Long Beach needs to make some significant investments in technology—to the tune of at least $67 million—if it wants to remain progressive in a 21st Century digital economy, officials say.

The $67 million figure includes work related to replacing outdated equipment, implementing technology systems and expanding the city’s fiber network, according to chief information officer Bryan Sastokas. But, before those projects can get underway, the city manager first needs approval to start seeking bids, a request the City Council will consider on Tuesday.

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The recommended upgrades come from a 2016 study compiled by The Broadband Group that gave a high-level outline of technology needs and analyzed how other cities have approached the issue, but didn’t go so far as to identify how some of the projects, such as an expanded fiber network, could be implemented. That would require a more in-depth engineering study, Sastokas said.

“This will set the groundwork for us to upgrade and implement the technology that we never had before,” he said. “With regard to technology, the city has kinda taken a best effort approach by fixing things that were broken but never really had a plan on how to make technology sustainable.”

Three target funding areas include:

$43.1 million to replace outdated infrastructure equipment, which includes communication needs, security systems, servers and networks, among others;

$12 million to invest in three technology systems: cyber security, customer relationship management and electronic document management;

$11.9 million to complete the expansion of the city’s fiber network, nearly doubling the current capacity.

One key element to a citywide technology master plan includes talks about bridging the digital divide. In Long Beach, approximately one in six households is without an internet subscription, defined as someone who either has broadband internet or a smartphone with a data plan, according to the 2016 Census Bureau American Community Survey.

Lack of access to the internet and technology disproportionately affect the poor and communities of color, many of whom live in the central, western and northern parts of the city.

While councilmembers have labeled digital inclusion a priority, and Long Beach wants to expand the networks to businesses and residents, the plan being considered on Tuesday would simply lay the foundation for such future opportunities.

“When you look at cities that have provided residential access, they all had a basic infrastructure in place, similar to what we are proposing with this new city network,” Sastokas said.

At present, the plan calls for laying an additional 60 miles of fiber cable to connect all city buildings, which would place fiber within 2 miles of any residence or business in the city.

The additional cable includes wiring for the partially-built Civic Center complex, expected to come on the grid in 2019. And though the technology spending isn’t necessitated by the impending move, the project is expediting the timeline, Sastokas said.

“It’s not like this equipment is required to move, but we don’t want to move over things that are already outdated,” he said. “This provides an opportunity to get that technology together and sets a finite time to do so.”

“We are in kind of a time crunch,” he added.

Should council approve the request on Tuesday, he anticipates the Technology and Innovation Department to return with project funding requests in the near future.

At this point, most of the funding would come from borrowing, through internal funds and external lenders, and some may come from reserves, according to a staff report. Where the money comes from and how much is allocated will still need to be approved by City Council, should any project cost exceed $100,000.