Cook County's Chief Information Officer Talks about Shared Services at Harvard

Greg Wass, Chief Information Officer for Cook County Government is presenting at the 2012 Public Sector and Education Shared Services Summit: Pathways to Transformation conference being hosted by Harvard University. The conference runs from June 20th through June 22nd. Shared services is a responsibility that involves a systemic approach to human capital transformation. The best leaders are adept at creating the right environment to achieve success and meet the goals of their organizations—focusing on governance, leadership, and managing change. Wass, along with Dan Curtin from Zipcar, will be leading a panel discussion entitled Zipcar and the Sharing Economy: A Win-Win-Win Model. Zipcar is the nation’s largest car sharing company. Underpinning the Zipcar model is consumer demand to purchase time blocks for a car instead of purchasing a wholly-owned (fixed cost) car that would sit idle the majority of time. For consumers, this means they can “get wheels when they want them” and lower their average monthly cost. Zipcar in turn can leverage economies of scale to spread the cost and usage of vehicles across a large user base and earn revenues surpassing costs. For society, more efficient allocation of vehicles means less congestion, less pollution, and a more sustainable environment. It’s a win-win-win model. The panel will discuss issues we face as the “sharing economy” gains steam broadly, and particularly in government and education, what can leaders learn from the Zipcar example? How can Zipcar’s customer-centric service culture be applied in government and education? What areas of operations and resources can we share? How should we change our organizations and cultures to prepare them for sharing?