Franklin County, N.C., has appointed a new leader to oversee its technology operations, who brings with him a focus on partnership, modernization, security and improving citizen services.Justin Sherwood assumed the role of county information technology director on Sept. 2, succeeding former director Coy Floyd, who left the position in June.Most recently, Sherwood served as the deputy CIO and assistant director for the town of Cary, N.C. In his first week on the job, he said he is taking time to understand the county’s sys...
Franklin County, N.C., has appointed a new leader to oversee its technology operations, who brings with him a focus on partnership, modernization, security and improving citizen services.
Justin Sherwood assumed the role of county information technology director on Sept. 2, succeeding former director Coy Floyd, who left the position in June.
Most recently, Sherwood served as the deputy CIO and assistant director for the town of Cary, N.C. In his first week on the job, he said he is taking time to understand the county’s systems and priorities before turning to long-term planning. What he does foresee is leaning on current and future collaborations to progress the county’s information technology efforts, he said.
“My focus will be on fostering strong partnerships both within the organization and with the community, strengthening our security and infrastructure, and leading the next phase of digital transformation to deliver services more efficiently to our residents,” Sherwood said.
The new IT director outlined other immediate priorities as well, including modernizing existing technology and boosting cybersecurity resilience because, he said, “by focusing on the resilience or the cybersecurity aspect of the county, we’re safeguarding our employees and, through our employees, our citizens.”
When asked about the county’s technology road map moving forward, Sherwood emphasized that any new plan should align with Franklin County’s broader strategic goals. He said he envisions the technology program driving improvements in internal operations that, in turn, enhance services for residents.
“When you think about five years down the line, it’s really just increasing that county efficiency in the way we do work internally, which is going to ultimately affect the way we deliver services,” he said.
Sherwood’s approach is backed by his experience in Cary, where he led smart city projects that used sensors to track data such as noise levels, soil moisture and trash can capacity — efforts aimed at improving operations in public spaces. That work earned him NC TECH’s NEXT TECH award for emerging technology leadership; he said he plans to apply a similar technology mindset to Franklin County.
But for Sherwood, that mission is about continuity as well as growth.
“My real big focus here is to build on top of whatever Coy has left, just keeping that momentum going and taking the learnings I’ve had from other local government jobs and fitting them into how we do things here,” he said. “That’s the heart of what I’m trying to do — really working to take Franklin County to its next step in its digital transformation.”