From vision to reality
Department of Service and Innovation Annual Report 2025
Information technology
Role and priorities for the year
The primary role of the IT Services office is to ensure the safe and efficient operation of all computing, network, and information systems across the City and to support its digital initiatives. This involves running one of the country's most extensive technology environments — including central infrastructure, equipment for more than 12,000 users, and hundreds of software systems — while providing technical services and consultation to all City departments and workplaces. The office comprises four units: technical operations, technical services, technical design, and operational services.
In 2025, the IT Services office placed strong emphasis on the security, stability, and quality of the services it provides. Targeted initiatives strengthened infrastructure, refined processes, and simplified workflows to meet user needs efficiently. The focus was on minimizing downtime and security risks, rolling out two-factor authentication where feasible, and conducting security drills to ensure an adequate level of preparedness.
Key projects and implementations
The office focused on improving existing operations and upgrading IT infrastructure to meet modern standards. Staff worked extensively to decommission inefficient, insecure, and outdated solutions and infrastructure. One notable example is a 25-year-old system that had long served as Reykjavík City's primary database.
The office replaced obsolete network equipment throughout the City and deployed upgraded tools to enhance visibility and oversight of Reykjavík City's centralized infrastructure.
Emphasis was placed on maximizing infrastructure investments — streamlining operations, strengthening security, and improving cost efficiency. This effort led to numerous retirements and migrations, including moving infrastructure to a new data center. For example, the office replaced the traffic signal control computer for the capital area. This computer controls traffic signals across the entire capital area and prioritizes emergency vehicles and public transit, making it an essential component of reliable and efficient traffic management. Reykjavík City and the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration jointly own the computer.
The office completed the migration of all Reykjavík City staff into a unified Microsoft environment under @reykjavik.is. Every employee now works within a standardized environment, making cross-divisional collaboration easier and reducing deployment costs for new solutions. Leadership also anticipates lower operating costs for the IT environment and has defined several projects to decommission legacy systems in support of cost-effective operations.
User-friendly services are a core guiding principle for the IT office, which worked throughout the year to sharpen and expand its offerings. A key highlight was launching Laufey, a new IT services application portal. Managers can now request IT services for their staff more efficiently and conveniently. Leadership also approved a new ÞON service portal project aimed at improving service efficiency for all City staff.
Results and benefits
Significant progress was achieved in strengthening operational security, improving system stability, and enhancing services for service users. Þjósti, the Azure cloud operations team, systematically drove improvements that strengthened operational security while reducing cloud service costs.
Meanwhile, the office continued migrating the data center to new hosting hardware to reinforce infrastructure, improve system stability, and enhance security.
To ensure readiness and operational security, staff formalized a recovery testing process with service parties, testing 10 machines each month.
Reykjavík City also deployed Windows 11 across all departments, establishing a standardized, secure, and modern working environment for staff.
Information security and risk management
Throughout the year, the City maintained a strong focus on targeted information security and active risk management to keep Reykjavík City's IT systems operating safely and reliably.
The City renewed its ISO 27001 certification for the year after completing the required annual audit of the environment.
A comprehensive review of security systems at City Hall also prompted several improvement projects. The team ran dual-connectivity security tests at the data center. These tests verified that Reykjavík City's infrastructure remains operational without interruption even if network equipment fails. Such evaluations are vital to maintaining the reliability and security of the City's infrastructure. Routine testing helps keep the City's IT environment healthy and stable. Staff continuously review and update response plans to maintain safe operations.
Collaboration and services
The office provides technical services and consultation to all City departments and workplaces. Ongoing collaboration with other departments allows the office to adapt and refine services as needs and user expectations evolve.
During the year, Reykjavík City adopted Viva Engage, which the office designated as its primary internal communications channel. The IT Services office uses the platform to announce maintenance and outages as well as to share educational content on information security.
Key challenges
Throughout the year, emerging challenges demanded swift responses, close collaboration, and focused problem-solving to keep services running smoothly and securely.
Unforeseen issues forced the office to replace its primary remote machine management tool for technical services and operations. Moving quickly, the team assessed needs and engaged directly with users to deploy a solution that met existing requirements after the old tool failed. While maintaining service quality posed significant challenges, extensive collaboration ultimately delivered greater efficiency for the City and improved operational security.
Cleaning up outdated access groups proved considerably more complex than expected. Disruptions occurred when groups presumed inactive turned out to still serve active roles. Rather than simply reactivating the affected groups, the team took a solution-oriented approach — reviewing and updating each group to reflect current needs and procedures.
Priorities for the coming year
A top priority for 2026 is completing updates to the central network infrastructure across Reykjavík City's entire environment. Another major focus for the year will be rolling out a new framework agreement covering data connections for all City workplaces — bringing both greater efficiency and more secure connectivity.
In parallel, the office will introduce a new security monitoring system to expand automation and improve the City's incident response capabilities.
Staff will continue strengthening infrastructure and pursuing service improvements wherever possible. Key efforts include developing the new ÞON service portal to shorten wait times while improving both the experience and the working environment for staff. The office aims to expand automated solutions to enhance infrastructure monitoring and oversight. Future work will center on visibility, oversight, and automation across Reykjavík City's IT infrastructure.
