Each summer, interns in the Georgia County Internship Program (GCIP) gain hands-on experience and skills while delivering tangible results for the counties they serve.

The fall edition of the Georgia County Government magazine highlights University of Georgia graduate Braswell Bryant's contributions. His work to centralize Irwin County's property and equipment inventory across departments and facilitate a surplus sale that grossed over $100,000 left a profound impact. Carroll County saw a similar return from West Georgia Technical College cybersecurity student Mirna Valdez, whose comprehensive audit of the county’s technology assets gave the county a clearer picture of what it owns.

Mirna Valdez initially worked in healthcare but transitioned to cybersecurity as a student at West Georgia Technical College. Eager for, in her words, a “quieter” opportunity than her role in healthcare, Valdez pursued a GCIP internship with Carroll County’s IT Services as her first IT work experience. She was surprised to realize that some of the skills critical to her healthcare role, such as attention to detail and organization, proved especially useful while tracking and managing technology assets across the county.

Over the summer, Valdez worked hands-on across all 27 county departments to develop an asset-tracking strategy. In addition to establishing an accurate inventory of all technology assets, Valdez collected information on their characteristics and security status. Her work built off a similar project in 2024, which established a baseline of 896 devices. Valdez nearly doubled the county’s inventory over the summer by tagging 850 new devices.

She learned how to use the software AssetTiger to correctly input what, where, who, when, why, and the cost of every asset. Her biggest challenge was physically tagging assets in the field, such as at the county’s 911 service center. Navigating the service center while it was actively operating was a delicate, complex task, but it was one she was proud to have accomplished.

At the conclusion of her inventory project and after a thorough review of the assets and their characteristics, Valdez identified 60 devices that needed to be decommissioned. She also prepared final presentations and documentation to give the county a clearer picture of its technology assets, along with security implications and ideas for future IT work.

Valdez also worked closely with the finance department to determine who pays for which assets (IT vs. individual departments). With the 850 new devices bringing the county’s active asset tally to 1,746 devices, she calculated the total estimated value of the county’s technology assets to be nearly $550,000. Her final inventory will help the county manage its asset investments and create more accurate financial projections for asset-tied capital projects.

Valdez left with a clearer picture of how county government works, including how counties budget and how departments operate, and was surprised by how many services fall under the “county” umbrella. Her internship confirmed her commitment to a career in IT and gave her the skills to take the next step. Looking ahead, Valdez hopes to work at the county level. The county, meanwhile, has a complete picture of its technology assets and a clearer path to managing them efficiently.

To learn more about GCIP, visit the website at www.accg.org/caf_gcip.php.