Gavin Rozzi: Building Technology for the Garden State
Gavin Rozzi builds technology for New Jersey residents: as Director, Data Center Administration at NJ DCA since 2024, as the creator of zipcodeR and NJ-specific R packages, and as the data lead behind Bringing Veterans Home.
New Jersey State Government
Leading digital transformation at the NJ Department of Community Affairs
Director, Data Center Administration
New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
Runs the DHCR Data Center, the data infrastructure behind the state's housing programs. Built the in-house development team whose web applications are used by every New Jersey municipality.
Key NJ Government Projects
NJHOMES Atlas
Statewide map of roughly 42,000 municipally owned vacant parcels, built from State property records so every New Jersey ...
View ProjectOperation Right Answer: Housing Services Modernization
A Certified Public Manager capstone project: consolidating thirteen siloed phone queues in New Jersey's largest housing ...
View ProjectNJHOMES Choice Tool
Interactive planning tool implementing A4/S50 affordable housing calculations for all 564 municipalities, now extended b...
View ProjectWinter Termination Program Digital Transformation
Digital transformation of New Jersey's utility shutoff protection self-certification process, replacing a manual PDF wit...
View ProjectNJ Eviction Guide
Interactive self-help tool connecting New Jersey's most vulnerable residents directly to housing assistance and legal re...
View ProjectBringing Veterans Home Digital Infrastructure
Statewide digital infrastructure supporting New Jersey's initiative to end veteran homelessness: data systems, electroni...
View ProjectNew Jersey Civic Technology
Platforms that increase government transparency and citizen access
OPRAmachine
New Jersey's first statewide OPRA (public records) request platform. Founded in 2017 and run by Gavin until 2024, it processed over 75,000 requests and released 250GB of government data to the public.
NJ Civil Service Navigator
Searchable database of 6,740+ civil service job specifications with career exploration tools for public sector employment.
View ProjectNJ Foundation for Open Government
Served on the board (2023–2026) of the state's leading government transparency advocacy organization, promoting public access to government records.
Visit NJFOGNJ-Focused Open Source
R packages and tools built specifically for New Jersey data
njgeo
R package that geocodes New Jersey addresses through the state's free NJOGIS REST API, so analysts can locate addresses without a commercial geocoder.
njtr1
R package for analyzing New Jersey traffic crash data (NJTR-1 reports). Published on CRAN; now in maintenance mode.
zipcodeR
While not NJ-specific, this R package (124,000+ downloads) supports ZIP code analysis and geocoding for researchers in New Jersey and nationwide.
New Jersey Roots
Education, community involvement, and ongoing connections
Education
- Stockton University - M.S. Data Science & Strategic Analytics (4.0 GPA), B.A. Political Science (3.9 GPA)
- Certified Public Manager (CPM), August 2026, awarded by the New Jersey Civil Service Commission and delivered by the Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration
- Rutgers University - Founding Data Scientist, Urban & Civic Informatics Lab, and lecturer at the Bloustein School (employment, not enrollment)
Speaking
- Rutgers Bloustein School career panel
- Stockton University AI & Higher Education panel
- Montclair State University workshop
- NJ civic tech and government events
Recognition
- 2026 - Selected: New Jersey state team, Eviction Data Response Network (1 of 11 states)
- 2025 - Governor's Team of Excellence Award (team award)
- 2022 - First Place, NJ DEP GIS Mapmaking Contest
- 2019 - Excellence in Local News Award
- 2018 - InsiderNJ Media 100 list (2018)
New Jersey Speaking & Media
Appearances at NJ institutions and media outlets
DCA Introduces No-Cost Tool to Help Municipalities Map Vacant Land
New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
talkTurning Vacant Land into Opportunity: NJHOMES Atlas Webinar
NJ DCA Mayors and Legislators Resource Series
pressNew Jersey reaches its goal to eliminate veteran homelessness
Route Fifty
pressNJ Selected for the National Eviction Data Response Network
New Jersey Department of Community Affairs
talkArtificial Intelligence in Higher Education Panel
The Power of Public Colleges & Universities Conference - Stockton University
talkCareers in Public Informatics, Data Analytics and AI Panel
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy - Rutgers University
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Gavin Rozzi in New Jersey?
Gavin Rozzi is a government technology executive and data scientist based in New Jersey. He is Director, Data Center Administration at the NJ Department of Community Affairs, where he runs the DHCR Data Center and its digital transformation work serving all 564 municipalities. He also founded OPRAmachine, New Jersey's first statewide public records platform, which he ran from 2017 to 2024.
What has Gavin Rozzi built for New Jersey?
Gavin Rozzi has led or built multiple platforms serving New Jersey residents, including: the NJ Eviction Guide (a self-help tool for tenants facing eviction), Bringing Veterans Home (the data infrastructure behind the state reaching Functional Zero veteran homelessness in July 2026), the NJHOMES Choice Tool (available to all 564 municipalities for A4-S50 affordable housing obligations), NJHOMES Atlas (a statewide map of roughly 42,000 municipally owned vacant parcels, launched in 2026), Operation Right Answer (contact center modernization with the NJ Innovation Authority), NJ Civil Service Navigator (6,740+ job specifications), OPRAmachine (75,000+ OPRA requests processed, 2017 to 2024), and NJ-specific R packages for geographic and crash data analysis.
Working in New Jersey?
Working in state government, a municipality, a nonprofit, or a research institution in New Jersey? Get in touch about civic technology and government data work.