Government Technology - March 2008 - (Page 32)

CRAIGFUGATE DIRECTOR, FLORIDA DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT T O P 25 D O E R S D R E A M E R S A N D D R I V E R S Craig Fugate has been called “low-key,” “brilliant” and also “very in charge.” The first two descriptions might be debatable, but the third is not. Fugate is undoubtedly the force behind the successful response and recovery efforts during recent natural disasters in Florida. “Craig Fugate is one of the brightest and most experienced emergency management professionals in the business today,” said Trina Sheets, executive director of the National Emergency Management Association. “He is a forward-thinking risk-taker who pushes the envelope with each disaster to deliver aid faster and better to the citizens of Florida.” Fugate led Florida through some of the worst hurricanes in state history in 2004 and 2005, and he’s recognized for making Florida one of the best-prepared states for natural disasters. Those efforts earned Fugate the National Hurricane Conference’s 2005 Neil Frank Award, which honors excellence in hurricane preparedness, response and recovery. Fugate helped Florida cut in half its response times to impacted communities during recent hurricanes, but he deflected the personal recognition. Instead, he praised the participants who helped to make it happen. The team, he said, is what makes him proud. The state’s emergency response team is composed of state agencies, including the Florida National Guard, local government agencies, volunteers and the private sector. He called the team “one of the best in the nation” and praised the state emergency management system that maximizes its capabilities and recognizes its strengths and weaknesses. In 1997, Fugate was appointed chief of the Bureau of Preparedness and Response with Miami the Florida Division of Emergency Management. He began immediately building the reputation of the state as a leader in mitigating disasters. In 2001, he was appointed director of the Division of Emergency Management and in 2004 managed the response to some of the largest disasters in Florida history. His biggest emergency management challenge in Florida? “The unknown.” JIM McKAY, JUSTICE & PUBLIC SAFETY EDITOR D I R E C T O R O F R E S E A R C H A N D I N F O R M AT I O N S E R V I C E S , NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS TIMBARBEE In 2006, the Texas cities of Arlington, Carrollton and Grand Prairie pioneered a new business model in government. The result is a regional ERP system that may set the standard for implementing shared services in local government. Tim Barbee, who at the time was CIO of Arlington, worked with a project team of representatives from all three cities and the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) to develop system requirements, release an RFP, evaluate bids and ultimately implement a shared ERP to information services at NCTCOG opened up, and Barbee went for it. “I was interested in the shared services concept, not just for this particular project, but in other areas too because to me, it just makes so much sense,” he said. “All of the cities do a lot of the same things. If you can come up with a way to share resources doing them, you can save a lot of money and spend the savings doing things that are value-added for the citizens — more police on the street, more firefighters, more money to parks and libraries — what the citizens really want anyway.” said predates him, is a hosted GIS application called iCommunities that takes data from cities and supplies it to users via the cities’ Web sites using mapping applications and hardware managed by NCTCOG. Barbee said his organization listens to the needs of the communities NCTCOG serves and looks for opportunities where shared services can make a difference. For example, the agency is finalizing a deal that would help smaller communities enjoy the benefits of ERP using a software-as-a-service approach. “Our focus is to listen to the customers, and when they tell us that they need something — or if we see something we think they need, we’ll go talk to them — but we focus on what the customers tell us they need and that’s how we start to set up a new program.” EMILY MONTANDON, ASSOCIATE EDITOR The cities paid a fraction of what they would have paid for three separate implementations. handle financial, procurement and human resources for the three cities. The cities paid a fraction of what they would have paid for three separate implementations. After the shared ERP was implemented, the position of director of research and MAR_08 Now working for NCTCOG, Barbee’s department handles research, such as demographic studies, that assist with regional planning. The department also provides information services to internal staff, as well as external entities. One project, which Barbee 32 http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - March 2008

Government Technology - March 2008 Contents Point of View Big Picture The Last Mile On the Scene Four Questions for... Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers Let's [Not] Get Physical No Data Left Behind Conservation King Community Drug Test Reinventing the System Better Late Than Never Closing the Deal Spectrum Products Personal Computing signal:noise Digital Communities The Expanding Focus of Digital Communities The Digital Imperative Hot Fusion Redefining Municipal Wireless Made in the USA Bridge Detectives The 2008 Agenda

Government Technology - March 2008

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