Governor taps a top Metropistas official to head PRITS

Luis Javier Rodríguez Vega has been appointed to serve as the chief innovation & information officer of the Government of Puerto Rico and executive director of the Puerto Rico Innovation and Technology Service, generally known as PRITS. (LinkedIn)

By The Star Staff

Gov. Jenniffer González Colón announced Wednesday that she has sent four appointments to the Puerto Rico Senate, including the designation of Luis Javier Rodríguez Vega to be the chief innovation and information officer of the Government of Puerto Rico and executive director of the Puerto Rico Innovation and Technology Service (PRITS).

The governor also sent to the Senate the appointment of Osvaldo Soto García as chairman of the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Bureau, Jeisa González del Toro for promotion to Special Prosecutor II in the island Department of Justice, and Ileana Martínez Rosado as chief judge.

Rodríguez Vega has 27 years of combined experience in technology project management, information technology, computer programming, network systems, PLCs, fiber optics, communications systems, electronics, access control, fire alarm systems, CCTV, energy systems, electronic toll collection systems, managed lanes, intelligent transportation systems (ITS), ERP (Great Plains, ReQlogic), customer service centers, and administrative systems.

From 2013 to the present, Rodríguez Vega served as senior technology manager at Metropistas, where he managed and oversaw the integration and design requirements for the implementation of a new software application for the Customer Service Center and a data center; he managed the ITS project to implement fiber optics, cameras, radars and digital signage on highways PR-52, PR-20, PR-66, and PR-53, as well as at the toll plaza facilities. He also managed annual technology budget programs with a capital expenditure of $60 million and an operating expenditure of $18.6 million.

Rodríguez Vega managed and supervised the requirements, design, implementation, testing, installation, operation and maintenance of a new open road tolling (ORT) system consisting of 16 toll plazas and an administration center; he managed the requirements, design, implementation, testing, installation, operation and maintenance of a new interoperability center at the existing Customer Service Center for interaction with the new ORT systems and the Metropistas administration; he also managed the design, implementation, installation, testing, operation, and maintenance of the access control, CCTV, and fire alarm systems for 26 toll plazas.

He oversaw the establishment of Metropistas maintenance service-level agreements that met the requirements and expectations of the company’s concession contract; he also recommended and managed the establishment of standards, policies and operating procedures.

During his tenure at Metropistas, Rodríguez Vega met financial objectives by forecasting needs, preparing an annual budget, and implementing a comprehensive system, expense scheduling, variance analysis and corrective measures. He has held other positions in the technology department at Metropistas since 2011.

Rodríguez Vega holds a master’s degree in engineering management and a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico in San Juan (2010). He studied electronic engineering technology at the Puerto Rico Institute of Technology in San Juan.