Patti Bayross, NYCHA’s New Chief Information Officer
Patti Bayross, NYCHA’s newest Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO), is somewhat of an anomaly. For starters, she is a woman in an industry largely populated by men*. She prefers public service to private industry, and she doesn’t believe in technology for technology’s sake alone. “While new technologies arise all the time, their real value is the ability to solve real-world problems and better people’s lives,” she says.
Ms. Bayross started her career in New York City government 21 years ago, doing project management for systems for the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) to help track and address issues of child abuse and neglect. She then left ACS to work briefly at the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) before returning to ACS as its CIO. Right before to coming to NYCHA, she spent more time at DoITT, serving as the agency’s first Chief Customer Officer. She was responsible for building a Customer Experience Management function, which focused on making sure IT solutions were targeting real-life agency problems, ultimately better serving NYC residents.
When asked about specific changes that she intends to implement in her new position at NYCHA, Ms. Bayross emphasized IT communications and notification processes: “I strongly believe in consistent and transparent communication between IT and the entire NYCHA organization. Effective communication is one of the most important elements for building credibility. Further, it ensures our employees know how IT changes may affect their work and, ultimately, our business.”
*CIO magazine, in its January 2020 edition, estimates that women comprise only 25 percent of the overall tech industry.
