LOS ANGLES, Feb. 6, 2017 - Julia Smith has been named acting director of INN’s Technology Products & Services team, effective immediately.
Smith will serve as INN’s primary member and client liaison for news organizations working with INN on custom digital development and direct the enhancement of Largo, INN's open source WordPress platform.
Smith is leading the tech team during the search for a Technology Products & Services director replacing Adam Schweigert, who moves Feb. 15 to Mother Jones as a senior web developer.
“Julia is an experienced technologist who has guided many news organizations through the product design process to develop innovative solutions for news. She will advance INN’s work and ensure a seamless transition for clients and members,” said Sue Cross, INN executive director and CEO.
Smith came to INN from the Center for Investigative Reporting where she was a 2015 Knight-Mozilla Fellow. At CIR she worked with a team of data journalists to create news applications, visualizations and custom interactives for RevealNews.org. She holds a degree in journalism from Creighton University in Omaha, NE. She worked as a corporate software developer and user experience designer early in her career before an enthusiastic return to the news industry.
Members and INN clients can reach Smith at julia@inn.org and are encouraged to continue coordinating development efforts with her.
Support issues can be routed through the central support portal via support@largoproject.org, and INN encourages members to reach out directly to INN's new Community and Support Manager, Kay Lima.
Rounding out the Technology team, Lead Developer R.C. Lations is leading an update of the Largo platform and related products with the capable assist of developer Ben Keith and tech apprentice Gabriel Hongsdusit.
About INN Technology Products & Services: The INN Tech team combines decades of news, design and technology experience to specialize in helping news sites develop fully responsive digital web sites, develop custom news products and data applications. INN hosts and supports 50 nonprofit news sites and its open source Largo WordPress platform is used by more than 150 sites.
For questions about INN or its technology products & services, contact INN Director Sue Cross at sue@inn.org or Julia Smith at Julia@inn.org.