Government Technology - December 2008 - (Page 13)

California Launches Best-Practices Wiki APRIL — California’s Best-Practices Wiki — http://bestpractices.ca.gov — encourages state employees to submit innovative ideas in seven areas: prison health care, customer service, disaster preparedness, education and training, green issues, human resources and IT. The site lets anyone view the information, but only users with a state e-mail address may contribute. Tracking career changes isn’t easy, but we try with this year’s roundup of CIOs on the move. BY TOD NEWCOMBE, EDITOR, PUBLIC CIO A Year of Transition follow Kundra’s lead as hosted services expand and the financial case becomes ever more compelling. number of state data centers from five to one and eliminated multiple communications networks, e-mail systems and helpdesk functions. The move saves the state $14 million annually, according to state CIO Gerry Weaver. In Colorado, Gov. Bill Ritter signed an IT consolidation bill in May to overhaul how that state manages IT. Colorado’s 1,200 IT employees now report to the state’s central IT office, and CIO Mike Locatis has more authority over project approvals. Tight budgets influenced application strategies too. More government CIOs acknowledge that they’ll likely own less technology as concepts like cloud computing and software as a service mature. Vivek Kundra, chief technology officer (CTO) of Washington, D.C., was a pioneer in this movement, adopting hosted collaboration and project management applications for his organization. “We decided to go with the cloud model instead of buying a ton of servers that would have taken me six to seven months to procure, configure and deploy. We were able to do that immediately,” Kundra told Government Technology earlier this year. “When we look at the platform in terms of collaboration, everything’s going to be in the cloud. As we’re looking at the whole data center model, the question really becomes, ‘Why do we need a data center?’” CIOs still have concerns about trusting sensitive data and applications to the cloud, but look for more jurisdictions to REMEMBER THE LATE 1990S? Technology was red-hot, and venture capitalists fell over one another to finance Web-based businesses. Governors and mayors trumpeted high-profile Web sites and e-government initiatives. Of course, if you remember the technology bubble, you also recall the bust in 2001. Some of the business models were half-baked. Others were simply ahead of their time. But my point is that technology was part of the political discussion and Committee national consciousness in a way that it hasn’t been since — until now. Why? Green IT. People have talked about green for a few years, but things got serious in 2008. Driven by record-high energy costs and climate change concerns, environmental conservation or sustainability captured the attention of citizens and political leaders. And there’s widespread acceptance that technology is at the core of solving many environmental challenges — whether it’s cutting carbon by enabling employees to work from home, improving the energy The Rise of Green IT Colorado Governor Signs IT Consolidation Bill MAY — Gov. Bill Ritter approves sweeping changes to how Colorado manages IT. The law, which received overwhelming support from state lawmakers, transfers duties and functions of Colorado’s highly fragmented IT operations to the Governor’s Ofﬁce of Information Technology. 2008 BEGAN WITH A signiﬁcant CIO transition when Michigan CIO Teri Takai became CIO of California after months of speculation. In announcing her appointment, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the state must improve and expand its IT infrastructure. “Teri is the perfect person to do that,” he said. “She has [more than] 30 years of experience in this ﬁeld and possesses the vision necessary to make our great state a leader in the effective use of information technology.” Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm replaced Takai by appointing Kenneth D. Theis CIO and director of the Department of Information Technology. Theis had been deputy director and led the successful implementation of several large IT projects, including a statewide child support enforcement system. Elliot H. Schlanger, left his position as Baltimore’s CIO and moved a few miles to Annapolis where he became state CIO. In Baltimore, Schlanger led development of the city’s 311 hotline service, one of the ﬁrst of its kind in the country. In the Keystone State, Brenda Orth took over as Pennsylvania’s deputy secretary for information technology and CIO, replacing Kristen Miller, who resigned in 2007. Naomi Wyatt, the state’s secretary of administration, noted that Orth “has more than 25 years of management experience in the ﬁeld of information systems, [and] she will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the commonwealth.” Orth has been with the state since 2003, most recently as CTO. In Philadelphia, Terry Phillis stepped down as the city’s CIO. Phillis, who was appointed to the position by former Mayor John Street, was the last holdover from that administration. According to local news reports, Phillis was forced out over differences with city Managing Director Camille Cates Barnett on the implementaC O N T I N U E D O N PAG E 14 13 http://bestpractices.ca.gov

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

Government Technology - December 2008 Contents Point of View Four Questions for... On the Scene Big Picture Year in Review Who Controls Your Network? Paper Makes a Comeback Halting Meth Abuse Spectrum Up Close signal:noise Digital Communities Contents Becoming a Digital Community Rethinking 700 MHz Smart Grids: Powering the Future Gearing Up for Crime 2.0 Software Predicts Crime Local Portals on the Red Carpet More Than Just a Pretty Face

Government Technology - December 2008

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