Government Technology - December 2007 - (Page 23)

THE DAWN OF THE WORLD WIDE WEB what does that mean, exactly? The bigger question for state and local government was what it meant for them. The NII, often what people referred to when using the phrase “information superhighway,” was the national telecommunications finally ushered in the capability to backbone as envisioned under the get online instead of in line, as CIOs High Performance Computing and would begin to routinely say. However Communication Act of 1991 — aka you choose to define it, e-government the Gore Bill. The NII described a was essentially impossible prior to the sprawling network of hardWeb. And the timing could not ware and software linked via have been better. Growth of fiber optics, satellites and the Web reduced the need for microwaves. In many ways, government kiosks that briefly the NII served as a road map were all the rage, saving countfor the nation as it sought less agencies from investing in to build the infrastructure already-obsolete technology. THE WORLD WIDE WEB’S HISTORIC LOGO necessary to support the By 1995, the word of the WAS DESIGNED BY ROBERT CAILLIAU. Information Age. day was Internet. But for As government plunged many in and out of govheadlong into the new digital ernment, it was difficult to wrap expanse, confusion reigned. Public their heads around the difference officials scrambled to make sense between the Internet, the Web, file of the Web, but it would be several transfer protocol and the National years before the position of CIO Information Infrastructure (NII). The was given the respect it deserved. federal government defined the NII Ill-defined and underutilized, the as a “seamless web of communicajob of public-sector CIO was sometions networks, computers, datatimes ridiculed by insiders who bases and consumer electronics that redefined the acronym to stand for will put vast amounts of information “career is over.” at users’ fingertips.” OK, right — but ‘I WANT TO BE A CIO’ John Thomas Flynn and others pioneer a new position. John Thomas Flynn spent most of the 1980s in the federal government as a presidential appointee. In 1991, he started a chain of events that would change the landscape of technology management in government. That year, he worked on the successful campaign of Massachusetts Gov. William Weld. In return, Weld asked Flynn if he’d like to work for the new administration. “As a matter of fact, I want to be a CIO,” replied Flynn. Although CIO titles had begun to sprout in the private sector — a reflection of technology’s growing importance — the post was virtually unknown in state government. Indeed, Flynn’s request stumped Weld’s staff, who thought he was inquiring about an “AFL-CIO” job, said Flynn. Despite the initial confusion, Flynn was named director of the Massachusetts Office of Management Information Systems, and began the task of pulling together the state’s highly decentralized technology operations. Flynn drew up a new IT governance structure for the state, basing his plan on the CIO position and management model established by General Motors, and Weld signed off. “The next thing you know I was the chief information officer, and I had to get some new business cards — that was probably late 1993 or early 1994,” Flynn said. Around that same time, Gov. John Engler appointed John Kost as CIO of Michigan, and several other states were following the same path. Thus, the state CIO position was born. STEVE TOWNS, EDITOR Yahoo was created by Jerry Yang and David Filo in 1994. Originally called Jerry’s Guide to the World Wide Web, the uninspired moniker was changed to Yahoo. The search engine was one of the primary drivers of the dot-com boom, and by 2000 its stock was trading at an all-time high of $118.75. 1995 Dot-com boom begins Alta Vista Internet search engine launches Craig Newmark founds craigslist Microsoft launches Windows 95 Netscape Navigator 1.0, formerly Mosaic, is released Commodore goes out of business Created by Pierre Omidyar in 1995, eBay was originally known as AuctionWeb. The first item sold by Omidyar was a broken laser pointer. Omidyar described the $14 transaction as an epiphany when he realized the Web could bring people and products together like never before. Fun Fact: Former Calif. State Controller Steve Westly was an eBay vice president. Amazon.com Inc. becomes one of the first major companies to sell products online j Microsoft introduces MSN Web portal 23 93-95 http://Amazon.com http://Amazon.com http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - December 2007

Government Technology - December 2007 Contents Point of View Big Picture Profile The Last Mile GT Spectrum Well...How Did We Get Here? Dark Spaces A Paler Shade of Green? Decertification Dilemma Game On Two Cents Products Signal:Noise

Government Technology - December 2007

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.