Government Technology - December 2007 - (Page 25)

CONNECTED CAPITOLS. The dot-com era may have been the most high-profile technology story of the late ’90s, but many behind-the-scenes innovations changed the world far more than the comings and goings of online retailers. Electronic uniform commercial code (UCC) filing, for example, began appearing in various states in the mid-’90s, drastically reducing paperwork and saving countless hours of processing. Electronic benefit transfer (EBT) had long been a goal of state agencies. The Information Age finally allowed state coalitions, such as the Southern Alliance of States (SAS), to form and begin paving the way for a national EBT system. In state capitols, cutting-edge technology was changing the way legislators did their jobs — though, depending on who you ask, the end result might not have changed much. Regardless, wired state houses and legislators with laptops were becoming the norm in places like Michigan, Texas and California. The technology inside state capitols was rapidly being transformed. And with that transformation came more tech-savvy lawmakers, as evidenced by a 1995 interview we conducted with Michael O. Leavitt, then-governor of Utah, now serving as U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services. Leavitt was on top of technology issues like electronic RFPs, the need for developing fiber-optic backbones and intelligent transportation. Leavitt also spoke of what has surely become the de facto mission statement for government IT. “In an environment where [people] are required to do more with less or more with the same, technology is the element that will ultimately make that possible,” he said. LAPTOPS BEGAN APPEARING IN STATE CAPITOLS IN THE MID-’90s. ‘OH, THIS IS JUST A FAD, IT’LL GO AWAY’ South Dakota consolidated before consolidation was cool. Today, state governments across the nation are struggling to consolidate their IT operations. South Dakota did it more than a decade ago. In 1996, the state hired Otto Doll to head the Bureau of Information and Telecommunications, its newly created central IT organization. Doll, a newcomer to South Dakota, said he encountered resistance and skepticism as state agencies were forced to hand over staff and resources to the central IT shop. “I had never been to South Dakota until the interview. So I get the job, I come on board … [and] all the IT people are now under this new person who’s not even from the state,” said Doll. “I had heads of agencies telling me, ‘Oh, this is just a fad, it’ll go away.’” Doll relocated former agency staff members into the central IT bureau’s new headquarters to help them identify with the organization. Even then, it took several years for the new outfit to act like a central IT group. But the operation eventually came together — and began delivering benefits — with the help of a stark mandate from the state’s chief executive. The governor cut 65 staff positions from the newly combined organization and slashed its capital budget by 20 percent, requiring the consolidation to deliver immediate results. “We lost people — mostly management — and we lost a lot of dollars, and now we were supposed to run the whole state on such a smaller pie of resources,” said Doll. “It forced us to accelerate change in order to support that. But we saved money for the state of South Dakota from day one.” STEVE TOWNS, EDITOR Compaq acquires Digital Equipment Corp. 1 998 Microsoft unveils Windows 98 U.S. Postal Service launches e-stamps Southwestern Bell becomes SBC Apple launches the iMac Wireless carriers rush to build antennas Bluetooth is the wireless technology behind PANs — or personal area networks. Conceived to connect computers, phones, printers and other gadgets, it has found its way into our daily lives. Today, thanks to Bluetooth, people standing on the corner seemingly talking to themselves may not actually be crazy. j AOL buys Netscape for $4.2 billion Java development kit reaches 1 million downloads 25 96-98 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

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