Government Technology - December 2008 - (Page 15)

Missouri Portal Exceeds 10 Million Hits AUGUST — Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt’s Web-based initiative to increase government transparency and accountability marks its 10 millionth visitor. The Missouri Accountability Portal lets Missourians track tax dollars in near real time. The site — http://mapyourtaxes.mo.gov — is updated at the close of each business day to provide up-to-date access to state spending information. line between work and pleasure. Walk into many private-sector offices today and you’ll see young workers with multiple applications open on their desktops — chat windows, Facebook pages, video screens, etc. — some Committee work-related, others, maybe not. Allowing widespread adoption of these tools may be a tough transition for public agencies — and taxpayers — accustomed to strict separation of work and leisure. Yet, figuring out a practical way to accommodate some of this activity could improve collaboration within and among agencies — and it’ll likely happen anyway, with or without official approval. David Gardam, CIO of the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, said agencies must find ways to let young workers use Web 2.0 applications. “Technology isn’t a novelty for these workers; it’s a basic,” said Gardam, speaking in September at Government Technology’s GTC-East conference in Albany, N.Y. “We need to adopt these technologies, or our younger workers will use them around us.” Agencies in New York and elsewhere are modifying rules to allow greater use of social networking tools by state employees. Look for more of that to happen in the future. CIOs also spent time determining how Web 2.0 tools could be broadly used to interact with citizens and businesses. For instance, YouTube became a fairly common ALMOST ANYTIME TWO or more government officials gathered this year, a discussion about Web 2.0 or Millennials broke out. The issue hits state and local CIOs from different directions. Internally they must attract young workers to government employment, and the consensus is that revisiting work rules and adopting new collaborative Web technologies are part of the answer. Externally they need to interact with a generation of citizens addicted to social media and for whom e-mailing is old-fashioned. With thousands of aging public-sector employees set to retire in the next five years, managers are keenly aware of the need to attract younger workers to government service. Some experts believe 20-somethings now entering the work force are more inclined toward public service than their parents. Though most agencies can’t match private-sector pay, job stability and government retirement and health benefits also could prove attractive to these workers. On the other hand, Millennials want flexible hours and advanced technology from employers. Government will compete for the best of these workers with firms like Google, where instant messages outnumber phone calls and employees choose between PCs and Macs for their desktops. Telecommuting and four-day workweek initiatives will help address the flexibility issue. But government IT officials admit they have plenty of work to do on creating a Millennial-friendly job environment. One hurdle is the tension between traditional public workplace rules and collaborative Web 2.0 technologies that tend to blur the Web 2.0 and Millennials Virginia County Launches Wiki OCTOBER — Loudoun County launches a local version of Wikipedia, known as LoudounPedia. The site — www.loudounpedia.org — is an online encyclopedia of community knowledge written and edited by local residents and organizations. The site is the brainchild of librarian Brett Mason of the county’s public library system. Michigan County Hosts Blog Party SEPTEMBER — Nearly 2,500 residents of Oakland County, Mich., visit a blogging demonstration created by the county government over Labor Day weekend at a local arts festival. The goal of the project, called the “Blogin’ Café,” was to introduce novices to blogging. County government created and hosted www.blogincafe.com and supplied 35 computers for residents to use. Volunteers from the county IT department gave instruction. outlet for government information. California’s Department of Motor Vehicles offered drivers’ test demonstrations, and Washington, D.C., posted video of procurement conferences in an effort to boost competition for government projects. Seemingly frivolous sites like Facebook and Twitter are following suit. California Secretary of State Debra Bowen maintains a Facebook page to reach young voters. And public safety agencies, such as the Scottsdale, Ariz., Police and Los Angeles Fire Department, began using Twitter to distribute alerts and other data to citizens. Agencies didn’t completely resolve how to use Web 2.0 tools in government this year. But they spent a lot of time trying, and society ultimately will be better off thanks to those efforts. 15 http://mapyourtaxes.mo.gov http://www.loudounpedia.org http://www.blogincafe.com http://www.govtech.com

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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