Government Technology - October 2008 - (Page 8)

GT editors report from the road cene GIS Love Fest SAN DIEGO — Government GIS j PHOTO COURTESY OF ESRI on the Govtech.com Hot List technicians recently traveled to the San Diego Convention Center for the 28th annual ESRI User Conference. ESRI representatives were eager to clarify the difference between ESRI’s “professional-strength GIS” and “consumer viewers of geography,” like Google Earth and Virtual Earth. “Our presentation technologies, though they overlap with the consumerfocused ones, and can be used for consumer types of presentations, also enable people to connect directly to their GIS assets,” said Bernie Szukalski, ArcGIS product manager of ESRI. Those assets would be stores of information about the various locations on the government’s map it can use to plan projects. Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) awards went to several state and local agencies. The California Resources Agency got accolades for its project that lets citizens track where bond money had gone and how it was being used. Westchester County, N.Y., won a SAG award for Green Maps, its Web site directing citizens to the various green public and private projects happening in the county. Examples would be cell phone-recycling drop-off locations, retailers focusing on environmentally friendly products and green education centers. State and Local IT Officials Gather DENVER — Several state and local government IT officials were on hand for the Center for Digital Government’s Executive Summit, an event for agencies to interact with vendors. Vivek Kundra, chief technology officer (CTO) of Washington, D.C., boasted about his “stock portfolio” approach to managing IT projects. Traditional financial managers monitor those projects and report on them the way they would about Wall Street stocks. Kundra and Adrian Fenty, mayor of Washington, D.C., then analyze a stock-like portfolio of those projects, deciding which to keep or dump. Peter Cooper, CTO of El Paso County, Texas, shared insight on his efforts to combine numerous agencies within El Paso County on one energyefficient data center. “Right now we have computer rooms. We do not have data centers. 1 3 5 Here are the 10 most popular stories on Govtech.com from July 25, 2008 to Aug. 25, 2008. Site Reveals Salaries of New York State Employees Conservative think tank launches Web site with comprehensive state financial data. www.govtech.com/ gt/articles/383701 Obama and McCain on Technology and Government Presidential candidates agree on technology’s importance, but differ on how to use it. www.govtech.com/gt/articles/384337 Identity Theft Case Could be Largest and Most Complex Ever Charged in U.S. Global case includes the theft and sale of at least 40 million credit and debit card numbers. www.govtech.com/gt/385668 Money-Saving Strategies for Shrinking IT Budgets SaaS, open source, energy efficiency and shared applications help CIOs stretch IT funding. www.govtech.com/gt/380964 Keep Your Shoes On, TSA Plans to Relax Screening Requirements for Laptops “Checkpoint friendly” laptop bags could ease travel frustration. www.govtech.com/gt/386888 Computer rooms are old closets down in basements and in conference rooms,” Cooper said. The county is still exploring how to consolidate all of the agencies. Molly Rauzi, city and county CIO of Denver, discussed her role in preparing for the August Democratic National Convention in Denver. “We created a backup 911 center. It [was] a matter of putting in the computers, telephones and things like that for the new Office of Emergency Management. A lot of these are things the city needed to do anyway,” Rauzi said. DENVER 7 9 DHS Announces $1.8 Billion in Grants for States, Urban Areas and Tribal Governments Amount includes $1.7 billion from Homeland Security Grant Program. www.govtech.com/dc/ articles/381098 Business Continuity: Inadequate Planning Affects CIOs Business continuity is no longer a luxury, but rather a necessity in the public sector. www.govtech.com/pcio/articles/374117 Consumer Reports Warns Public About ID Leaks Study shows government is among the biggest sources of ID leaks. www.govtech.com/gt/385108 OCT_08 Cloud Computing: Public-Sector Opportunities Public sector already sees advantages in cloud computing. www.govtech.com/gt/387269 8 8 10 j Why California Secretary of State Debra Bowen Pulled the Plug on E-Voting Long-time IT advocate saw security flaws in touchscreen voting machines. www.govtech.com/gt/ articles/380945 2 4 6 j j http://www.govtech.com http://www.govtech.com http://www.govtech.com http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/383701 http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/383701 http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/384337 http://www.govtech.com/gt/385668 http://www.govtech.com/gt/380964 http://www.govtech.com/gt/386888 http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/380945 http://www.govtech.com/gt/articles/380945 http://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/381098 http://www.govtech.com/dc/articles/381098 http://www.govtech.com/pcio/articles/374117 http://www.govtech.com/gt/385108 http://www.govtech.com/gt/387269

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

Government Technology - October 2008 Contents Point of View On the Scene Big Picture Four Questions for... Letters Cover Stories: Border Crossing The Australian E-Connection Easy Rider Northern Exposure Technology on the Cheap Ditching the Desktop Heightening the Experience Pipe Dream Falling Between the Cracks Come Together, Right Now... It's a ... Car? Digital State of the Art Spectrum Products Two Cents signal:noise

Government Technology - October 2008

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