon rate at scheduled meetings and access to the Members Only Page of the MGISA website for any employee of the member community. New employee members can obtain usernames and passwords by filling out and submitting the Members Only Access Form. Currently, the Members Only Page is not fully developed or maintained.
Meetings
Luncheon meetings are scheduled for September, November, January, March and May and typically held at central locations convenient to the MA turnpike and 495. Although the focus of the organization is technology, not all participants are from technology departments and many topics such as GIS mapping, financial management systems and public records retention are planned to address the technology issues faced by other municipal departments. Please check the calendar for upcoming meetings and related events of interest to cities and towns.
If you are not already on our mailing list and would like to be, please email our membership chair at MGISAmembership@mgisa.org
Programs
The Board of Directors meets on a regular basis to plan programs and upcoming events and welcome your suggestions for future topics. Past meeting agendas have covered wireless technologies for local governments; IP telephony; SPAM; system security and virtual private networks (VPN); and network storage devices (NAS).
Recent meetings have also included speakers from the state Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services (DLS); the state Operational Services Division (OSD) and the state Information Technology Division (ITD), and the state CIO with discussions centered around state and municipal IT planning, procurement initiatives; public records and document management; public access and electronic government.
State and Local Government Collaboration Efforts
IT Management in Smaller Communities
Also to begin to address the needs of small communities without IT staff, the Department of Revenue Division of Local Services has added "IT Management in Smaller Communities" as a topic on its on-line Forum. For more information click on the following link: https://forums.dor.state.ma.us/forums/index.jsp
Related links
The Massachusetts state government portal is an excellent resource for information on state government and also includes links to municipal websites.
Feedback
Further development of the MGISA website is dependent upon volunteer support from the membership. If you have material that you would like to see included on the website please email your feedback and suggestions to MGISAweb@mgisa.org or any member of the MGISA Board.
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