City of Fort Myers spends millions to improve digital infrastructure

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The City of Fort Myers is spending nearly $8 million to improve its digital infrastructure.

The city agreed to a five-year partnership with Oracle late last year.

The project will integrate several programs into the city’s digital system, allowing multiple municipal services to run more efficiently.

It will make your whole experience easier, sort of like a one-stop shop. One major feature is the new tool for reporting issues like potholes.

With the new website, you can report a pothole online, and the system will allow you to track repair progress in real-time.

Also, Fort Myers is investing $7.8 million over five years to upgrade to a cloud-based platform, similar to your cell phone storage, making city operations more resilient during hurricanes. It will now move to a more credible domain.

Richard Calkins, City of Fort Myers IT director, said, “A .gov address is more appropriate for a local government. It gives us more security. Anybody can buy a .com domain; nobody can buy a .gov domain. You have to apply for it, and it has to be vetted by the Department of Homeland Security.”

The city’s IT director said the funding comes from its annual IT budget and is designed as a long-term investment.

The new website is set to launch on Jan. 27.

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