Government Technology - March 2008 - (Page 33)

F O R M E R C I O, K E N T U C K Y MARKRUTLEDGE When Mark Rutledge became Kentucky’s CIO in 1999, he was determined to use technology to grow his state’s economy beyond manufacturing and agriculture, which had supported it for decades. “We all know manufacturing is going offshore. We all know agriculture is changing as the climate has changed,” said Rutledge, who recently joined McAfee, an anti-virus software provider. Rutledge used that revenue to partner with a government-created nonprofit called Connect Kentucky, which helps local governments build their own Web portals, and collaborate with school districts, libraries, county clerks, courthouses and other local agencies to create unified, “one-stop shop” portals. Roughly 100 of the state’s 120 counties participate in the program. As CIO, Rutledge wanted to foster a technology-centered culture in the state with an e-government initiative for citizens to interact with government online. As CIO, Rutledge wanted to foster a technology-centered culture in the state with an e-government initiative for citizens to interact with government online. He hoped the technology agenda would grow the tech industry’s interest in the state. Before using the portals, however, Kentuckians needed reasonably fast Internet connections. Most rural areas had no broadband access, and providers refused to build an infrastructure. The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) required providers building those infrastructures to charge a set price for services and allow competing providers to use that infrastructure. The PSC also let smaller providers charge cheaper rates than the major providers that built the infrastructures. Rutledge persuaded the Kentucky Legislature to remove the PSC’s broadband regulation authority in 2005, enabling providers to build infrastructures and charge what the market will pay, which generated more than $700 million in broadband infrastructure investments across the commonwealth, Rutledge said. “Kentucky is the fastest-adopting broadband state in the country,” he said. “We have broadband available in more than 98 Take Public CIO Magazine’s In the past, Kentuckians had to visit agency offices, mainly residing in three of the state’s major cities — Frankfurt, Louisville and Lexington. Rutledge persuaded National IT Governance Survey AND RECEIVE COMPLIMENTARY ACCESS TO: Gartner’s: Magic Quadrant for IT Project and Portfolio Management, 2007 The Forrester Wave: Project Portfolio Management Tools, Q4 2007, Forrester, December 2007 “We all know manufacturing is going offshore. We all know that agriculture is changing as the climate has changed.” various agencies to partner with his Commonwealth Office of Technology (COT) on a state Web portal in 2003. Kentuckians now use the site to renew licenses, obtain legal services, apply for state jobs and find state employees, among other things. The COT contracted portal maintenance to NIC, which agreed to share some of its revenue when the site became profitable. percent of our entire foot map. For that other 2 percent, we’re partnering right now to get people in the wireless communities to cover that so we can say we have 100 percent.” ANDY OPSAHL, FEATURES EDITOR To participate go to: www.public-cio.com/itgovsurvey C O N T I N U E D O N PAG E 55 33 http://www.public-cio.com/itgovsurvey http://www.public-cio.com/itgovsurvey 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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