Eshia Smith

Eshia Smith serves as an Electric Planning Specialist with the LE - Compliance & Security agency under the City of Lakeland, where she plays a pivotal role in advancing the agency’s mission to secure critical municipal infrastructure through technical compliance and cybersecurity governance. In her capacity as a primary procurement contact, she leads the acquisition of specialized IT and cybersecurity services essential to maintaining network resilience and regulatory adherence, particularly in alignment with NERC CIP standards. Her acquisitions focus on technical solutions that enhance threat detection, vulnerability management, and secure utility operations, ensuring that digital assets supporting public utilities remain protected against evolving cyber threats. Smith’s contracting patterns reflect a strategic emphasis on technical expertise over socioeconomic set-asides, with 100% of her procurements conducted under non-set-aside conditions. She does not prioritize 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, instead favoring open competition to ensure the highest technical capability and compliance readiness. Her approach prioritizes proven vendor performance in cybersecurity engineering and infrastructure hardening, aligning procurement decisions with operational risk mitigation rather than socioeconomic objectives. Her primary procurement focus is on NAICS 541519 — Other Computer Related Services — encompassing cybersecurity consulting, network security architecture, compliance auditing, and incident response planning. She routinely engages vendors offering specialized services in NERC CIP implementation, industrial control system (ICS) security, and utility-grade endpoint protection. Her technical domain expertise lies in securing electric grid-related digital infrastructure, requiring deep familiarity with FERC, NIST, and NERC regulatory frameworks. Smith collaborates with contractors who demonstrate validated experience in critical infrastructure protection and can deliver scalable, audit-ready cybersecurity solutions tailored to municipal utility environments.