Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958
Jennifer Chait (212)788-8479
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today appointed Allan H. Dobrin Commissioner of the Department of Information, Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) today during a ceremony at City Hall.
Mr. Dobrin is leaving the Mayor's Office of Operations where he has served as Executive Deputy Director since 1997. In the Mayor's Office of Operations, Mr. Dobrin has been responsible for managing the City's Customer Service Initiative and Management Consulting Projects; managing the City's $30 million Technology Fund which provides funding and oversight for over 60 projects in 35 agencies; and serving as Executive Director of the Mayor's Task Force on Special Education which issued recommendations on reforming the Board of Education's $2.5 billion program.
"Mr. Dobrin brings a wealth of management experience to this important technological aim of New York City government," said Mayor Giuliani. "I look forward to working with Mr. Dobrin to improve services for City agencies and the many New Yorkers they serve."
The Mayor also thanked Avi Duvdevani for his excellent service as Acting Commissioner after the departure of Commissioner Ralph Balzano in January, 1998. Mr. Balzano now serves in the Health and Hospitals Corporation. Mr. Duvdevani will remain in DoITT as Deputy Commissioner.
Mr. Dobrin added, "I see DoITT as being at the forefront of using technology to make it easier for residents, visitors and businesses to interact with government without necessarily having to leave their homes or places of businesses."
Mr. Dobrin began his involvement in New York City government in 1980 as Director of Management for the Office of Budget Operations and Coordinator of the Mayor's Task Force on Youth. Since 1983, he has been Deputy Director for Citywide Services, Deputy Director for Project management and Productivity, Director of the Operations Management Task Force, Chief of Staff for the Deputy Mayor for Education and Human Services and Executive Deputy Director of the Mayor's Office of Operations.
Mr. Dobrin is a graduate of Queens College with doctoral studies in political science. He has also served as an adjunct professor at the Graduate Department of Public Administration at Baruch College. A life-long resident of New York City, Mr. Dobrin resides in Queens with his wife Lynda Dobrin, an Assistant Principal in New York City's Board of Education, and his two sons, Alex, age 12, and Michael, age 10.