Government Technology Magazine March 2009

100 BlueRavine Road �� Folsom, CA 95630 916-932-1300 ��

A PUBLICATION OF e.REPUBLIC VOL 22 ISSUE �� 03

�� SOLUTIONS FORSTATE ANDLOCAL GOVERNMENTINTHEINFORMATION AGE �� P AGE dtra Prepress Other CreativeDir. Editorial Designer

MARCH 2009 ® OK togo There’s a lot more here than you think.

Confidence. Customer information is rooted in a tangle of raw data—disorganized, inaccurate and hard to understand. With software from Pitney Bowes, disconnected data grows into solid business intelligence, branching out as a source of decisive answers. Companies in 85 countries use Pitney Bowes software to make confident decisions. You’ll find more confidence at pbconnect.com/IT.

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go A PUBLICATION OF e.REPUBLIC

inside: Going Mobile: Agencies deploy smartphones Weatherproof: Hurricane can’t stop Texas county

plus: California’s doers, mammoth dreamers& consolidation PAGE14 drivers www.govtech.comj

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go march 2009 features

govtech.com j 14

COVER STORY Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers Our annual salute to IT innovators in the public sector.

30 The Computer in Your Hand Smartphones enhance productivity and increase accessibility, but come with management and security issues. BY HILTON COLLINS 30 The inside pages of this publication are printed on 80 percent

e de-inked recycled fiber. 22 » ISSUE 3 VOLUME

Government Technology (ISSN# 1043-9668) is published monthly by Government Technology, 100 Blue Ravine Road, Folsom, CA 95630. Periodicals Postage Paid at Folsom, Calif., and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Government Technology, 100 Blue Ravine Road, Folsom, CA 95630 Copyright 2009 by e.Republic, Inc. All Rights Reserved. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Subscription inquiries should be directed to Government Technology, Attn: Circulation Director. 100 Blue Ravine Road, Folsom, CA 95630, 916/932-1300. Canada Post Publication Agreement #41578525, undeliverables 27496 Bath Road, Mississauga, Ontario L4T 1L2 or e-mail [email protected]. 3

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go march 2009 departments

36 Active Duty news Consolidating e-mail ‘communities’ govtech.com saves money and improves quality of 8 On the Scene j life for Missouri state employees. GT editors report from the road.

44 Spectrum Reports from the IT horizon. West Coast security 40 STATE | LOCAL | FEDERAL Consolidation California prepares to Active 46 Big Picture consolidate data centers Duty and e-mail systems — hey all worked for a single state government. But until recently, Missouri’s executive branch employ- Tees were dwelling in a wilderness of and save $1.5 billion. isolated IT villages. Products Each of the 14 departments used its own Microsoft Active Directory system, 48 the framework that organizes, secures and CONTRIBUTING WRITER controls access to network resources, ser- | Smartmatic, Alienware, Samsung, Solio vices and user accounts. Some departments AS used more than one, giving the state about 20 separate IT communities. Each community managed its own infrastructure — controlled its desktops, looked aft er its security, operated its peripherals and updated its soft ware. Each ran a separate e-mail system. If employees in diff erent BY MERRILL DOUGL BY communities needed to share data fi les, or even schedule multidepartment meetings on electronic calendars, they had to give employees special access to one another’s Putting 40,000 desktops on one Ac systems, saddling workers with extra user Directory system simplifies IT adm names and passwords to remember. Th e quality of life in these IT communities and saves Missouri millions of dol varied widely, said Bill Bott, former deputy CIO of Missouri, who resigned in January 2009 to seek other opportunities. “Some equitable access to IT resources. It’s also IT budgets, emp people were living in mansions; some people saving Missouri millions of dollars. the control of a si Telework Tackles were living in shacks.” Some, for example, had Missouri consolidated its data centers into discussed how 42 excellent antivirus protection, while others a single facility 10 years ago. But the state two ideas rose t scraped by with shareware. government was still running numerous IT the Active Direccolumns Over the past few years, though, Missouri operations. When departments failed to col- “forests,” and the replaced its hodgepodge of IT neighborhoods laborate on business challenges, many people utive branch ont Hurricane Ike with a single, full-service community. As part blamed that failure on the fact that they couldn’t of a broader eff ort to consolidate IT under the share data. Departments also conducted IT state CIO, it moved all 40,000 of its end-user projects in isolation — for example, imple- One Pair o accounts onto a single e-mail system and a menting content management systems with no Th e new en Remote-access network single Active Directory. thought to how they might share resources. gated commun Point of View Th is strategy, state offi cials said, stream- To address these problems, then-Gov. Matt services, Bott sai 09

_ 6 lined IT administration and gave users more Blunt promoted a move to put all of the state’s vices, a resident

maintained government MARCH 36 Meet Our 2009 Doers, services despite severe Dreamers and Drivers weather. 10 Up Close Smartphone-Friendly Sites

12 Four Questions for … Daniel Chan, CIO, New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance

50 signal:noise The Stimulus Dilemma

AN AWARD-WINNING PUBLICATION next month:

09 Muni Wi-Fi 2.0 _ Not everyone got caught in the 2007 municipal broadband meltdown. In April, survivors of the muni Wi-Fi bust offer Silver Folio: Editorial Excellence Award MARCH strategies for local governments seeking wireless connectivity. 4

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go (Guess who’s coming to the rescue.)(Guess who’s coming to the rescue.)(Guess who’s coming to the rescue.)

Your agency has more applications and the same size server room. May we suggest consolidation?

Hard drives sold separately 1 HP SMART BUY HP VMware® Infrastructure 3 HP StorageWorks® 2012i Dual Controller HP ProLiant DL380 G5 Rack-mount Server Enterprise Edition Modular Smart Array • Quad-Core Intel™ Xeon™ Processor E5430 (2.66GHz) • Increase hardware utilization by 50% to 70% • Manages growing storage requirements across multiple • Memory: 2GB std., 64GB max. (PC2-5300) • Decrease hardware and software capital HP ProLiant servers for customers who need a centralized • Hard drives: none ship std.; up to eight hot-swappable costs by 40% dedicated storage solution for applications SAS drive bays • Improve server-to-server administrator ratio • iSCSI SANs promote cost-effective growth and increased • 12MB Level 2 Cache (6MB per core) from 10:1 to 30:1 protection of the data in a familiar Ethernet environment • Two Embedded Dual NC373i Multifunction Gigabit • License plus one-year 9 x 5 support for • Offers a choice of drives: high-performance, enterprise-class server adapters two processors SAS drives and low-cost, high-capacity archival-class SATA

$ 05 Call CDW•G for pricing $ 38 2373 CDWG 1005579 8223 CDWG 1538649 CDWG 1404009

We’re there with the server solutions you need. The more your agency grows, the more it has a growing need for server consolidation. CDW•G can help you reduce the number of servers, while increasing capacity. Our personal account team knows the needs of your state and local agency. They’ll team up with server specialists to develop a solution that’s right for you. Then, we’ll custom configure your technology so that it works right when you get it. When you need more space, think consolidation. And think CDW•G. CDWG.com/stateandlocal 800.767.4239

1HP Smart Buy instant savings reflected in advertised price; HP Smart Buy instant savings is based on a comparison of the HP Smart Buy price versus the standard list price of an identical product; savings may vary based on channel and/or direct standard pricing; available as open market purchases only. Call your CDW•G account manager for details. Offer subject to CDW•G’s standard terms and conditions of sale, available at CDWG.com. ©2009 CDW Government, Inc.

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Group Publisher: DON PEARSON [email protected]

EDITORIAL point Editor: STEVE TOWNS [email protected] Associate Editors: EMILY MONTANDON [email protected] BY STEVE TOWNS CHAD VANDER VEEN [email protected] of view EDITOR Chief Copy Editor: MIRIAM JONES [email protected] Managing Editor: KAREN STEWARTSON [email protected] Justice and Public Safety Editor: JIM MCKAY [email protected] Copy Editor: ELAINE RUNDLE [email protected] Features Editor: ANDY OPSAHL [email protected] Assistant Editor: MATT WILLIAMS [email protected] Staff Writer: HILTON COLLINS [email protected] Editorial Assistant: CORTNEY TOWNS [email protected] Contributing Editor: TOD NEWCOMBE [email protected] Meet Our 2009 Doers, Contributing Writer: MERRILL DOUGLAS DESIGN Creative Director: KELLY MARTINELLI [email protected] Dreamers and Drivers Senior Designer: CRYSTAL HOPSON [email protected] Graphic Designers: MICHELLE HAMM [email protected] JOE COLOMBO [email protected] Illustrator: TOM MCKEITH [email protected] ne could argue the stakes have ment operations for the better. Our 2009 Top Production Director: STEPHAN WIDMAIER [email protected] never been higher for the gov- 25 list is no diff erent. Th ese are people who Production Manager: JOEI HEART [email protected] ernment IT community. Th e took the lead on using technology to solve PUBLISHING Orapidly tanking economy has sent problems, meet evolving expectations, and of VP Strategic Accounts: JON FYFFE [email protected] states and localities scrambling for automa- course, operate more effi ciently. VP Bus. Development: TIM KARNEY [email protected] tion that can reduce operating expenses or How did we choose these particular 25 EAST Regional Sales Directors: LESLIE HUNTER [email protected] produce new revenue — as long as that new people? Given the fact that there are tens EAST technology costs next to nothing to deploy. of thousands of public offi cials across the SHELLEY BALLARD [email protected] Self-service social benefi ts systems are being country doing valuable work, we chose our WEST, CENTRAL tested like never before, as unemployment Top 25 somewhat subjectively — but not Account Managers: MELISSA CANO [email protected] rises and jobless citizens turn to government without signifi cant consideration. GT’s edi- EAST ERIN HUX [email protected] programs for assistance. And there’s wide torial team and our corporate colleagues at WEST, CENTRAL

speculation that technology will play a sig- Government Technology Conferences and Business Development Dir.: GLENN SWENSON [email protected] Bus. Dev. Managers: KRISTA O’SULLIVAN [email protected] LISA DOUGHTY [email protected] These are people who took the lead KEVIN MAY [email protected] Exec. Coordinator to Publisher: JULIE MURPHY [email protected] Regional Sales Admins: SABRINA SHEWMAKE [email protected] on using technology to solve problems. CHRISTINE CHILDS [email protected] National Sales Admin: JENNIFER VALDEZ [email protected] Dir. of Marketing: ANDREA KLEINBARDT [email protected] nifi cant role in the Obama administration’s the Center for Digital Government collec- Dir. of Custom Events: WHITNEY SWEET [email protected] economic stimulus spending, which could tively interact each year with a huge number Associate Dir. of Custom Events: LANA HERRERA [email protected] Custom Events Coordinator: KARIN MORGAN [email protected] open the door to smart infrastructure invest- of public-sector professionals. We’ve worked Dir. of Custom Publications: STACEY TOLES [email protected] ments and other innovative projects — but personally with many of the individuals on Custom Publications Writer: JIM MEYERS [email protected] only if those dollars are spent wisely. this year’s Top 25 list. We believe they’re Dir. of Web Products and Services: VIKKI PALAZZARI [email protected] Web Services Manager: PETER SIMEK [email protected] Who will tackle these issues and dozens of people whose accomplishments deserve and Proj. Manager, Web Products others like them? Tech-savvy policymakers, demand recognition. Th is year, we also rec- and Services: MICHELLE MROTEK [email protected] visionary state and local CIOs, and forward- ognized two Internet entrepreneurs from Web Advertising Manager: JULIE DEDEAUX [email protected] Web Services/Proj. Coord.: ADAM FOWLER [email protected] thinking agency managers. In short, people the private sector who had a huge impact on Subscription Coordinator: GOSIA COLOSIMO [email protected]

very much like those honored in our 2009 President Barack Obama’s use of Web 2.0 CORPORATE Doers, Dreamers and Drivers issue. tools during the 2008 campaign. CEO: DENNIS MCKENNA [email protected] Since 2002, we’ve dedicated the March As we endure a year fraught with chal- Executive VP: DON PEARSON [email protected] lenges, a clear vision and leadership on tech- Executive VP: CATHILEA ROBINETT [email protected] issue of Government Technology to 25 people CAO: LISA BERNARD [email protected] who cut through the public sector’s infamous nology issues may be more important than CFO: PAUL HARNEY [email protected] barriers to innovation — tight budgets, orga- ever before. We’re confi dent that our 2009 VP of Events: ALAN COX [email protected] nizational inertia, politics as usual, etc. — to Doers, Dreamers and Drivers are prepared to Marketing Director: DREW NOEL [email protected] implement changes that reshaped govern- answer the call. Government Technology is published by e.Republic Inc. Copyright 2009 by e.Republic Inc. All rights reserved. Government Technology is a registered trademark of e.Republic Inc. Opinions expressed by writers are not necessarily those of the publisher or editors. Article submissions should be sent to the attention of the Managing Editor. Reprints of all articles in this issue and past issues are available (500 minimum). Please direct inquiries to the YGS Group: Attn. Erik Eberz at (800) 290-5460 ext.150 or [email protected].

j Subscription Information: Requests for subscriptions may be directed to Circulation Director Raise Your Voice by phone or fax to the numbers below. You can also subscribe online at www.govtech.com. Your opinions matter to us. Send comments about this issue to the editors [email protected].

Please list your telephone number for confirmation. Publication is solely at the discretion of the editors. 100 Blue Ravine Rd. Folsom, CA 95630

09 Government Technology reserves the right to edit submissions for length. Phone: (916) 932-1300 Fax: (916) 932-1470 _ www.govtech.com

MARCH PRINTED IN THE USA 6

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Govtech.com on the j Hot List Here are the 10 most popular stories on Govtech.com from Jan. 11, 2009 to Feb. 11, 2009. Site Reveals Salaries of New York scene State Employees Conservative think tank launches Web site with comprehensive state fi nancial data. Plasma Gasification Plan www.govtech.com/gt/articles/383701 Goes Up in Smoke 1j SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — The Sacra- Macs Appear on More Government Desktops Macs gain foothold in San mento City Council voted Jan. 15 to end Antonio and Washington, D.C. discussions on the potential construction www.govtech.com/gt/articles/617235 of a plasma arc gasifi cation facility to destroy garbage. An 8-0 vote directed the 2 Governments use Twitter for Emergency city to cease working with U.S. Science and Alerts, Traffi c Notices Agencies help move Technology (USST), the Sacramento-based free microblogging service beyond social company that proposed building the plant media novelty. at no cost to the city. told the City Council that while AES www.govtech.com/gt/579338 Sacramento Vice Mayor Lauren was unfamiliar with the slag market, $400 3Teri Takai: IT Consolidation Will Hammond said the facility wouldn’t meet per ton seemed too high an estimate, and state renewable energy standards, one of instead assigned it $0 value in its calculations. Be ‘Federated’California CIO says several reasons she couldn’t recommend “In our assessment, without the $400 consolidated data centers, e-mail and networks will save $1.5 billion. going forward. a ton slag, there would not be a positive www.govtech.com/gt/591614 Dean Tibbs, president of energy-consult- cash fl ow until the 11th year of operation,” 4 ing fi rm Advanced Energy Strategies Inc. Tibbs said. GT editors report from the roadGT Sex Offenders’ GPS Devices Not a Silver (AES), evaluated the proposal from USST on Hammond said, based on testimony Bullet, States Say Problems with GPS the city’s behalf. “The project does not look from multiple Council meetings on the monitoring of sex offenders beg a more economically attractive,” he told the Council. matter, she believed “plasma arc gasifi ca- thoughtful approach. USST had claimed the gasifi cation plant tion is not a certifi ably clean technology.” www.govtech.com/gt/596099 would make a profi t within two years from the She added that AES’s estimate that the sales of industrial slag — a byproduct of the facility would operate $70 million in the 5 Enterprise Architecture Demystifi ed gasifi cation process that can be used in road red means the plasma arc gasifi cation is What is enterprise architecture base, concrete and fertilizer. USST told AES “not quite ready” as a viable technology. and who is it intended to benefi t? www.govtech.com/gt/418008 j the slag could be sold at $400 per ton. Tibbs — CHAD VANDER VEEN, ASSOCIATE EDITOR 6 Top 10 Secrets of Earned Value Management A principles-oriented 2009 Texas CIO methodology for planning and of the Year Named executing projects. www.govtech.com/gt/393091 Collin County IT Director Caren PHOTO BY JACK PURYEAR Skipworth was named Texas CIO of 7 Gartner’s Top 10 Information the Year on Jan. 27 at Government Tech- Technology Predictions for 2009 nology’s GTC Southwest 2009 in Austin. Poor economy will drive growth of server As IT director of the fast-growing virtualization and cloud computing. www.govtech.com/gt/articles/617530 north Texas county, Skipworth promoted intergovernmental collaboration and pro- 8 vided innovative leadership, according to New York State Cancels Wireless judges. She oversaw the creation of a fi ber Network Contract CIO Melodie communication network shared by Collin Mayberry-Stewart says vendor failed to deliver a reliable network.

County, local community colleges and a j www.govtech.com/gt/586601 handful of area cities. She also orches- Skipworth, who joined Collin County trated her IT department’s relocation from in 1990, said she was honored to win the 9 Napolitano Issues Immigration and a 24-year-old data center to a new facility award and thanked her “talented and 09

_ Border Security Directive U.S. Home- over two weekends using only county staff, dedicated” staff. “I’m very proud of this,” land Security secretary announces a which saved the jurisdiction $76,000 on she said. “I believe technology is the wide-ranging action directive. MARCH the move alone. catalyst for change.” — STEVE TOWNS, EDITOR www.govtech.com/gt/614634 8 10

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go A government fforor the people is not an abstract concept here. YouYou’re’re the ones out there maintaining roads, inspecting buildings and doing all the other work that keeps this nation moving forward. It’s not always glamorous, but if it doesn’t get done, things tend to fall apart. And fast. With GPS tracking, know the exact location of your crews, so you can ﬁ nd the closest team and respond immediately. And with Talkgroup,SM help resolve situations quickly by putting up to 200 experts at the scene with the fastest national push-to-talk network connecting the world’s largest push-to-talk community. Because with a few million bosses out there, you’ve got to work fast. Nextel Direct Connect.® Only on the Now Network.™ To see Nextel Direct Connect in action,, ggo to sprint.com/nextelp

“Fastest” claim based on initial call setup time. GPS: Requires GPS and Java-enabled phone. Environment may limit GPS location info. Coverage not available everywhere. Nextel National Network reaches over 274 million people. ©2008 Sprint. Sprint and the logo are trademarks of Sprint. MOTOROLA and the Stylized M Logo are registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Other marks are the property of their respective owners.

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j j Phone Home Page BY CHAD VANDER VEEN ASSOCIATE EDITOR How well do state government Web sites perform on mobile devices?

As mobile technology transforms from novelty to necessity, millions of Web sites are being optimized Nevada’s www.nv.gov makes zero effort to better serve users who access them via to accommodate those browsing on a mobile devices. Th e mobile devices people smartphone. On a PC, the site offered a text-only version in one menu, but that link use to access these sites are also changing. vanished when the site was accessed using Laptops and tablet PCs remain common, the phone. And while Gov. Jim Gibbons is a but more people are surfi ng the Web on handsome fellow, there are too many large images of him plastered throughout the site. smartphones using preinstalled mobile- Mobile version? No browser soft ware. In many cases, this Text-only version? Yes and No soft ware is proprietary, and depending on a user’s network or location, Web D- browsing speeds can vary greatly. To keep click counts high, more Web sites off er users a mobile version of existing sites. Due to phones’ small screens, cumbersome interfaces and diff ering speeds, these mobile sites — oft en at a URL such as http://m.sitename.com or www.sitename. mobi — typically display fewer and lower- resolution graphics and feature hyperlinks to only the most pertinent information. So how has this movement to mobility changed state government Surﬁ ng Arizona’s www.az.gov on the Web sites? Th at’s the question BlackBerry is wearisome. Seemingly no thought was given to mobile-phone users Government Technology sought to during its design. Arizona’s site inexplicably investigate. In our test, we visited every uses a blue font on a blue background, so state Web site on both a desktop PC and links are very hard to see. On the phone, the site is basically one long list of nearly a BlackBerry Curve to see which sites invisible links interrupted by random graphics. were best for smartphone browsing. Mobile version? No State sites were graded using an A, B, C, Text-only version? No D, F scale. Th ese grades don’t refl ect a F site evaluation as viewed on a PC or laptop. Th e grades apply strictly to how the sites function on a BlackBerry Curve. In the interest of full disclosure, our site, www.govtech.com, does not feature a version optimized for mobile phones or a text-only version. However, it does include mobile browsing grades for all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

08 09 _ MARCH 10

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go For a small state, Maine’s Web site, www.maine.gov, is big on features and services. On the PC it’s a terrifi c site with a ton of useful stuff. On the BlackBerry, the same is true. Maine offers one of the best mobile sites. Our BlackBerry had trouble clicking on what appeared to be a mobile-version link at the top of the page. That The mobile version of Michigan’s and the lack of a text-only version www.mi.gov is blessedly simple were the only imperfections. and useful. The text-only version Mobile version? Yes is OK — basically the PC version Text-only version? No + of the site sans graphics, which A technically is what a text-only version should be. For the purposes of this analysis, Michigan’s Delaware’s www.de.gov is site scores in every area. among the best state Web sites for mobile users, Mobile version? Yes offering both mobile and Text-only version? Yes + text-only versions. The mobile A version is pleasantly svelte, featuring just 10 frequently clicked links. The text- Nebraska’s Web site, www.nebraska.gov, only version is orderly and is no stranger to accolades and awards. It alphabetical. The site’s only includes both mobile and text-only versions. fl aw was that it didn’t auto- The site automatically detected our mobile matically detect the mobile device. Links were clear and arranged in a phone, keeping it from seemingly logical fashion. Graphics are kept earning a perfect A+. to a minimum and there’s not an unwanted press release anywhere in sight — or in site. Mobile version? Yes Text-only version? Yes Mobile version? Yes A Text-only version? Yes + A Pennsylvania’s www.pa.gov offers neither mobile nor text-only versions. Still, the bare- bones site looks as if it would translate well to mobile use. Unfortunately it did not. It’s With all the tourists and a great site on a PC, but on a smartphone politicians running around pa.gov looks like a criminal’s journal that Washington, D.C., one detectives fi nd in the movies — pages and expects this site to be pages of craziness. smartphone-friendly. But Mobile version? No that’s not the case. The Text-only version? No site — while pleasant on D- the PC — devolves into an The Texas site — www.texasonline.com incomprehensible mess — is a joy to behold for BlackBerry users. on a BlackBerry. Too many It greets users with several display options: images and Flash apps make normal, text, mobile and even a printer- navigating www.dc.gov friendly version. The mobile version works unpleasant. And it apparently beautifully, it’s free of graphics and has lacks a text-only version. only the most important links along with Mobile version? No a few Texas-related news links. Text-only version? No Mobile version? Yes D Text-only version? Yes + A

Louisiana’s Web site, www.la.gov, is charming when viewed on a PC. That charm quickly fades on the BlackBerry. There are no mobile or text-only versions. The site includes huge gaps of white space, a dizzying assortment of photos, and a vexing jumble of news, links and services — all of which make it exceedingly hard to navigate on a smartphone. Mobile version? No Text-only version? No

D- To see the complete results for all 50 states and Washington, D.C., visit www.govtech.com

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LAST YEAR, CIO DANIEL CHAN LED THE DEVELOP- MENT AND DEPLOYMENT OF MYBENEFITS, A WEB PORTAL THAT LETS LOW-INCOME FAMILIES APPLY Four FOR FOOD STAMPS AND CHECK ELIGIBILITY FOR A RANGE OF SOCIAL SERVICES. THE PROJECT WAS COMPLETED IN LESS THAN 17 WEEKS, LEADING

j CHAN TO BE NAMED NEW YORK STATE PUBLIC-SECTOR CIO OF THE YEAR AT GOVERNMENT Questions TECHNOLOGY’S GTC EAST IN ALBANY, N.Y. Daniel Chan How was myBeneﬁ ts created so quickly? CIO, NEW YORK STATE OFFICE We started the project to provide the tools to OF TEMPORARY AND increase food stamp enrollment. We had a clear DISABILITY ASSISTANCE target to increase enrollment by 100,000 families by the end of 2009. We worked backward to determine how much time we had to build the tools and then do the outreach for enrollment.

PHOTO BY MICHAEL OKONIEWSKI PHOTO BY 1 We determined we had about 20 weeks to get it done. So it was deﬁ nitely a business-driven endeavor. We were fortunate to have strong support at the agency level, and strong interest at the governor’s ofﬁ ce. I call it a perfect project because we had high-level executive support, and the people who had to make it happen had the strategy and vision.

Why did you take the portal approach? We found that it was typical for low-income families to take time off from work to visit a social service ofﬁ ce to apply for beneﬁ ts, so that’s been a barrier. The idea was to provide a tool that lets citizens enter information online, 2and based on that, we have internal logic in the application that will identify the programs clients may be eligible for. Then, if they choose to, they can apply online.

How does it work? We came up with an intelligent question set. We tried to make it a process people can complete in fi ve minutes. Questions are constructed [so] a person with a fourth-grade reading level [can] comprehend and answer. We leveraged 3Web technology so you don’t need a really sophisticated computer to access it; all you need is a browser. Once you enter myBenefi ts, you answer some questions and the applica- We leveraged tion collects your data and automatically popu- Web technology lates it into the back-end Welfare Management so you don’t System. At that point, you are offi cially applying need a really for benefi ts. sophisticated How are citizens responding to myBenefi ts? computer to It was launched at the end of May 2008. By late September, we were seeing about 20,000 visits access it; all every two months. We’ll continue to advertise you need is a and market the service. We had 13 town hall browser. 4meetings throughout the state. We wanted to start slowly to ensure people were comfortable with the new tool and process. 09 _

MARCH WATCH GTtv’S INTERVIEW WITH DAN CHAN BY STEVE TOWNS, EDITOR 12 AT WWW.GOVTECH.COM/GT/MULTIMEDIA.

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Behind technology serving citizens is the same great team with a new name.

Behind helping governments serve team now under a new name: EDS, an HP company. You can continue to rely on Saber’s proven solutions in elections, motor vehicle administration, revenue and tax, child care, child support, unemployment insurance and public retirement – combined with the expertise of the world’s largest technology company. You can turn to the ally you’ve always counted on. eds.com/stateandlocal

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Since 2002, we’ve dedicated the March issue of Government Technology to 25 people who cut through the public sector’s infamous barriers to innovation — tight budgets, organizational inertia, politics as usual, etc. — to implement changes that reshaped government operations for the better. Congratulations to our 2009 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers.

doers, dreamers&drivers Debra Bowen Jon Huntsman Jr. Mark Pray David Clark Randell Iwasaki Patrick Quain Susan Combs Steve Jennings J. Pari Sabety Paul Cosgrave Gopal Khanna Richard Siemer Jascha Franklin-Hodge Vivek Kundra Andy Stein Stevan Gorcester Dan Lohrmann Ken Theis Dustin Haisler David MacDonald Doug Thomas Chris Hughes Roy Mentkow Bill Willis Dominic Nessi 09 _ MARCH 14

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TOP WASHINGTON TRANSPORTATION 25 IMPROVEMENT Stevan BOARD During Hurricane Rita in 2005, the network include federal, state and local Harris County and Houston staged one of the public safety and law enforcement agencies, biggest evacuations in history, with 2.4 million fi re and public works departments, cities, Gorcester people vacating the area within 24 hours. counties, public schools, university systems, And they did it without communication the Texas Medical Center and private air When Stevan Gorcester became exec- problems, thanks partly to Harris County ambulance services. utive director of Washington state’s Transpor- CIO Steve Jennings and the countywide As CIO of Harris County, Jennings also tation Improvement Board (TIB) in 2001, the 800 MHz trunked radio system. oversees an IT staff of more than 16,000 agency, which distributes funding for trans- Harris County’s neighbors didn’t fare employees at 278 locations. Th e county serves portation projects, was struggling. According as well, and aft er hurricanes Katrina and nearly 4 million residents. Th at’s a lot of IT to Gorcester, projects weren’t being tracked, Rita devastated Louisiana’s West Baton needs, and Jennings fulfi lls those needs by and more were in the works than could be Rouge Parish and Port of Greater Baton concentrating on a few key points: creating fi nancially sustained, leading state lawmakers Rouge, the areas’ offi cials looked to Jennings a robust and secure infrastructure to ensure to mull eliminating the TIB. and Harris County for insight on interoper- bandwidth; modernizing application delivery; “We were in some hurt, and the Legislature able communications. and reorienting the organizational culture to had kind of lost faith in us,” Gorcester said. What they found was a regional commu- adapt to increased mobility and a new genera- Today the outlook is diff erent. Th e TIB has nications network with 133 channels and 17 tion of workers joining the public sector. a good handle on the data it needs to make tower sites serving 11 counties; a system that Th at approach creates what Jennings calls good decisions, and that data is available supports nearly 35,000 users and more than a fl exible, fl uid network to fi t the needs of the online. TIB’s performance dashboard gathers 500 agencies with a coverage area larger than customer. data from internal project databases and dis- many states’ total land area. Subscribers to JIM McKAY JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY EDITOR plays project status, fi nances, road conditions and more in real time. A Google mash-up can also overlay the dashboard data on a map. “Legislators, auditors, the Governor’s Offi ce, performance people in the state all think we know what’s going on with our business,” he said. “Th e fact is, because of this, we do.” In 2006, the Legislature gave the TIB additional money to improve small-town streets. Because many small municipalities don’t have the resources to rate their own roadways, the TIB is doing it and making the data available via the dashboard. Gorces- ter said the dashboard also helps the agency determine whether it would be cheaper for important projects to be rebuilt rather than repaired. “We know more about the conditions of small towns’ streets than probably any of them do.” EMILY MONTANDON ASSOCIATE EDITOR

JenningsSteve EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CENTER AND CIO, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS

PHOTO BY KELLY LaDUKE PHOTO BY KELLY LaDUKE 15

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go “Technology provides a service, What were you doing when you and if it’s eff ective, it’s a right fi t for your were in your early 20s? Some people were organization and it changes the way you enrolled in college, seeking enlightenment do business, obviously, for the better,” said through overseas travel or maybe lounging Roy Mentkow, director of technology for on the couch and watching TV. Roanoke, Va. It’s a safe bet that there aren’t too many With this outlook, Roanoke has been in that age group working as public-sector shaped into a technology leader, earning the CIOs. But that’s exactly the job for 22-year- title of Top Digital City six out of the last eight old Dustin Haisler, CIO of Manor, Texas, a years for the 75,000 to 124,999 population cat- smallish suburb outside of Austin. egory in the Center for Digital Government’s Haisler started working in banking for the Digital Cities survey. city in March 2006, but he quickly realized Mentkow has been in the IT industry since technology leadership was needed. He took 1981 and before that worked in every indus- on the role of redesigning the city’s technology try imaginable, he said. His fi rst job with infrastructure and re-evaluating all depart- Roanoke was in public safety as a team lead, ments’ operations. Th e goal was to increase Randell when Mentkow discovered he enjoyed pro- effi ciency and focus on cost-eff ectiveness. Th e viding a service more than making a profi t. big hurdle was that the city lacked the money CHIEF DEPUTY DIRECTOR, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT Mentkow looks for creative and cost-eff ec- to buy “standard” products. So Haisler and Iwasaki OF TRANSPORTATION tive IT solutions. When high gas prices in the city got creative. 2008 prompted more commuters to use the Aft er more than two decades with city bus system , the technology department the California Department of Transportation added free Wi-Fi to two buses for around (Caltrans), Randell Iwasaki has proved to be $100. He saw this as a moment of inspiration an innovator in environmental engineering, to aid the public. recognizing the relationship between trans- “I always have the same goal — and it’s portation and climate change. never-ending — and that is to transform our Recognizing that today’s transportation environment with the eff ective use of tech- system is more than just steel and concrete, nology,” he said. Iwasaki is leading California’s eff ort to mod- Other initiatives include a community ernize this critical infrastructure by integrating Web portal, which contains a real estate and Dustin intelligent transportation systems (ITS) tech- neighborhood search function. And it extends nologies that help reduce traffi c congestion, as a mobile portal, letting citizens access infor- cut emissions and energy use, and improve mation from smartphones or laptops. Haisler safety and effi ciency. “Th e most important thing we believe here CIO, MANOR, TEXAS Under Iwasaki’s leadership, California as a technology department, is that we’re not “For instance, we use Google Earth for our adopted a range of cost-eff ective transpor- in the technology business,” Mentkow said. GIS system, and overlay updated imagery, or tation solutions that include traffi c signal “We honestly, as a unit, accept that we are in ‘plats,’ given to us by developers to further optimization; active traffi c management and the customer-service business. Our expertise enhance our database,” Haisler said. “And as incident response systems; electronic weigh- is in technology, but we are here to service far as I know, we were the fi rst city to put a in-motion capabilities; open road tolling; customers. We’re problem-solvers.” thin client in a police car instead of going with smart transit systems; highway ramp meter- ELAINE RUNDLE STAFF WRITER the [standard rugged laptop] solution. We ing; and advanced traveler information. were also an early adopter of Web 2.0.” At Caltrans, Iwasaki led several environ- DIRECTOR OF Under Haisler’s guidance, Manor recently TECHNOLOGY, mental engineering innovations: recycling old ROANOKE, VA. affi xed “quick response” codes on local build- tires into rubberized asphalt; the installation ings and tourist spots. Citizens can scan of LED traffi c lights that cut power costs by the codes with a cell phone, which pulls up $2 million annually; and converting Caltrans’ pertinent information on the phone’s Web equipment fl eet to run on clean-burning fuels. browser. Haisler also is tinkering at home Iwasaki manages the daily operations with a system that would integrate Bluetooth at Caltrans, including an operating budget in a handgun, so when a police offi cer draws of nearly $10 billion and more than 21,000 his weapon, it would signal the in-car camera employees. A licensed civil engineer, Iwasaki to start recording. managed the $8.6 billion Toll Bridge Seismic It’s quite a workload for someone who is Retrofi t Program in 2005 and served as Cal- fi nishing his college degree and is married

09 trans’ interim director in 2004. with two small boys. _ Roy JIM McKAY JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY EDITOR MATT WILLIAMS ASSISTANT EDITOR MARCH 16 Mentkow

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Efk_`e^`jnfij\k_XeXjfclk`fek_Xk[f\je¨khl`k\¯k%

K\oXjFec`e\f]]\ijZljkfd`q\[#]lcc$j\im`Z\\$^fm\ied\ekjfclk`fej% 8ef]]$k_\$j_\c]jfclk`fe`jf]k\eefjfclk`feXkXcc%

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Doug Thomas INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER, LINCOLN, NEB.

Since 1991, information services manager Doug Th omas has helped Lincoln, Neb., deliver state-of-the-art services to citizens. Over a 26-year career with the city, Th omas also has been Lincoln’s assistant treasurer and managed the 911-dispatch center for fi re and police. Th omas came to the information services division as a businessperson looking to support the IT staff ’s operation. His background aff orded him a unique view of how technology could help citizens. In 1994, Lincoln rolled out its fi rst high- profi le online application, a property system that lists the assessor’s property information Vivek and payment and demographic data. “We were maybe the second or third [city] in the

Kundra PHOTO BY JOHN HARRINGTON U.S. to have property information available,” CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, WASHINGTON, D.C. Th omas said. “Hardly anyone had heard about putting traditional, mainframe data out Th e 2009 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers awarded prize money in November 2008 to on the Web.” have star power, but arguably none more so contestants who built open source mash-up In 1999, Lincoln began simulcasting City than Vivek Kundra, the CTO of Washington, applications that integrate the data feeds. Council meetings over the Web, another D.C. Since he was named CTO in 2007, he has Th e philosophy is that citizens can be co- advanced technology for the time. “One become recognized as an innovative leader creators of good government. Th e public thing that made ours unique was that we who relishes the opportunity to “democra- submitted 47 applications in 30 days — the made all of the documentation supporting tize” data. contest cost only $50,000. “Th e beauty of it is its actions available online with hot links to “My fi rst approach coming into the public that when we were going through the judging, documents,” he said. sector here in D.C. was to take as much data a large part of the conversation was about how Now citizens can conduct a seemingly and put it out in the public domain as pos- to take these applications and deploy them in endless list of tasks online, everything from sible. I had three goals in mind: No. 1 was to government operations,” Kundra said. paying parking tickets and water bills to reserv- drive transparency; No. 2 was to engage citi- To control costs in the district’s IT budget, ing tee times at municipally owned golf courses. zens; No. 3 was to ensure that we were low- Kundra transformed project management by For the last eight years in the Center for ering the cost of government operations,” treating every project like a publicly traded Digital Government’s Digital Cities survey, Kundra said. stock. Th e most effi cient projects get addi- Lincoln has ranked in the top 10 for cities with How did he achieve this? He put 216 data tional capital, and underperforming ones a population of 125,000 to 249,999. feeds onto the Washington, D.C., Web site don’t. Th is included in-house soft ware. “We’re trying to bring government to the so the general public could easily access real- Kundra picked low-cost Google Apps for his people — so that they have government 24/7 time feeds — in XML and other formats — of department rather than building a $4 million — or at least make as many things as possible everything from building permits to road kill intranet. MATT WILLIAMS ASSISTANT EDITOR

09 available through the Internet,” Th omas said. pickups. With this in place, the district spon- _ ELAINE RUNDLE STAFF WRITER sored the Apps for Democracy contest, which MARCH 18

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Thought Leadership Profile: Cisco

New Era in Public Safety Powerful new technologies use existing infrastructure to improve safety without huge costs.

ublic safety and security are on more people’s Whether the need is for asset protection, Pminds these days, and with good reason. Many video surveillance, video analytics, network secu- high-profile incidents in recent years have changed rity, building access control or a variety of other the way government leaders look at public safety and security measures, public-sector agencies can get security. It’s not a matter to be taken lightly. what they require from the Safety and Security Fortunately for public-sector leaders — and for Solution Portfolio. the public — new technology tools are proving The portfolio provides a lot of flexibility. Cisco to be valuable, cost-effective allies in providing and its industry-leading partners offer a unique set security. The power of these tools is greatly multi- of possibilities. It’s a strong package that can’t be plied when they’re tightly integrated in the “closed duplicated. Cisco’s open platform allows partners loop” continuum of Cisco’s Safety and Security to engage the network and each other, building Solution Portfolio. The portfolio contains numer- on other partner capabilities for a much stronger ous options that help governments cover five key security presence. steps when it comes to dealing with a variety of Most public-sector agencies have built their hazards and threats: prepare, prevent, detect, assess security systems in a more piecemeal fashion. The and respond. result is a collection of disparate systems that often The portfolio is based on a secure, multiservice can’t communicate with each other — and certainly network infrastructure. It’s a network that can can’t communicate as quickly as a system with the handle all kinds of data, whether it’s simple e-mail latest tools. or more complicated audio and video. With the Cisco combines an organization’s existing infra- network’s open platform, it can easily integrate structure, its own proven solutions and its partners’ Cisco’s partners, allowing governments and educa- technologies to significantly expand an organizational institutions to put together the exact pieces tion’s safety and security capabilities. By leveraging they need to protect the public, borders, facilities, an organization’s existing equipment, it can add big infrastructure, students and employees. value in a cost-effective manner.

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Safety and Security: A Five-Step Process

The result is a nimble, integrated system that can automatically respond to many incidents. Early warning tools, Safeguard continuity and And when human decisions are needed, decision- re employees, citizens, situation response pa P property and assets plans re re makers have a wealth of information in an easy- P ve n to-grasp format. That enables quicker, better t

decisions, which means improved safety for

employees, students, responders and the public. s p

n t The Five-Step Continuum d c e t Prepare, prevent, detect, assess and respond: It’s a e cycle that’s based on federal government recommen- D Coordinate real-time Enable instant communication notiﬁ cation of security A during emergencies ssess breaches and threats CASE STUDY

Interoperable Determine scope Communications of incident and How can five jurisdictions communicate next actions seamlessly with each other when they’re on separate, private radio networks? For dations for public safety. It’s about creating a cohe- Prevent — Solid prevention keeps people law enforcement and emergency response sive system for better protection and responsiveness. safe. Whether it’s a video surveillance camera or agencies near the Virginia/North Carolina border, the answer was an IP-based com- By taking this holistic approach, governments and building access controls, strong technology makes munications system from Cisco. The educational organizations can have security systems employees, citizens, property and assets safer. solution leveraged the existing IP net- in which the parts complement each other for better In physical security, video surveillance cameras work and equipment, keeping costs low. overall performance. are showing up in more places than ever before. Expenditures were 10 percent of what The five-step continuum is best seen as a circle That’s because they’re effective. New cameras can they would have been if each agency or loop. Closing that loop as tightly as possible see more detail, and sending the signals over an IP changed to the same system. means moving information to the right place at network gives a lot of flexibility in how images are Public-sector agencies in the Danville, the right time — with no latency or delay. It can viewed. Even the mere presence of video cameras Va., area have seen significant results. Now, be the difference between life and death. for example, it’s no longer common for Prepare — The federal government highly speeding cars to get away at the state recommends preparation for threats and disas- border. Prior to the new system, they could, because different police departments ters of all kinds for state and local governments. couldn’t communicate well. That scenario The federal government follows the National occurred about 200 times each year. Incident Management System (NIMS), which Cisco’s IP Interoperability and includes heavy emphasis on continuity of opera- Collaboration System (IPICS) made it all tions (COOP) planning. possible. IPICS converts disparate com- A COOP plan lets an organization continue munications signals so they can be operating through a variety of security incidents. carried over an ordinary IP network. Thus Business continuity plans have served the private communications from different devices, sector well. Governments should lay out their frequencies and departments are smoothly continuity plans too. Preparing for all possible integrated, and each agency can talk to security threats is a key first step. One way to other jurisdictions on the system, regard- less of their individual equipment and prepare is to have Internet protocol (IP) networks infrastructure. linked to physical security systems. This enables video, sensors, alarms, notifications and more.

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go CASE STUDY

can prevent incidents, as criminals don’t want to Pandemic Planning and Response be seen on camera. Network security can be improved too, with Oakland County, Mich., challenged itself allowed both analog and IP cameras to stream — and won — with an ambitious exercise in flu video over the Internet to the emergency opera- stronger internal security policies and applica- pandemic planning and response. Using Cisco tions center (EOC) and various devices. tions that enforce them. Proper emphasis on communications to keep numerous staffers and The Oakland County Health Division (OCHD) network security can prevent cyber-attacks from agencies on the same page, the county vacci- led the exercise, which included the county damaging systems. nated 12,096 residents in five hours. It took a lot executive’s office, county IT, hospitals, police Detect — Security breaches and other threats of cross-boundary planning and collaboration, and fire departments, medical responders and can do serious damage if they go undetected for but the exercise was highly successful. others in the community. The OCHD organized even a short time. A strong security system can The county brought in Cisco to provide a the EOC, various responders, and the staging notify administrators of physical and network network-centric communication and situation- of vaccine-dispensing locations in schools, hos- security issues immediately. Access control sys- al awareness platform. This allowed a broad pitals and other public buildings. It was a big tems, for example, can detect not only actual array of organizations to communicate and job, but the Cisco platform enabled seamless breaches, but also attempted breaches. If someone work together efficiently. Cisco deployed IPICS communication, and the county is now better and Video Surveillance Manager (VSM). VSM prepared for a flu pandemic. tries to gain entry by swiping a bad card, they won’t get in, and the system can alert people of the attempt. If someone physically forces a door open, Video analytics — software that watches secu- system will know about it and can alert admin- the system will be aware of that too, and can set rity video so people don’t have to — can alert istrators. If a person leaves a bag outside a door off alarms and alerts automatically. authorities upon “seeing” several types of inci- and then walks away, video analytics can spot that Surveillance cameras can be linked to gunshot dents. For example, analytics can catch someone too. It can also raise an alert if someone crosses detectors. Sensors not only pick up gunshots, they trying to “tailgate” their way through an access the sidewalk outside the building at 3 a.m., can also alert officers and trigger a surveillance point. If someone swipes a badge to properly for example. camera to move toward the source of the sound. gain entry, and someone else follows them in, the There are numerous other kinds of sensors that can be linked into the network. Some of these Decision-makers need to determine the scope of the incident and decide sense light, radioactivity, heat and other changes on the actions needed in response. The more situational awareness they in conditions. Assess — Once an incident has been detected, have, the better decisions they can make. the assessment phase becomes critical. Decision- makers need to determine the scope of the CASE STUDY incident and decide on the actions needed in response. The more situational awareness they A Sound Investment have, the better decisions they can make. Command centers today can be much more The Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC) pro- enabled highly reliable communications for the effective than in the past. Data flows in and is vides fire protection services for 129 counties. GFC and agencies it interacts with. The GFC needs a dependable communications The solution improved interagency collabora- displayed on monitors so decision-makers can system, both internally and with local firefight- tion and also improved policy compliance, as grasp the entire situation quickly. Video can be ing agencies. Other state agencies, such as the different channels were established for different displayed along with contextual information, and Georgia State Patrol, also rely on the GFC radio types of communication. Return on investment it can be complemented with views from any network when out of range of their regional was also positive since the new system was paid perspective and 3-D modeling. It works much networks. for within three years with the savings realized better than trying to piece together data from Previously radio traffic between districts trav- by turning off the analog circuits. disparate systems. eled over leased analog circuits. That proved to IPICS is also expected to enable more Much of the information can be displayed be not only too expensive, but also undepend- elaborate projects in the future for the on maps. It’s all about putting the information able at times. The answer was Cisco’s IPICS GFC, which now has the flexibility to adopt together in a meaningful way. Cisco and its part- and a multiprotocol label-switching (MPLS) vir- regional or centralized dispatch as the ners allow safety officials to quickly understand tual private network (VPN). IPICS and the VPN needs arise. a situation. Proper assessment helps dictate an

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go appropriate response. Officials don’t want to send 50 vehicles to a false alarm. Respond — Taking the proper response to a security event can be critical. Communication is often a key part of that response. Cisco’s

CASE STUDY

Fewer Silos, Better Public Safety The Sheriff’s Office in Boulder County, Colo., wanted to foster better communication among agencies, while also improving productivity. It succeeded at both with the help of Cisco. The Sheriff’s Office used the existing Cisco network infrastructure as the foundation for a new, IP-based communications system. IP Interoperability and Collaboration System The Network Foundation Cisco’s IPICS was instrumental in provid- (IPICS) enables interoperable communications, The continuum works when it’s based on a ing better service for the Sheriff’s Office. so multiple jurisdictions can talk to each other secure, multiservice network. A solid network IPICS enabled the creation of virtual talk groups, which allow people on a number no matter what type of equipment they have. foundation lets responders and decision-makers of different devices to participate in a Unified communications, mobile messaging do their best work. The end result is greater safety discussion. Participants can use radio sys- and wireless communication may all be needed for government employees, students and the tems, IP phones, cell phones or PCs to in an emergency. Alerts and notifications must be general public. connect with others. sent. Cisco’s Digital Media System (DMS) gives The network links in with quality-of-service, The interoperable system also enabled digital signage and mobile messaging capabilities application optimization and other key elements. better service and safety for the pub- for emergency notification. Cisco and its partners These and other enhancements allow the network lic, a safer environment for officers, and can help officials reach key people no matter to perform at the highest possible level. The net- countywide collaboration. Boulder County where they are. Virtual talking groups can be cre- work knows how to handle the different types of is a mountainous region, making recep- ated instantly, to get all the various responders on data coming over it and how to prioritize that tion unpredictable with traditional radios. the same page. data for optimum efficiency. That’s no longer a problem. Evaluate Cisco understands the importance of using The flexibility that accompanies an IP- — Once an agency has gone through based solution will pay dividends for years the five steps with an actual event, it should review the tools that are available. With its own exper- to come. It’s much more dynamic than the the process. How did the process go? What could tise and that of its partners, Cisco helps govern- traditional land-mobile radio system. In be done better next time? This after-action analy- ments and educational organizations across the fact, the Sheriff’s Office sees much poten- sis allows an organization to fine-tune its five-step country make the most of their current systems tial for even more interoperability and is process and make it stronger. The process is never while stepping up to the next level — better planning several projects. actually done. It’s a continuum; it keeps going. It’s safety and security for assets, employees, students always time to prepare for the next incident. and the public.

For more information call: 408-526-4000 or 800-553-6387 www.cisco.com/go/govsafety

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go TOP CIO, NEW YORK CITY AND COMMISSIONER, NEW 25 YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY In August 2007 — just months who make tough decisions without regard to Paul AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS before the Feb. 5, 2008, presidential primary — personal or professional consequences. California Secretary of State Debra Bowen Th e decision also put Bowen — a longtime Cosgrave pulled the plug on the use of e-voting technology proponent — in the unusual posi- machines in the state. tion of delaying improvements that e-voting Every public CIO job is demand- Th e decision didn’t endear Bowen to advocates contended were long overdue. ing. But holding that position in New York e-voting machine vendors or California As a rookie lawmaker in 1993, she authored City must rank among the most taxing in counties, which had sunk $450 million into a bill that put California legislative informa- government. Th ere are more than 7 million new voting hardware. But Bowen contends tion online — a fi rst in the nation. Th at same customers and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s that she had no choice aft er commissioning year, Bowen sought to become the fi rst Cali- high expectations for service delivery (you exhaustive security reviews of touchscreen fornia lawmaker with an offi cial e-mail don’t build a multibillion dollar company and e-voting technology, formally known as address. She was successful, but only win two elections in the country’s largest city direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting aft er winning special permission from on a reputation of poor service). Paul Cos- machines. the Assembly Rules Committee. grave, who has been CIO since 2006, is in the “It was really clear that there was Bowen said her experience with hot seat. no way we could guarantee existing technology helped her spot security Despite the pressures that come with the equipment in the fi eld had not fl aws in e-voting technology. “Th e job, Cosgrave has managed to deliver — both already been compromised, and that more time someone has spent on the externally to New York citizens and inter- we could not prevent compromises inside of the soft ware and computer nally to city agencies. In July 2008, Cosgrave from aff ecting future elections,” she industry, the more likely they are to told the Center for Digital Government that said in a 2008 interview with Govern- express to me their concerns about his Department of Information Technol- ment Technology. relying on computers for tallying and ogy and Telecommunications (DoITT) was Bowen’s stand garnered national recording the vote,” she said. “People planning or executing fi ve major IT proj- recognition in May 2008, when the John F. who have been inside know all the things that ects, including a broadband wireless network Kennedy Library Foundation chose her for can go wrong.” designed to serve police, fi re and numerous its John F. Kennedy Proﬁ le in Courage STEVE TOWNS EDITOR city agencies — which will eventually cover Award. Th e award recognizes public offi cials the entire city — and a version of 311 that lets New Yorkers connect with the dozens of community-based organizations that deliver health and human services. Keeping with the mayor’s directive to provide greater transparency, accountability and accessibility, Cosgrave continues to strengthen the city’s 311 hot line, which has answered more than 60 million calls in fi ve years of operation. While new IT projects grab headlines, Cosgrave also took on the less glamorous job of improving the city’s IT governance processes, enhancing IT management functions so DoITT can act as central service provider to the city’s many small and mid-sized agencies and speeding up the city’s lengthy, cumbersome IT procurement cycle. TOD NEWCOMBE EDITOR, PUBLIC CIO Debra Bowen SECRETARY OF STATE, CALIFORNIA PHOTO BY GERRY MCINTYRE

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go When J. Pari Sabety became director of the Ohio Offi ce of Budget and Manage- ment in 2006, she discovered the agency did little to actually manage budgets. Bill Willis “I’ve really tried to change,” Sabety said. “I DEPUTY CIO, NORTH CAROLINA see technology and the deployment of tools on our ERP [enterprise resource planning] system When state government workers in as a way to begin to accomplish that and help North Carolina get a faster response from the us better manage our state fi nances.” help desk, they can thank Bill Willis, the state’s Th e solution was the Ohio Administrative Dan deputy CIO. Knowledge System (OAKS), which Sabety Willis spearheaded the Operational Excel- calls the largest and broadest ERP system in lence Program in 2005 to improve customer state government. OAKS will replace numer- Lohrmann service and business effi ciency for the state’s ous fragmented systems and is being used for ACTING CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, MICHIGAN Offi ce of Information Technology Services fi nancial processing across state government. (ITS). Th e program delivered dramatic results Th e system will see its fi rst wave of agencies Th e battle to keep government by using the Information Technology Infra- move to shared services in summer 2009. information secure and accessible has moved structure Library (ITIL). “My goals for the future are: How do I from the periphery to the center. Th e stakes One benefi t of that initiative was a 30 continue to leverage the investment we’ve are high as more public data moves online, percent spike in service-desk productivity made in this signifi cant ERP system, so that the Internet becomes the most critical piece without increasing staff . Overall effi ciency I’m continuously moving state government of infrastructure, and as hackers, thieves and within the ITS also grew by onto higher levels of productivity and more terrorists become more adept at attacking, 20 percent. Willis said ITIL effi ciency?” Sabety said. breaching and disrupting government assets. adoption was crucial as the Before her current position, Sabety was a Th e job of chief information security offi ce gained more control fellow at the Brookings Institution and direc- offi cer (CISO) in any government organiza- of statewide IT operations. tor of its Urban Markets Initiative. She’s a cer- tion is not for the faint of heart. Many who “When I came to this tifi ed public accountant with a background in take up the profession are serious and highly state, I realized quickly that economic development. She was also an eco- specialized in security matters. Th at’s what we had a number of prob- nomic policy adviser for former Ohio Gov. makes Dan Lohrmann, who until recently lems. We had a brand- Richard Celeste. was Michigan’s CISO, so special. He is a new law that changed the Sabety founded the Technology Policy Renaissance man who can discuss the arcane powers and ownership of Group at the Ohio Supercomputer Center. details of IT security and then delve into the the state CIO and gave him Th e group performed trendsetting work in broader, societal issues of personal integrity much more responsibility,” enterprise architecture for state government, and responsibility while using the Web. Willis said. e-government initiatives and Internet privacy. Whether he is lecturing about security Th e law in question, SB She also helped create the CIO Solutions at a university, speaking before an audience 991, was passed in 2004 Gallery discussion series through Ohio State or writing about the deeper implications of and increased CIO George University, which lets CIOs in Ohio come e-government and security in major pub- Bakolia’s role in state IT oversight and plan- together to talk. “It has been very useful as I’ve lications, Lohrmann grabs and keeps his ning. Th e bill aimed to improve IT by adopt- tried to think through the approaches to try to audience’s attention. More importantly, he ing standards and increasing accountability. use technology to solve some of the problems is a proven leader who delivers results in the “Our central IT group runs as a service pro- we have in the public sector,” Sabety said. public sector, making sure security is at the vider and is funded by revenues from services ELAINE RUNDLE STAFF WRITER forefront of every IT project in Michigan. provided [to] agencies,” Willis said. Imple- Lohrmann is now the state’s acting chief menting ITIL helped ITS personnel better technology offi cer and director of the Infra- track and direct projects while establishing structure Services Administration. His lead- improved incident, problem, service-level and ership through talk and action has garnered change management processes. attention and honors. He was named one of A rise in effi ciency is saving the state Governing magazine’s Public Offi cials of the money. Th e average cost to resolve an inci- Year, and CSO of the Year for North America dent dropped from $1,300 to $750, Willis said by SC Magazine in 2008. in 2007, aft er completion of the ITIL project’s As IT becomes more integral to the busi- fi rst phase. “Th at’s $1.4 million a year in lower DIRECTOR, ness of government, the need for people who OHIO OFFICE resources to resolve incidents, because we’re OF BUDGET AND can think clearly about the balance between doing it faster, cleaner, with less confusion.” MANAGEMENT security and access will only grow. Dan HILTON COLLINS STAFF WRITER Lohrmann has set the mold for how it can

09 be done. _ J. Pari TOD NEWCOMBE EDITOR, PUBLIC CIO MARCH 20 Sabety

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Chris Hughes CO-FOUNDER, FACEBOOK

Th ere’s at least one Millennial who used Web 2.0 to help Barack Obama make history during the 2008 presidential election. Twenty-four-year-old Chris Hughes is a co-founder of Facebook, the popular social networking site connecting more than 150 million users worldwide. In spring 2007, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER AND CIO, Hughes left Facebook to work on President NEW YORK CITY HUMAN RESOURCES ADMINISTRATION Obama’s media campaign as the director of online organizing. Hughes helped create a comprehensive Richard Siemer Web site — my.barackobama.com — that allowed a grass-roots movement to Th e New York City Department Siemer was also instrumental in setting connect more easily via the Web. of Information Technology and Telecommu- up interactive voice response (IVR), which Th rough the site, users created nications (DoITT) held its annual Excellence enables HRA customers and vendors to their own “MyBO” accounts and in Technology Awards in November 2008, quickly check their application status or other groups, hosted community events and Richard Siemer was honored for Dem- information by phone 24/7. Many services and made contributions. MyBO onstrated Leadership in Management of IT. are off ered in several languages, and day-care account users could also sign up for As deputy commissioner and CIO for vendors can submit attendance via phone, text alerts and be among the fi rst to the city’s Human Resources Administration facilitating billing and payment processes. receive breaking Obama-related news. Th e (HRA), Siemer has oft en been recognized Siemer was a crucial player in these site also helped users locate polling places and for leading the way in making the HRA more and many other successful projects. It’s all encourage friends to vote. effi cient while also lowering costs. part of an agenda set by New York City Although the election is over, MyBO is Th e HRA provides public health insur- Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “Th e Bloom- still active. In one video blog, for example, the ance, food stamps, child care, home care for berg administration is focused on leveraging president urges supporters to stay engaged in seniors, and many other services for more technology for customer service,” Siemer eff orts to bring change to the nation. Th e site than 3 million New Yorkers. Siemer, a 27- said. Carrying out that mission has brought also features Obama’s inauguration speech year employee of the HRA, has worked hard citizens faster application processes and easier and promises many Web-based changes are to streamline the administration’s activities. access to government information. forthcoming. A part of that change is Hughes For example, moving to voice over Inter- Siemer was also appointed regional rep- permanently leaving Facebook to become part net protocol (VoIP) for phone service across resentative of the American Public Human of the presidential Web team. 14 agencies resulted in savings of 62 percent. Services Association’s IT affi liate. While Besides contributing to Obama’s victory, “On an enterprisewide level, where it makes Siemer appreciates the various honors, he’s Hughes received accolades when he was sense, we want to leverage technology across quick to point out that it’s a team eff ort. He named the Top Online Marketer of the Year all those human services agencies,” Siemer praises both his staff and fellow executives for

09 for 2008 by Invesp Consulting. said. It has gone so well, VoIP may eventually helping him achieve results. _ KAREN STEWARTSON MANAGING EDITOR be used in all city agencies. JIM MEYERS STAFF WRITER MARCH 22

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go TOP25 In the world of government IT, few fi rst in the Center for Digital Government’s Mark Pray states have performed as consistently — and 2006 and 2007 Digital States surveys. Th e through as much hardship — as Michigan. state nearly topped the survey again in 2008, Tough budgets may be new for some CIOs, as fi nishing second to Utah. the full force of the economic downturn hits In an interview late last year, Th eis state and local coff ers. But managing through pegged the savings generated by Michigan’s adversity is old hat for Ken Th eis, CIO of consolidation eff orts at about $100 million Michigan. Th e state has seen more than over the past six years. With much of the its share of economic trouble in recent internal consolidation accomplished, he’s years. Despite these diffi culties — or more now pushing the concept across government accurately, because of them — Michigan boundaries. As an example, Th eis points to an has been a leader in IT consolidation and e-health application developed by Oakland DIRECTOR OF resource sharing. County, Mich., that was adopted by the state. INFORMATION Th eis, who left General Motors 11 years “It’s a single application that is now feeding TECHNOLOGY, AURORA, COLO. ago to join state government, plays a central Michigan and Oakland County, and we’ve role in Michigan’s success. He served as got six county health departments that have senior deputy to CIO Teri Takai while the asked to join the application,” he said. Aurora, Colo., surpassed much larger state worked though a wrenching transition Th eis, who subscribes to the notion that cities to win the Center for Digital Govern- to centralized IT. Th en Th eis took over Mich- a budget crisis is a terrible thing to waste, ment’s Digital Cities survey in 2007 and 2008. igan’s CIO post in 2007 when Takai accepted continues to use scarce funding as a catalyst With Mark Pray, the city’s IT director, at the the top IT job in California. for change. And Michigan residents are better helm, Aurora has deployed many cost-saving Th roughout this time, Michigan remained off thanks to his eff orts. services and increased effi ciency in operations. a model of IT excellence. Michigan fi nished STEVE TOWNS EDITOR Aurora off ers more than 60 online services to serve citizens and improve internal functions. Th e city’s online inspection scheduling tool, for example, automatically creates routes for the city’s various inspectors. Pray’s department also issued to street inspectors GPS-enabled devices equipped with voice recognition technology to instantly create maps for fi xing downed street signs, potholes and other necessary repairs. Aurora also took the lead in Colorado’s CopLink initiative, which will let law enforcement share data statewide. Pray worked with the Aurora police chief to make the initiative a reality, and played a role in developing the vendor-licensing and data-sharing agree- ments. “Th e police department recognized that we could add business value to their process,” said Pray. He said Aurora’s success is due to a smart technology team and a good governance process. “We are down the road with ITIL and have seen signifi cant benefi t from that in being able to reduce outages and reactions to outages, which allows us to focus on projects,” Pray said. “So operational effi ciency and excellence have allowed us to do a lot more with a lot less.” Pray credited city leadership with keeping Aurora at the forefront of technology. “Our Ken administration believes in helping the citizens work with the city,” he said. “And my peers, the department heads, are very demanding. Theis Th ey make us excellent. Th ey won’t accept CIO, MICHIGAN anything less.”

PHOTO BY GLEN TRIEST EMILY MONTANDON ASSOCIATE EDITOR

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Jascha Franklin-Hodge CO-FOUNDER AND CTO, BLUE STATE DIGITAL

Information is important, but knowing how to use that information via technology is critical to one’s success. Th is was a lesson learned in the 2008 presidential election when the Obama media campaign became a ubiquitous force, culling information from supporters and compiling a mon- strous database that could be spliced and diced at the touch of a fi ngertip. Th e man behind this: Jascha Franklin-Hodge, co-founder and chief technology offi cer of Blue State Digital. Franklin-Hodge, who worked with Joe Trippi in the 2004 Howard Dean presidential campaign, built on that experience, and what erupted was a Web 2.0 inundation —YouTube videos, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, among others — to microtarget voters nationwide. However, the most powerful outlet was the Jon GOVERNOR, UTAH creation of my.barackobama.com. Th e Web site further ingrained the campaign’s “Yes we can!” theme, which resounded with millions Huntsman Jr. of voters. Missives went out that prompted Any successful CIO knows that how they work, technology plays a role. Utah’s users to donate money, no matter how much. it’s crucial to have executive support. Whether governor put his state on the cutting edge Users were advised that even as little as $5 at the city, county or state level, technol- when, in 2008, he introduced the Working 4 would make a change. ogy initiatives stand a much better chance Utah program. With everything from energy Th e campaign’s key was to use various of making it off the drawing board if the big demands to lifestyle habits in fl ux, Huntsman technology tools that users could integrate cheese is in their corner. In Utah, Gov. Jon pounced on the opportunity to save his state in their lives — things that would spur action Huntsman Jr. was instrumental in seeing two money while giving state employees an extra such as organizing house parties or calling transformative technology projects through day off every week. Work 4 Utah extends state undecided voters, anything to encourage to completion — the state’s IT consolidation business hours from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. but shuts PHOTO BY ERIC DELPHENICH PHOTOGRAPHY involvement. and Working 4 Utah. down all nonemergency offi ces on Fridays. Blue State Digital has been the place where Utah’s IT consolidation project began Th e move not only saves energy and gives technology and politics intersect. It’s created four years ago with the passage of HB 109. employees three-day weekends, it also keeps a political infrastructure that’s transformed Its author, State Rep. David Clark, found a cars off the road, reduces traffi c accidents and into a more perpetual movement, as opposed champion in Huntsman, who saw consoli- cuts pollution. to something sporadic and temporary. dation as an opportunity to dramatically cut “We will conserve energy, save money, Franklin-Hodge’s strategic planning costs while radically enhancing the state’s improve our air quality and enhance customer harnessed the power of the Internet by agility. Together with Clark and CIO Steve service,” the governor said upon announcing engaging people online to take action offl ine, Fletcher, Utah’s eff ort has been one of the Work 4 Utah. “We live in a dynamic, ever- which helped propel Barack Obama to most successful consolidation initiatives changing environment, and it’s crucial that victory and a unique place in history — while ever attempted. we take a serious look at how we can adapt Franklin-Hodge fi nds himself the go-to man Huntsman didn’t stop there, however, and maintain our state’s unparalleled quality

09 for online political campaigning. noting that technology is changing established of life.” _ KAREN STEWARTSON MANAGING EDITOR conventions. From how people recreate to CHAD VANDER VEEN ASSOCIATE EDITOR MARCH 24

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5 25 50 75 95 100 5 25 50 75 95 100 5 25 50 75 95 100 5 25 50 75 95 100 ______Production ______OK to go Andy Stein DIRECTOR OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, NEWPORT NEWS, VA. Dominic Using an open source content management system (CMS) to power the CIO, LOS ANGELES WORLD AIRPORTS Newport News, Va., Web site is about advanc- Nessi ing the “greater good of open source for all” to Andy Stein, the city’s IT director. Imagine being CIO of a city of 200,000 Cost savings oft en motivate open source people. Now imagine that city’s demograph- deployments, but Newport News hasn’t yet ics change every day, there is never downtime saved money from the project. Since 2007, they and the technology that keeps the city running city has spent around $300,000 — roughly the hasn’t been upgraded in 20 years. Th at’s the cost of one high-end, off -the-shelf soft ware situation Dominic Nessi faced when, in 2006, Patrick license — to make its open source CMS soft - he was named CIO of Los Angeles World ASSISTANT DIRECTOR AND CIO, ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF ware usable government, Stein said. Airports, the organization that oversees LAX Quain ADMINISTRATION Other governments and three other Southern can take advantage of California airports. Nessi’s When Patrick Quain — CIO of the city’s investment, job now is to take on the Arizona Department of Administration’s tweaking it to meet almost every conceivable Information Services Division — speaks, their needs for com- IT project at once. people listen. In the mid-2000s, he sold other paratively little cost. “We don’t have any state CIOs and IT managers on the idea of a Stein hopes those gov- choice but to upgrade this fi ve-year ITIL project to establish and main- ernments will invest airport, and very quickly,” tain data center best practices. Th e endeavor their own resources Nessi said. “A lot of CIOs set off a wave of server consolidation activity to enhance the soft - face this situation. What throughout Arizona government. ware further, ben- do you do when you have Th e ITIL concept — a set of books advis- efi ting Newport News to bring your standards ing people how to run IT infrastructure and and others. and your environment up development — was developed in the 1980s “Th e diff erent con- almost immediately?” For by the British government and has under- tributors can start by going to our Web site almost 25 years, IT investment has lagged gone diff erent iterations over the years. Quain and downloading our soft ware,” Stein said. as the rest of the airport modernized. Nessi pitched his IT colleagues on the idea during “Th e larger the community, the more every- wants to avoid this going forward. “ We have 30-minute biweekly meetings. body benefi ts because there will be more con- a $10 billion to $12 billion capital construc- Quain, who joined Arizona government tributors and more organizations paying the tion program at LAX over the next fi ve to in 2005, said, “Th e state was 20 years behind bill and sharing the costs.” seven years. If IT doesn’t come along with it, private industry. I came out of 40 years of Off -the-shelf soft ware gives IT staff an the airport won’t get that accomplished.” private industry running data centers, so assured process along with an established Nessi and his staff are laying new fi ber when I came to the state and I saw what they vendor for debugging it if problems arise. throughout the airport, building a new wing had, I’d say, ‘We did that 20 years ago.’” With open source, IT staff ers rely on their of the international terminal and moving into Aft er the department refurbished its data programmers or the open source community a new data center. center as part of the ITIL initiative, other for fi xes. “It’s everything — the underlying infra- departments began asking to move their “Th e team is enthusiastic now and very structure of the airport, conduit, cables, servers inside to take advantage of the pow- comfortable receiving support and techni- telecom rooms, data centers,” Nessi said. erful generators, fl oor space, network and cal questions and answers from people on “Th e basic level of the infrastructure is anti- battery-backup capabilities. the Internet. Th ey’re people whom our team quated. Our challenge today, as the airport “As time went on, it became evident that we may never meet. We simply know them by moves forward on a very aggressive capital were in the business of server consolidation,” e-mail address,” Stein explained. “It’s a diff er- improvement project, is to not only make up he said. Quain created a document outlin- ent model.” for the last 15, 20 years in IT but to move it ing the advantages of consolidating multiple Stein acknowledged that open source forward quickly in lockstep with the rest of departments’ equipment into the data center applications won’t answer all of the public the airport.” and presented it to then-Gov. Janet Napolitano sector’s soft ware requirements. But they can Nessi credits LAX’s executive leadership and her Cabinet. Twenty-two agencies moved be a viable option for many tasks, especially for giving him the go-ahead and support, and

09 into the data center and 20 more plan to. when money is tight. his staff , which he said is eager to tackle this _ HILTON COLLINS STAFF WRITER ANDY OPSAHL FEATURES EDITOR enormous challenge. CHAD VANDER VEEN ASSOCIATE EDITOR MARCH 26

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go David Clark PHOTO COURTESY OF UTAH.GOV STATE REPRESENTATIVE, UTAH

Lawmakers aren’t generally known for their fi rm grasp on IT issues. In fact, some are about as comfortable in a data center as a moose in a space shuttle. But a few, like Utah’s David Clark, not only value IT but also understand how technology can help a state prosper — especially when everyone is asked to stretch every dollar. Clark is responsible for HB 109, which was passed by the Utah Legislature in April 2005. Th e bill ushered in sweeping changes to Utah IT, most notably a massive statewide IT consolidation eff ort, creating the Department of Technology Services, and transforming the CIO from “paper tiger” to powerful executive, which Clark said was paramount to the consolidation. Gopal “We were fi nding out we had an entire navy of ships out on the ocean, but we were

CIO, MINNESOTA PHOTO BY BRUCE KLUCKHOHN lacking an admiral. We had nobody to coor- Khanna dinate,” Clark said. “Interoperability, shared data, shared database — a lot of this, we were Gopal Khanna is a new kind of public tirelessly to align Minnesota’s technology plowing the same fi eld just going diff erent CIO — one who adroitly blends public- and investments with the governor’s agenda. directions, and it looked like an opportunity private-sector service, IT know-how and While most of the initiatives Khanna led to become more effi cient.” modern business management skills to create haven’t been headline-grabbing, they include According to Clark, the key to Utah’s a more dynamic role within government. the sort of work that lays the foundation IT success has been the state leadership’s Khanna has degrees in economics, math- for moving Minnesota into the 21st century ability to recognize and deal with issues before ematics and political science from his native in terms of better services and a better-run they blow up. India. He earned an MBA in the U.S. and government. Th ough it’s been four years since HB 109 steadily climbed the corporate ladder with However, one initiative does stand out. passed, Clark, the Legislature and Gov. Jon various positions in New York, Florida and Khanna hashed out a series of IT require- Huntsman Jr. have continued to work closely Minnesota, before joining the George W. ments that have standardized how laptops, with CIO Steve Fletcher as consolidation Bush administration in Washington, D.C. desktops, servers and storage systems are eff orts continue. He held senior executive policy positions, procured and are saving the state more than “HB 109 remains very much intact,” Clark culminating in the posts of CIO and CFO at $20 million annually. said. “We’ve had some refi nements, minor the Peace Corps. In 2008, Khanna was elected president of course corrections I think have helped with In 2005, Khanna joined Minnesota Gov. the National Association of State Chief Infor- the overall process. Even though there may Tim Pawlenty’s Cabinet as state CIO, where mation Offi cers by his peers, capping a stellar be less money, we’ve become a much more he made a mark both within the state and career and highlighting his ascendancy as one

09 effi cient, lean, mean machine.” nationally as a business- and tech-savvy of America’s premier public CIOs. _ CHAD VANDER VEEN ASSOCIATE EDITOR IT executive who has worked quickly and TOD NEWCOMBE EDITOR, PUBLIC CIO MARCH 28

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go TOP INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DIRECTOR AND REGISTRAR OF 25 VOTERS, ALAMEDA COUNTY, CALIF. Texas Comptroller of Public ernment employees can browse contractor David Accounts Susan Combs has thrown open e-catologs — everything from furniture to the doors of public fi nance information, frozen foods. Th e Texas Transparency Check- MacDonald and she used technology to do it. up is a one-stop list for itemized budgets that Days aft er taking offi ce in January 2007, are available online from cities, counties and Combs ordered the Comptroller’s Offi ce school districts. Th e Single Set of Books site to publish expenditure information online details planning and exploration of a state- — going so far as to list the purchasing of wide ERP system. pencils. Th at grew into a business intelligence “In the age of the Internet, there is seldom project that put spending and payment infor- a good reason why government cannot keep mation for all state agencies into an easy-to- citizens informed about how tax dollars are use online database open to the public called spent,” Combs said. “Th is emphasis on trans- “Where the Money Goes.” Th e project won a parency is not only about making local gov- 2008 Best of Texas award from the Center for ernments more accountable to citizens; it Digital Government. is equally about making local governments Combs is reaching farther as the economy stronger and better. As our own experience turns south. She announced in December shows, if you know what you are spending, 2008 a three-pronged initiative called Open you know how to spend better. We support Book Texas, which includes these compo- that philosophy at every level of government.” nents: TxSmartBuy is an online purchasing MATT WILLIAMS, ASSISTANT EDITOR and price comparison Web site where gov-

Aft er an election, it’s not unusual for a few voting irregularities to pop up that leave observers scratching their heads. Even more frustrating to voters are the dumb- founded looks on the faces of election offi cials when these problems happen. Many offi cials who struggled in 2008 will likely look to a man with much more of a clue on the matter — David MacDonald, IT director and registrar of voters in Alameda County, Calif. In 2007, MacDonald implemented a Susan radio-frequency identifi cation (RFID) paper- ballot tracking system, aimed at avoiding PHOTO BY BRUCE KLUCKHOHN some of the ballot-tampering problems that Combs have plagued other counties. COMPTROLLER OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS, TEXAS Whenever a ballot box changes hands, someone should record the exchange on paper, which election workers oft en forget to do, MacDonald said. “We have 831 polling places with almost 6,000 poll workers. Th at guarantees someone’s going to forget something,” MacDonald said. Gaps in the chain-of-custody record raise suspicions about potential monkey business. To alleviate those concerns, Alameda County attaches an RFID tag to each box of paper ballots on Election Day. Memory packs that contain the ballot totals for each box — therefore allowing for cross checking — also receive RFID tags. “Th e project has worked magnifi cently well. It allows us to identify early on if something is missing on Election Day,” MacDonald said. ANDY OPSAHL FEATURES EDITOR

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go SMARTPHONES ENHANCE PRODUCTIVITY AND INCREASE ACCESSIBILITY, BUT COME WITH MANAGEMENT AND SECURITY ISSUES. 09 _ MARCH 30

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go HILTON COLLINS | STAFF WRITER | ILLUSTRATION BY TOM McKEITH

Th e smartphone is rapidly catching up with the mobile phone in terms of ubiquity and exceeding it in ability. Users of both types of devices can, of course, make calls, but add e-mail, Internet access, soft ware applications, data storage — even specialized operating systems — and a smartphone becomes a mobile computer. According to analysts at IT research fi rm Gartner, vendors — including Nokia, Apple, Research in Motion and Fujitsu — shipped 32.2 million smartphones worldwide in the second quarter of 2008 and 36.5 million in the third. Second quarter shipments to North America were up almost 79 percent, making this the fastest- growing region for smartphone adoption. Smartphones enable public-sector employers to provide workers with the tools to talk to one another and access e-mail, the Internet or other server-supported applications while in the fi eld. THE COMPUTER IN YOUR

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go “It’s something that people are seeing “Today’s technology is information at more and more as a necessary way to do your fi ngertips, and without a doubt, we felt business and a way to conduct government we needed that,” Th omas said. than as your corporate perk or something Th e police department received $48,000 that high-paid executives have. It’s becom- in seed money from the U.S. Department of ing less and less expensive, and people are Homeland Security to pay for 120 PocketCop starting to realize the soft ware licenses in 2008. Th e department benefi t in government, plans to start using the soft ware and Black- not just in corporations,” Berrys by April 2009. Hawaii County had said Chris Andrews, already purchased another law enforcement a mobile wireless spe- solution from BIO-key called MobileCop in cialist at CDW-G who 2007 for mobile data terminals in squad cars, works with state and but wanted additional soft ware for handhelds. local government cus- Now that the department also has PocketCop, tomers. “With network offi cers have two types of mobile endpoints As a CDW-G mobile speeds [and] bandwidth — laptops and smartphones — to access data- wireless specialist for going up, we’re on the bases and communicate with one another. the federal government verge of really duplicat- Th e laptops are used by offi cers in patrol sector, Josh Mulloy ing a desktop computing vehicles, but for lieutenants and detectives stays on top of the latest Chris Andrews is a CDW-G mobile experience in the mobile on the street or investigating crime scenes, wireless product offer- wireless specialist who works with state and ings and how they affect space.” local customers. He sees how agencies are the PocketCop technology is a smaller, more organizations’ business Andrews and his col- buying smartphones and other wireless convenient solution. functions. league Josh Mulloy, a products for their business needs. mobile wireless specialist who works with federal government cus- Th e mobile solutions will save offi cers Doc Options tomers, have seen mobile solutions become time and alleviate the hassle of calling a secre- Th e University of Louisville in Kentucky more prominent in government as depart- tary or dispatcher to run information during uses smartphones to help provide students ments recognize the value of smartphones, an emergency, said Maj. Samuel Th omas of with quality education. cell phones and other wireless devices. the department. In fall 2008, the university’s School of According to Mulloy, notebooks have “Basically we’re going to use it for con- Medicine began off ering medical students become almost standard technologies in the necting with our databases and doing car the option to purchase discounted Sprint public sector, and smartphones are going in lookups, driver’s license lookups [and] Windows Mobile smartphones as learning the same direction. lookups into our records-management tools. Th e school’s reasoning is simple: Since system. So if the detectives are in a crime many doctors use smartphones in hospitals to scene and someone says, ‘I think John Doe access medical soft ware and research on the Smartphones in Action committed the crime,’ the detectives will Th e Hawaii County Police Department have the opportunity to see [if] we have John is preparing to deploy BlackBerrys with offi - Doe in the database right there at the crime cers to gather real-time information with scene,” he said. “Today’s technology is information at your fingertips, and without a doubt, we felt we needed that.” Maj. Samuel Thomas, Hawaii County Police Department

BIO-key’s PocketCop soft ware, which runs Th e smartphone-enabled soft ware bene- queries for information from motor vehicle fi ts offi cers who want data about speeders or and criminal databases, such as the National drunk drivers, and cops who want to notify Crime Information Center. With the tool, fellow offi cers about suspects fl eeing scenes. offi cers can also send and receive information Crime-scene investigators needing informa- from other offi cers or the computer-aided tion about particular locations also reap the

09 dispatch system. advantages of smartphones. _ MARCH 32

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go “We’re able to get up-to-the-minute information on outages that we might not be able to get to if we weren’t in the office after hours.” Jeff Lane, Salt River Project

Hewlett-Packard’s iPAQ series. Th e iPAQs are still in use. Kent Gardner, technology coordinator for the School of Medicine, said the university began buying wireless technology for medical students around 2002, beginning with PDAs before migrating to pocket PCs. But 2008 was the fi rst year that smartphones entered the picture. Th e new devices eliminate the need for students to carry PDAs and phones. “Students have been very involved in this Web, doctors in-training should be able to use initiative from the get-go,” said Ruth Green- the device in their studies. berg, associate dean of medical education at Students can choose from the Palm Treo the University of Louisville. “In fact, we fi rst 800w, HTC Touch Diamond or HTC Touch started investigating buying PDAs for the Pro. Students use these devices to access students primarily at the request of a group drug reference databases and medical appli- of students who wanted us to help them get cations, like the Epocrates soft ware. Th e a good deal on the PDAs. At that time, Kent university’s academic technology task force, was not involved yet, and quite honestly, I comprising of students, faculty and adminis- didn’t know what a PDA was six years ago.” trators, chose Sprint aft er conducting surveys Th e School of Medicine’s PDA initiative and focus groups to assess students’ needs. In began with the support of then-dean Dr. Joel resentative for the agency. Th e handhelds the past, the university bought simpler Palm Kaplan. Back then, the university felt the make it easier for him to communicate with devices and then migrated to more sophisti- need to purchase PDAs because doctors used reporters. “We’re able to get up-to-the-minute cated pocket PCs for medical students, fi rst them in hospitals, but as physicians moved information on outages that we might not from the Dell Axim family and then from to smartphones, the university followed. If be able to get to if we weren’t in the offi ce most practicing doctors don’t use a PDA in aft er hours.” one hand and a cell phone in the other, the Th e BlackBerrys come in handy when university feels that students shouldn’t have Lane or his colleagues are on call or not in the to either. offi ce. Th e devices have improved their ability to send information to reporters from the Salt River Project’s dispatch centers. Lane said the Communication on the Go agency’s media staff must communicate with Nearly 1,800 miles away in Tempe, Ariz., fi ve TV stations, three radio stations and three many employees of the Salt River Project, newspapers at any given time. a public power utility agency, use govern- Employees in other departments use the ment-issued BlackBerrys for voice and mobile e-mailing capabilities to notify per- e-mail functionality while in the fi eld or sonnel when tense situations. Jeff Packer during odd hours. is the manager of the utility’s Distribution “We get change in the weather from dry Operations Center, the department responsi- heats [or] monsoonish humidity, and we get ble for restoring power when outages happen. a lot of thunderstorms in the aft ernoon, a When storms impact the electrical system or lot of microbursts that knock a lot of poles if a worker is injured, personnel can e-mail down,” said Jeff Lane, a media relations rep- notifi cations through their BlackBerrys.

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go “Th e main advantage is e-mail capability. their network security technology and pro- You don’t have to get to a laptop and log on if Strengthening Mobile Security tocols to safeguard their data the same way you’re out and about,” Packer said. they would if students were accessing it from CDW-G recommends the following According to Chris Campbell, manager of PCs. However, according to Brenda Gom- steps to improve mobile security: Communications Engineering, the Salt River bosky, director of Information Technology ✓ Create a mobile device security Project uses 800 to 1,000 BlackBerrys in its and Enterprise Security for the university, policy. 5,000-person work force, students can opt in to a program to use the ✓ Educate users to carry the devices and about 30 people in same full-disk encryption technology for free with them at all times. his department use them. on their smartphones that faculty and staff ✓ Enable remote wiping of e-mail But at times, the devices’ use for theirs. systems and other applications eff ectiveness is hindered Hawaii County relies on a third party to running on the devices. by limited coverage in provide a hosted security solution and mid- ✓ Plan for backup and recovery. rural or mountainous dleware for offi cers’ BlackBerrys in order to ✓ Implement network encryption and areas. In these cases, per- safeguard law enforcement and citizen data. virus protection. sonnel must rely on radio “Our queries come in through middleware ✓ Use an intrusion-detection system Jeff Packer is a communication. fi rst, and of course, through the fi rewall, and to inspect inbound and outbound manager in the Tempe, “We have a lot of other the work gets done and then when it comes network activity. Ariz., Salt River Project communications infra- back out to us, it comes via the middleware utility agency. He’s one of structure that’s in place to again,” Th omas said. several employees deal with the mobility of business media company, released a wireless When securing mobile devices, it’s impor- who use smartphones for mobile e-mail, a our work force or coordi- security survey that was conducted in part- tant to identify what data they house and convenient communica- nation of various activi- nership with Bluefi re Security Technologies. what functions people are utilizing. At the tion accessory. ties. Most of our fi eld According to the survey, half of the 1,500 Salt River Project, users must log on to the crews use trunk radio and respondents said attacks on the corporate agency’s network to use e-mail, but if they VHF/UHF radio and communicate with our network were their primary concern. just want to make and receive calls, no log operations center,” Campbell said. In the University of Louisville’s case, the in activity is necessary. Mulloy and Andrews Th ese alternate forms of communication school doesn’t worry about managing or recommend that governments track smart- provide a level of reliability that smartphones securing smartphones because students pur- phones with asset tags to locate them in case don’t. Th e handheld devices’ tiny screens chase them. they’re misplaced. aren’t the best for panning over and zooming “Th e complete ownership of the phone “If you have Social Security numbers, in on maps and electrical schematics. For and the plan is in the students’ hands,” bank account numbers, things of that nature, these reasons, Campbell said smartphones Gardner said. Consequently these students fl owing through a device, then you absolutely aren’t prominent in core operations on the have to worry about their own security. have to take a look at the highest levels of power and engineering side. “Th ere will not be any university data, per se, security for that,” Andrews said. Many mobile on those phones.” e-mail platforms let administrators erase sen- Students can access university and hos- sitive information from lost or stolen devices Mobile Lockdown pital networks with the devices, but in those remotely when they connect to a wireless Along with their powerful mobile capa- cases, the university and hospitals rely on network. bilities, smartphones create an extra layer of technology to secure. Smartphone Growth “We’re really seeing more of the security Q3 2008 Market Growth question come up at the forefront of a con- Vendor shipments Share Q3 2008 vs Q3 2007 versation,” Mulloy said. Total 39,850,100 28% “You have to be cognizant of the fact that these people have some very sensitive data — Nokia 15,485,690 39% -3% a police offi cer with a smartphone or maybe Apple 6,899,010 17% 523% a clerk who has some county records, things of that nature,” Andrews said. “Th ere is some RIM 6,051,730 15% 84% very sensitive data being transported around Motorola 2,313,930 6% 12% on mobile devices now.” Security has been on the collective mind HTC 2,308,210 6% 171% of professional mobile consumers for a while. Others 6,791,530 17% -13%

09 In April 2006, FierceMarkets, a business-to- _ Source: Canalys MARCH 34

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Missouri Missouri

Designer Designer Designer Editorial Editorial Editorial Other Other Other Office of Administration, www.oa.mo.gov. migrating all end- migrating to one Activeusers Directory forest and one e-mail system. Missouri produced an IT environment and lessthat is easier manage. expensive to Agency: Technology: Microsoft Active Directory network management system. Contact: Synopsis: Office of Administra- tion, IT Division. ey would merge j GE e new environment would be like a A Th P One Pair of Keys One Pair gated community with well run, shared services, Bott said. To access any of those services, a resident would need just a single user IT budgets, employees and equipment under the control of a single IT division. As IT offi discussed how to launch this consolidation, two ideas rose to the top. Th the Active Directory systems, also known as “forests,” and they would bring the whole executive branch onto a single e-mail system. � � �� Consolidating e-mail ‘communities’ savesConsolidating e-mail ‘communities’ quality of life for Missourimoney and improves state employees. Missouri consolidated its data centers into To address these problems, then-Gov. Matt equitable access to IT resources. It’s also saving Missouri millions of dollars. a single facility 10 years ago. But the state government was still running numerous IT operations. When departments failed to collaborate on business challenges, many people blamed that failure on the fact that they couldn’t share data. Departments also conducted IT projects in isolation — for example, implementing content management systems with no thought to how they might share resources. Blunt promoted a move to put all of the state’s er er � erent erent �� les, or � �� cials said, stream-

ware. Each ran a separate ware. Each ran a separate Active Directory system, Active Directory system, ort to consolidate IT under the

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hey all worked for a single statehey all worked for government. But until recently, Missouri’s executive branch employees were dwelling in a wilderness of FEDERAL

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Each of the 14 departments used its its Each of the 14 departments used Duty 6 3

T even schedule multidepartment meetings even schedule multidepartment meetings give on electronic calendars, they had to employees special access to one another’s user systems, saddling workers with extra names and passwords to remember. varied widely, said Bill Bott, former deputy CIO of Missouri, who resigned in January 2009 to join the Change and Innovation Agency. “Some people were living in mansions; some people were living in shacks.” Some, for example, had excellent antivirus protection, while others scraped by with shareware. replaced its hodgepodge of IT neighborhoods with a single, full-service community. As part of a broader eff state CIO, it moved all 40,000 of its end-user accounts onto a single e-mail system and a single Active Directory. lined IT administration and gave users more communities needed to share data fi own Microsoft and the framework that organizes, secures ser- controls access to network resources, vices and user accounts. Some departments about used more than one, giving the state com- 20 separate IT communities. Each munity managed its own infrastructure aft — controlled its desktops, looked and its security, operated its peripherals updated its soft e-mail system. If employees in diff isolated IT villages.

| LOCAL n i . 6 3 _

09 MARCH BY MERRILL DOUGLAS MERRILL BY | CONTRIBUTING WRITER CONTRIBUTING _ T oad �� STATE

Active security 36 GGT03_36.indd 36 �� avine R 916-932-1300 olsom, CA 95630 F �� 100 Blue R APRIL 28 MAY 1, 2009 > > BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

two-thousand-nine REGISTER ONLINE AT WWW.NASCIO.ORG > >

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Join state, federal and local CIOs for the 2009 NASCIO Midyear Conference. NASCIO conference attendees include the highest-profile government and corporate technology experts in the nation. In addition to state, federal and local CIOs, and our corporate partners, past NASCIO conference attendees have included governors, state and federal legislators, and other elected and appointed officials.

NASCIO is the premier network and resource for state chief information officers and an effective advocate for information technology policies at all levels of government.

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go security

name and password — one pair of keys, not a crowded, jangling key ring. “Some people were living in mansions, By migrating all users to one Active Direc- some people were living in shacks.” tory system, Missouri was bucking a trend. Bill Bott, former deputy CIO, Missouri Many organizations instead choose to build links among their separate directories, so data tions — one for health care and social ser- to save another $385,099 per year for fi scal can pass back and forth among systems. Th at vices, for example. Within that structure, the 2009-2013. approach, however, requires some users to CIO’s offi ce controls higher-level functions, In the course of the consolidation, the state maintain multiple identifi cations, Bott said. but each agency performs its own day-to-day introduced modern technology that’s more And as the environment evolves, it develops administration, such as adding new employ- reliable than the older systems it replaced. features that aren’t well documented. “It’s ees, computers and printers to the network. One example is a storage area network for the cluttered, and it makes changes to the direc- “We didn’t want to create a central bureau- e-mail system. tory much harder to do,” he said. “It’s harder cracy, where every little change needed to “We went from 14 diff erent environments to manage.” come through one or two people,” Bott said. that were somewhat suspect — in some cases, Missouri started planning the consolida- they had very aged equipment — to a state- tion in July 2005. Implementation began in of-the-art environment with redundancy January 2006 and wrapped up in November 40,000 Patches at Once and proper backups,” said Howard Carter, 2007, a month ahead of schedule. Th e project With the consolidation complete, state director of the state data center. If the budget cost about $250,000, which was spent mostly employees now can share data and collaborate permits, in the next year the state could build on new equipment. Because in-house, salaried on projects without maintaining multiple iden- on this foundation to develop disaster recov- employees performed all the work, the state tities. Th e unifi ed Active Directory also makes ery for the e-mail system, he said. has not broken out the labor costs, Bott said. it easier to manage security and other features In fact, Missouri will be positioned to Th e main challenges the project team on the state’s thousands of desktops. “When develop a complete, common disaster recov- contended with were political rather than Microsoft sends out a patch, we can push one ery strategy, Bott said. Having just one Active technical. “One of the biggest battles we had button and send it out to everyone in the state,” Directory forest and one e-mail system to with the agencies was over who was going Bott said. Also, under the new model, the IT recover, rather than 14 or more separate to control security at the upper levels of the department can procure virus protection, spam systems, makes this task much easier. “Short forest,” said Dee Lueckenotte, a member of fi ltering and other tools for all 14 departments of the data center building, if we lost any single the Active Directory/Exchange project group. at once and ensure that all users receive the building in the capitol complex or around the Previously each agency maintained full same level of protection, he said. state, we would have a backup for that building control over who could access what within In return for its investment in consolidation, that we’ve never been able to have before.” its own forest. “We had to cut that security Missouri also realized many other benefi ts. Having a single e-mail system also makes it model back to give them enough control to be Some fl ow directly from having moved all easier to develop a statewide e-mail archiving system. “We now have a whole state solution where we’re retaining all state e-mails indefi - “One of the biggest battles we had with the nitely,” Bott said. “But there will be another agencies was over who was going to control policy coming out, I’m sure, as the records security at the upper levels of the forest.” retention folks catch up with the technology.” Dee Lueckenotte, member, Missouri Active Directory/Exchange project group In the long run, the Active Directory consolidation could help Missouri do a great deal able to do the job they needed to do, but not executive-branch employees into one forest. more. Bott said the state’s strategy is much to be able to interfere with another agency,” Others fl ow from the fact that the consolida- like the one that led Walt Disney to buy thou- she said. tion has put all of these end-users and their sands of acres in central Florida in the 1950s, One of the technical decisions the group systems under centralized management. even though he needed only a fraction of that made was how to divide the Active Directory As part of the consolidation, for example, land to build Walt Disney World. Th at pur- forest into subdomains, or “trees,” Lueck- the state’s IT division replaced departmental chase allowed Disney to add hotels, resorts enotte said. Could each agency get its own servers with central servers, using virtualiza- and more parks when the time was right. tree, or would that approach make the system tion to reduce the number of boxes. Central “We don’t have all the answers about how too cluttered? management also decreased the number of we’re going to use Active Directory, but we Missouri ended up creating four trees. soft ware licenses required. And it has cut know it has allowed us to build our ‘theme One houses the servers that run the Exchange the number of technicians the state needs, park,’” Bott said. “Now we’re able to do all e-mail system, desktop management, Active since one team now maintains the whole IT those other things that branch out because of Directory and other objects used across the infrastructure, rather than a separate team for the foundation we have.” state system. Each of the other three trees each department. Bott said the state saved $3 CONTRIBUTING WRITER MERRILL DOUGLAS IS BASED IN 09 _ houses a group of agencies with related func- million in one-time IT expenses and expects UPSTATE NEW YORK. MARCH

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Produced by: What Does Consolidation Mean to You?

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OCIO California

e chiefs of chiefs e Designer Designer Designer Editorial Editorial Editorial Other Other Other Agency: Technologies: server consolidation, virtualization. Contact: Synopsis: embarks on aembarks consolida- statewide IT servicestion of that will dwarf other states’ plans. Office of the StateOffice of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO). Communications Director Bill Maile, 916/549-2845. ce of Informa-

j ce. When it comes to ce will absorb and oversee the ce of the State Chief Informa- cit. everal states have already consoli- everal states have already the process ofdated — or are in IT agen- combining — statewide cies, departments and services to cer (OCIO) and Schwarzeneggercer (OCIO) and GE e Offi e A But soon, we will likely see a consolidation isCalifornia Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Given the size of California’s IT structure Th P avoid costs, save money and improve service. in theMissouri has done it, and Colorado is midst of doing it. It’s nothing new. thestatewide IT, his goal is the same: Within Terinext two to three years, he said, state CIO Takai will make California an IT leader. of a scope and size that’s unique, coming fromof a scope and size that’s unique, coming moreCalifornia — and pushed forward with billionurgency because of the state’s $40 budget defi at theno stranger to being on top, whether it’s ballot box or the box offi and that, in general, employees aren’t always the biggest fans of consolidation, a successful implementation will take more than rhetoric. California is gradually laying the groundwork by releasing an IT strategic plan and a capital plan, along with its consolidation plan. A ‘Federated’ Consolidation A ‘Federated’ S tion Offi announced in January 2009, a far-reaching plan that would consolidate statewide IT operations under an expanded OCIO. Takai and her offi Department of Technology Services — which manages two of California’s largest data centers — as well as the Offi tion Security and Privacy Protection and the Department of General Services’ telecommunications division, which manages 911 call centers and public safety radio. Th those divisions would all report to Takai. Th � Teri Takai California CIO � �� FEDERAL

�� | LOCAL

STATE �� California prepares to consolidate data centers and e-mail systems — and save $1.5 billion.

0 Consolidation 4

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09 MARCH BY MATT WILLIAMS MATT BY | ASSISTANT EDITOR ASSISTANT _ T oad

�� e-gov 40 GGT02_40.indd 40 �� avine R 916-932-1300 olsom, CA 95630 F �� 100 Blue R plan was pending approval from the state California will consolidate its e-mail Legislature at press time. systems and data centers — the state cur- ‘SHOW-ME’

“I think it was obviously something rently has more than 400,000 square feet of j STATE PERSPECTIVE [Schwarzenegger] wanted, to make sure that fl oor space, including 400 data center loca- Former Missouri CIO Dan Ross, who we get effi ciencies in government,” Takai tions and server rooms. Takai said another left the post in December 2008, completed said, “particularly as we’re talking about the goal is to standardize the state’s networks. a statewide IT consolidation of 1,200 IT revenue crisis that we face, and so this was a “We’d like to have a unifi ed statewide staff across 14 Cabinet agencies. But he part of his overall plan.” network, which doesn’t necessarily mean recognizes that a California Th e organizational consolidation, if one network, but it means that we’re all IT consolidation will be a dif- approved, is projected to save the state $1.5 going to do our networks in the same way,” ferent animal. For example, billion, including cost avoidance, over fi ve Takai explained. Common standards also the California Department of years. Schwarzenegger is even more optimistic, would help California move toward server Corrections and Rehabilita- estimating a $2 billion to $4 billion savings. virtualization (which saves on hardware Dan Ross tion, with 65,000 employees, Because California’s IT services are so investment and energy consumption). is bigger than the entire work force of Mis- spread out — 130 CIOs work in state agen- During the next fi ve years, the state will souri state government, Ross said. cies and other entities — Takai said she will perform a major refresh on most of its infra- “[Takai’s] work is cut out for her, take a diff erent approach than the consolida- structure components, including PCs, servers because California government, from tion she led while overseeing Michigan’s IT and soft ware licenses. Having a central my experience, is an autonomous bunch operations from 2003 to 2007. person in control — the state CIO — should and they feel threatened by consolida- “We are going to operate here in Cali- lead to more effi cient spending. tions,” Ross said. fornia — just because of our size and diver- Th ere are no planned layoff s of state IT But at the same time, Ross said, the sity — in much more of a ‘federated’ model workers, Takai said, but roles may change. ﬁ nancial doom and gloom across the rather than a ‘consolidated’ model,” she “Clearly, as with anyone in IT, those jobs are country provides the impetus to try new said. “For instance, we are not consolidat- going to evolve over time, as they’ve evolved approaches. “I think this is a tremen- ing IT budgets. Th ose budgets will remain already,” she said. dous opportunity to consolidate because in the control of the [individual] business people are willing to have conversations areas. We’re not talking about doing any that they weren’t willing to have in good consolidation of personnel, but rather that Projects on the Horizon ﬁ nancial times,” Ross explained. people will work on common technolo- Th e consolidation also would allow the Some of the “low-hanging fruit” for gies.” Th e big change is that policy direc- OCIO to look ahead at capital spending and California is GIS, bulk purchasing and tion and procurement will come directly strategic planning that encourages effi ciency procurement, he said. “I know Teri’s not from the OCIO. and collaboration for projects planned by planning a full consolidation — it’s pro- individual agencies. curement and some other things — but Th e new California fi ve-year IT capital based on my visits there, procurement plan released in January includes 122 is a huge issue in California. There are approved projects — everything from a sex many layers of approval, and it can take off ender address match system to enterprise a long, long time to do.” GIS and positional awareness for Cal Fire aircraft and vehicles — from 85 state agencies and other entities. In early February, OCIO Deputy Director consolidation to fruition. She’s an appointee Adrian Farley said it’s important to under- of Schwarzenegger, who will be termed out stand that the capital plan is only conceptual in 2010. at this point. Th e OCIO will work with state “In the next two years,” she said, “our agencies and departments to fund projects plan will be to have this reorganization

j CAL STATS that have a positive or neutral impact on the in place, because it will be at that time in California’s OCIO statewide IT survey general fund, or that prevent lost revenue, he statute, which means it will be there for the reveals a large organization beﬁ tting the said. One example of the latter, Farley said, next administration.” most populous state. The state has: is a proposed tax-information project that ✓ 8,009 IT employees; would cost $400 million, but increase state ✓ $3 billion in annual IT expenditures; tax collections by as much as $900 million ✓ more than 100 different e-mail systems annually. and supports 180,000 mailboxes; and No matter what projects are eventually ✓ 9,500 servers that it owns and operates. funded, or how long the consolidation takes, Takai might not be around to see the entire

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go j Synopsis: mobility Government services STATE | LOCAL | FEDERAL remained uninterrupted in Harris County, Texas, throughout Hurricane Ike because of the county’s remote access telework system. Agency: Harris County Information Technology Center, Harris County Purchasing Agent. Technologies: Remote network “Th e busiest remote access, Citrix. usage happened aft er Contact: James the storm, when every- Hebert, 713/755-1465, PHOTOS BY LEIF SKOOGFORS/FEMA LEIF BY PHOTOS body was unsure about james.hebert@itc. the amount of damage hctx.net. to the area. People were accessing applications from their houses — the people still with power, anyway.” Th e county used Citrix remote application delivery soft ware to give employees access to the systems and information they needed to keep working. Hebert’s staff chose to camp out at the downtown data center to respond onsite to remote access requests — although they could have worked remotely if necessary. “People brought their cots, sleeping bags, boxes of food, and we rode out the storm downtown,” said Cliff Lawler, a local area network administrator for Harris County.

FEATURES EDITOR OPSAHL | FEATURES ANDY BY U.S. cities and counties vary on openness to telework. Harris County’s experience shows the importance of counties having remote- Remote-access network access telework infrastructures in place, even if maintained government services those tools are only used during emergencies. despite severe weather. Quick Setup Disaster-response preparation typically involves drills and hours of meetings before even the warning of a disaster. Harris County eff ectively ran the government remotely with Telework on-the-fl y training. It wasn’t until the storm Tackles was nearly on top of the county that the IT staff began granting precautionary remote access to employees normally without it. Th e Hurricane Ike county continued spreading the privilege on an as-needed basis, frequently granting it urricane Ike, which made land- Th e county’s main data center resides midstorm. Workers simply called the munic- fall in September 2008, snuff ed in downtown Houston, but it has a backup ipality’s IT help desk and requested access. out electricity in several of Harris disaster-recovery site in an outlying area. Th e Training employees to access the network HCounty, Texas’ government offi ce disaster-recovery site has its own server farm remotely was a breeze, Lawler said. buildings. It could have disrupted county that kicks in if the downtown system fails. “One thing that’s nice about Citrix is it’s operations if employees couldn’t work from “It ended up that the outlying areas took very easy to use,” Lawler said. home. Instead, thanks to the county’s ability the biggest hit and the downtown area stayed “For a disaster scenario, an event during to telework using a remote-access network, intact,” said James Hebert, division chief of the which people are confused or dislocated, 09 _ critical services remained uninterrupted. Harris County Information Technology Center. having an application they can log on to MARCH

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go mobility

“People brought their cots, sleeping bags, boxes of food, and we rode out the storm downtown.” Cliff Lawler, local area network administrator, Harris County

— versus some new virtual private network Tool Taken for Granted we’re trying to push out at the last minute Food, water and shelter are essentials and get people trained on — was critical,” during emergencies. However, government Lawler said. employees might add e-mail to that list. E- Th e easy enrollment proved especially mail access was the No. 1 remote function- useful for the Harris County Purchasing ality requested by Harris County employees Agent, who supervises competitive bidding, during Hurricane Ike, according to Hebert. said Pat Martin, computer systems adminis- Some county veterans remember what it was trator of that offi ce. like lacking remote network access during “It’s very easy,” Martin reported. New users Tropical Storm Allison in 2001. are notifi ed by e-mail that they have access. “Th e downtown area got fl ooded really “Th e notifi cation includes a link to step-by- badly,” Martin recalled. “Employees had to step instructions.” drive to remote county buildings to get to a Th e system also made customizing access for system with network fl exibility.” each user easy. Th e applications an employee Even in those situations, she said, employees has authorization to use vary person to person. oft en couldn’t reach the remote county “We can very quickly publish an applica- offi ces, forcing them to use phones. Tele- tion and then allow individuals or groups to phone communications delay government access that application and that application functionality during disasters — times when only,” Lawler said. quick service turnaround is most essential. Anyone who has played “Telephone” knows how messages can get garbled as they Home Shopping Network travel through phone channels, especially First responders come to mind initially when workers are accustomed to e-mailed when identifying types of county employees instructions. Download who need remote network access during E-mails don’t receive busy signals when emergencies. However, much of their work is the person is handling another matter, Public CIO’s “For a disaster scenario, an event during which Security people are confused or dislocated, having an application they can log on to — versus some new Management virtual private network we’re trying to push out at the last minute and get people trained on — was critical.” Survey Results Cliff Lawler, local area network administrator, Harris County

stunted if employees who authorize purchases Martin added. And vendors are more likely Your peers weighed-in on the lack remote network access. Th e weekend to make delivery mistakes during emer- increasing challenges of managing before Hurricane Ike struck Harris County, gency situations, making access to a paper and monitoring secure access emergency responders purchased prepara- trail essential when a truck delivers the tion supplies. Th ey couldn’t buy those items wrong item. rights to critical IT resources. without approval from the Harris County E-mail’s absence during an emergency can Purchasing Agent’s offi ce, which is closed on also create frustrating problems aft er the inci- Access Today at: weekends. Using the county’s remote-access dent. Following a disaster, it’s typical for every technology, a purchasing staff er approved the decision made during the event to be evalu- www.public-cio.com/surveyresults expenditures from home. He lived roughly ated. An e-mail record can make that process 50 miles away, and driving to the offi ce for simpler, more accurate and less reliant on network access would have stalled prepara- verbal accounts. tion for the whole county.

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go spectrumj reports from the IT horizon

Usable Tools More than ever, Twtpoll.com: Need links into one, which governments are feedback from your eliminates copying and tapping into the latest followers? Ask them a pasting individual links Web 2.0 applications question — 140 char- when sharing. Digital to better connect with acters or fewer — with doingText.com: allows citizens. Here are a few multiple-choice answers users to edit and write resources that might to gauge their interest online collaboratively. Memorial beneﬁ t your agency: in a topic. And if you are Scrumy.com: a project Technology brings people together in www.survs.com: is a restricted by 140 management tool that the best of times as well as the worst. collaborative tool for cre- characters, Twitter- lets users assess each A funeral home in central Ohio pro- ating online surveys, but Eyes, edits “tweets” stage of a plan. is currently in the private before they’re sent Notify.me: receive vides free live Web streaming and beta testing phase. so you maximize instant updates about video archives of memorial services for Bubbletweet.com: lets your space. any Web site you’re overseas military personnel who can’t users add videos to their link.in: This tool interested in. attend, according to Th e Associated

Twitter page. converts multiple — KAREN STEWARTSON, MANAGING EDITOR Press. Other funeral homes nationwide also off er similar services.

Enter to Win The Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA), a nonproﬁ t association of professionals who use GIS and IT to solve state and local issues, is seeking nominations for its GIS Hall of Fame. URISA honors Education Pays the best in the GIS ﬁ eld. Previous inductees include ESRI President Jack Congress might soon be dishing out the Dangermond and Roger Tomlinson a.k.a. “the father of GIS.” Nominations dough to U.S. public schools. As a part of are due May 1st. For more information, visit www.urisa.org/hall_of_fame. President Barack Obama’s $825 billion — KAREN STEWARTSON, MANAGING EDITOR economic stimulus package, Congress would dole out nearly $142 billion over the next two years, but there’s a catch. Schools must develop longitudinal data systems that track progress, formulate Funding high-quality tests, and hire and retain top

teachers in hard-to-staff schools. — USA TODAY Send Crisis Brick by Brick spectrum Many states are facing a More than ideas funding crisis in their 22 million Legos to managing editor were used to re-create Karen Stewartson unemployment systems. kstewartson@ U.S. Labor Department President Barack govtech.com data from November shows Obama’s Inauguration. more than 500,000 new The creation had more claims for unemployment than 1,000 mini-ﬁ gures, benefi ts were fi led for the including politicos like week ending Nov. 8, 2008, California Sen. Dianne bringing new claims to their Feinstein, former Vice highest levels President Dick Cheney, 09 since the _ economic downturn aft er the Bush family and Sept. 11, 2001. many more. — LEGOLAND MARCH 44

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go March 20th: Deadline for Key Emergency Preparedness Grants!

Learn More in our Real Time Command and Control Resource Center Disaster preparedness and emergency response is Take advantage of available funding to help you lead complicated when incompatible systems and equip- during the most trying of circumstances. Our Resource ment limit communication capabilities. Fifty-three Center offers valuable resources — including grant percent of Emergency Management’s readership information — to improve your communications conﬁ rm that their jurisdiction has been impacted by a technologies and help you keep your personnel loss in communications during a catastrophic event. informed, and our communities safe.

In Partnership With: Visit www.emergencymgmt.com/communication

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P OK togo P Creative Dir M repress . Splashdown The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw is the nation’s only heavy icebreaking vessel assigned exclusively to the Great Lakes. The Mackinaw, seen here during its launch in April 2005, boasts a state-of- the-art navigation system and Finnish- built Azipod propulsion system. The Azipods generate 9,119 shaft horsepower, which aids the Mackinaw as it crashes through ice sheets up to 10 feet thick. The vessel reaches a maximum speed of 15 knots (17 mph) and stretches 240 feet from bow to stern. The Great Lakes, which connect to the ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway, are vital shipping lanes year- round. Without an icebreaker to clear a path for ships, the region’s economy would lose hundreds of millions of dollars annually. j

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go For more productnews Log on today to explore Government Technology’s Product Source productsource. Take a Gander govtech.com j Samsung’s Behold touchscreen phone is available through T-Mobile USA and features a 3-inch LCD with virtual, landscape QWERTY touchpad. It includes a 5-megapixel camera and camcorder with flash and autofocus. Its memory card slot expands up to 16 GB. The phone offers text messaging, instant messaging and e-mail, along with a music and video player and stereo Bluetooth. ID Collector www.samsungwireless.com The Smartmatic PARmobile collects biographic and biometric information and verifies identity. It can be used in large-scale projects like civil or voter registration, national identification and immigration control. The unit includes a fingerprint scanner, signature pad, digital camera and electronic identification reader. It prints voter lists, identity documents and electronic cards. The PARmobile operates for three hours on its own and up to eight hours when connected to an external battery. www.smartmatic.com Here Comes the Sun Solio’s magnesium edition solar hybrid charger lets users charge devices day or night. Its internal rechargeable lithium-ion battery stores power for up to one year. The set includes cables and adapters for various late-model cell phones, PDAs, MP3 players, digital cameras and other devices. Solio claims that one hour of sunshine equals 20 minutes talk time. The charger also comes with a universal wall adapter. j www.solio.com Beam Me Up Alienware’s M17 notebook contains the Intel Core2 Extreme QX9300 mobile quad-core processor and dual 500 GB hard drives (One terabyte of storage capacity total). The laptop has an internal Intel Wi-Fi Link 5300 a/b/g/draft-N, a 17-inch extreme high-definition 1920 x 1200 resolution display, dual ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 cards and 3 GB of DDR3 memory. Also included are a 2.0 megapixel tilting 09 _ Webcam, 7-in-1 media card reader, ExpressCard slot and fingerprint reader. www.alienware.com MARCH 48

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go signal: BY PAUL W. TAYLOR CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER noise CENTER FOR DIGITAL GOVERNMENT index Jurisdictions/Agencies: j Alameda County, Calif...... 14 Arizona Department of Administration ...... 14 Arizona ...... 10 Aurora, Colo...... 14 California Department of Transportation ...... 14 California Office of the State Chief Information Officer...... 40 California...... 14 Deleware ...... 10 Harris County Information Technology Center 42 The Stimulus Dilemma Harris County Purchasing Agent ...... 42 Hawaii County ...... 30 Lincoln, Neb...... 14 Los Angeles World Airports ...... 14 Louisianna ...... 10 rillion has become the new denomina- libraries and schools. (One small Wisconsin Maine ...... 10 tor in public fi nance, from raising the city’s transit system sought a new source to Manor, Texas ...... 14 Michigan ...... 10, 14 debt ceiling to rescuing Wall Street to pay for the routine replacement of copiers Minnesota ...... 14 economic stimulus for the rest of the and fax machines.) Add uninterrupted power Missouri Office of Administration, IT Division .36 T Nebraska ...... 10 economy. State and local government budget supply here, computer-aided dispatch there, Nevada ...... 10 writers began penciling in stimulus fund place- automated records management in three New York City Department of Information Technology and Communications ...... 14 holders from the federal government to balance cities and synchronized traffi c fl ow in two New York City Human Resources Administration ...14 their budgets, hoping the new bucket of money others. Most requestors could use rugged New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance ...... 12 would materialize. laptops. And many requests were to put fresh Newport, Va...... 14 Th e U.S. Conference of Mayors made a list technology in the construction or renovation North Carolina ...... 14 Ohio Office of Budget and Management ...... 14 of 18,750 local infrastructure projects from of computer labs, baseball parks, storefront Pennsylvania ...... 10 779 cities of all sizes. Th e collection amounts police stations and water-treatment facilities. Roanoke, Va...... 14 Salt River Project ...... 30 to infrastructure investments worth $149.8 Without commenting on these requests’ Tempe, Ariz...... 30 billion that carry a promise of 1.6 million merits, the list would back fi ll existing budget Texas ...... 8, 10, 14 U.S. Coast Guard ...... 46 jobs. All the projects were ready to go or in holes and operational needs. Economists U.S. Labor Department ...... 44 other words, “shovel ready.” remind us that spending on transactional University of Louisville ...... 30 Urban and Regional Information Systems By the conference’s accounting, the top stuff can help get the economy moving again. Association ...... 44 categories of submitted requests are: trans- Th ey even concede there’s some social good Utah ...... 14 Washington Transportation Improvement Board ...14 portation ($53.9 billion); energy and green in paying someone to dig a hole and a second Washington, D.C...... 10, 14 jobs ($30.5 billion); community development person to fi ll it back up. Th at may be true as Vendors: ($26.5 billion); and water and sewer ($23.5 billion). far as it goes, but does it go far enough? Alienware ...... 48 Th e Center for Digital Government In commenting on the general merits of the Apple ...... 30 BIO-key ...... 30 studied the conference’s report to see how stimulus, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich BlackBerry ...... 10 IT fared. It identifi ed 107 IT-specifi c projects told NPR, “Th ey’re talking about a government Blue State Digital ...... 14 CDW-G ...... 30 valued at $287,977,622 that promise to create that’s still [$1.5 trillion]. We ought to then have Citrix...... 42 2,092 jobs. a smart, [$1.5 trillion] government, not a dumb Facebook ...... 14 Fujitsu ...... 30 In this subgroup, nine cities have as-yet- one. Lincoln built the transcontinental railroads, Gartner ...... 30 unfunded plans for broadband network one of the key factors in the rising Republican HP ...... 30 HTC ...... 30 installations — some for public safety, librar- majority of his generation. Th eodore Roosevelt Microsoft ...... 36, 40 ies and citywide access. Th e projects have a built the Panama Canal. Eisenhower proposed Nokia ...... 30 Palm ...... 30 combined $106 million price tag and bring the interstate highway system as a national Research in Motion ...... 30 the prospect of 800 new jobs and new public defense act … Th ere are smart things govern- Samsung ...... 48 Smartmatic ...... 48 wireless infrastructure. ment should do.” Solio ...... 48 Th e list’s other 98 IT-specifi c projects are a Gingrich isn’t oft en invoked on this page, Sprint ...... 30 grab bag of things that haven’t attracted local but his warning may well be prescient in this Twitter ...... 44 funding, but together represent a $182 million year of infrastructure investments, “Th ere’s a Advertisers Index Bearing Point ...... 17 need that’s gone begging. Unlike the broad- huge jump from the transcontinental railroad Brother ...... 25 band projects, these projects have a decidedly president to a pothole presidency,” he said. CDWG ...... 5 CGI ...... 27 blocking and tackling feel to them. Th ere are “What I’ve seen so far is a tendency to have EDS ...... 13 requests to replace and upgrade aging hard- relatively tiny projects that have no strategic LG Electronics ...... 7 ware and soft ware for police departments, impact on the country’s long-term future.” Microsoft ...... 52 New World Systems ...... 51 Panasonic Toughbook...... 49 09

_ Pitney Bowes ...... 1 Research In Motion ...... 2 Verizon Wireless ...... 21 MARCH 50

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go The Public Sector Software Company

rExclusively Serving the Public Sector for more than 28 Years rAll Software Developed by New World Systems in the USA rServing more than 1,500 Cities and Counties Across 48 States rSignificant Annual Research and Development Investment rCustomer-Driven Software Enhancements rNo Acquisitions, Mergers or Layoffs

“New World Systems’ development architecture, from a technology perspective, was very influential. New World is on the leading edge with a product developed from the ground up with .NET technology and utilizing Microsoft SQL server. New World Systems offers a robust application solution that meets all our needs.”

− Roger Fahnestock Director of Information Technologies Kane County, Illinois

Best Practices in Infrastructure Management Award Winner

www.newworldsystems.com

Public Safety Software Solutions tComputer Aided Dispatch tRecords Management tMobile Computing tCorrections Management tJustice Information Sharing

Public Administration Software Solutions tFinancial Management tPayroll and Human Resources tUtility Management tCommunity Development teSuite

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go it’s everybody’s business to make a government by the people work better for .

Does your enterprise software help multiple agencies work as one?

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go A publication of e.Republic inside: Broadband Stimulus: Meeting the Challenge of Economic Crisis

also: Miami-Dade TV Tackles the County’s Dirty Jobs

D.C.’s Vivek

Engineering a Radical Transformation

A supplement to

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go VOLUME 4 | I S S U E 1 march 2009 contents

Features DIGITAL COMMUNITIES Editorial Advisory Board 911 Fast Track 22 The Association of Public-Safety RANDY JOHNSON Commissioner, Communications Ofﬁ cials Hennepin County, Minn. endorses a national standard to automatically transmit alarm company alerts to 911 centers. KAREN MILLER Commissioner, Boone County, Miss. BY ANDY OPSAHL

PHIL BERTOLINI Dirty Jobs: Miami-Dade Style Deputy County Executive/CIO, 26 Oakland County, Mich. TV show reveals how county employees serve citizens. BY CHANDLER HARRIS GREG LARSON City Manager, Los Gatos, Calif.

BRIAN MOURA 6 Assistant City Manager, on the cover San Carlos, Calif. A Radical Transformation How can government become the IT MELVIN (KIP) HOLDEN trendsetter instead of basking in the Mayor, Baton Rouge, La. public sector’s shadow?

BY BLAKE HARRIS NEAL PUFF CIO, Yuma County, Ariz. COVER PHOTO BY JOHN HARRINGTON

BERT JARREAU CIO, National Association Features of Counties

A Better Broadband Stimulus: JIM KEENE 12 New Thinking During a Time Dir. of Strategic Issues, International City/County of Economic Crisis Management Association There’s no shortage of ideas for how the U.S. should build out broadband infrastructure. MARK JOHNSON 22 Exec. Dir., North Dakota BY SASCHA D. MEINRATH Association of Counties INTRO 4 A Once-In-A-Lifetime Opportunity Building Smart and BY BLAKE HARRIS CHRIS A. VEIN 18 CIO, city and county Sustainable Communities of San Francisco Local government and IT VIEWPOINT industry partners offer 30 Please Stand Up their advice and support to the Obama administration. BY TODD SANDER DIGITAL COMMUNITIES MARCH 09 3

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Introduction Group Publisher: DON PEARSON [email protected] Executive Editor: STEVE TOWNS [email protected]

EDITORIAL Editor: BLAKE HARRIS [email protected] Assoc. Editors: EMILY MONTANDON [email protected] CHAD VANDER VEEN [email protected] Chief Copy Editor: MIRIAM JONES [email protected] Managing Editor: KAREN STEWARTSON [email protected] Justice and Public Safety Editor: JIM McKAY [email protected] Copy Editor: ELAINE RUNDLE [email protected] Features Editor: ANDY OPSAHL [email protected] Assistant Editor: MATT WILLIAMS [email protected] A Once-In-A-Lifetime Staff Writer: HILTON COLLINS [email protected] Editorial Assistant: CORTNEY TOWNS [email protected] Contributing Editor: TOD NEWCOMBE [email protected] Contributing Writers: CHANDLER HARRIS, SASCHA D. MEINRATH, Opportunity TODD SANDER DESIGN HE BIG NEWS as this issue of the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Creative Director: KELLY MARTINELLI [email protected] Senior Designer: CRYSTAL HOPSON [email protected] TDigital Communities is being put Utilities Service. Graphic Designers: MICHELLE HAMM [email protected] JOE COLOMBO [email protected] to bed is the approval of a compromise Some observers question the wisdom Illustrator: TOM McKEITH [email protected] economic stimulus bill that includes of splitting the money into two pools, to Production Dir.: STEPHAN WIDMAIER [email protected] Production Manager: JOEI HEART [email protected] $7.2 billion to help deploy broadband in be administered by different agencies

rural and underserved urban areas, $17 that will have different approaches PUBLISHING billion for incentives for health-care and criteria. VP Sales: DON PEARSON [email protected] VP Strategic Accounts: JON FYFFE [email protected] providers to adopt electronic health Beyond the politics of it all remains VP Bus. Development: TIM KARNEY [email protected] records, and $11 billion to update the the fundamental challenge: ensuring East Regional Sales Dir.: LESLIE HUNTER [email protected] nation’s electricity grid by connecting that the money is not squandered on East it to the Internet. shortsighted projects, but rather is used SHELLEY BALLARD [email protected] West, Central The fundamental issue now is how to bring long-term benefi ts to a wide Account Managers: MELISSA CANO [email protected] East the grant processes for that money will range of communities. ERIN HUX [email protected] be set up and administered such that In early versions of the stimulus bill West, Central Business Development Director: GLENN SWENSON [email protected] the money — hailed as a once-in-a-life- there were broadband requirements Bus. Dev. Managers: KRISTA O’SULLIVAN [email protected] LISA DOUGHTY [email protected] time opportunity, equivalent to govern- that set aggressive new benchmarks for KEVIN MAY [email protected] ment programs that brought electricity speed and offered tax credits for achiev- Exec. Coordinator to Publisher: JULIE MURPHY [email protected] Regional Sales Admins: SABRINA SHEWMAKE [email protected] and modern highways to rural America ing higher speeds. In fi nal versions of CHRISTINE CHILDS [email protected] — brings maximum benefi t. the bill, however, legisla- National Sales Admin: JENNIFER VALDEZ [email protected] Dir. of Marketing: ANDREA KLEINBARDT [email protected] Politics has already tors opted for expanded Dir. of Custom Events: WHITNEY SWEET [email protected] Custom Events Manager: LANA HERRERA [email protected] played a part in the honing By Blake Harris availability rather than Custom Events Coordinator: KARIN MORGAN [email protected] of the broadband stimu- EDITOR pushing speed. Dir. of Custom Publications: STACEY TOLES [email protected] Custom Publications Writer: JIM MEYERS [email protected] lus. As this portion of the Right now most com- Dir. of Web bill was being developed in munities want to know Products and Services: VIKKI PALAZZARI [email protected] Project Manager, both the House and the Senate, furious how to get their share of the broadband Web Services Manager: PETER SIMEK [email protected] Project Manager, Web lobbying efforts reportedly took place funding pie. Those details will emerge Products and Services: MICHELLE MROTEK [email protected] behind the scenes as different interest in the months ahead, and Digital Com- Web Advertising Manager: JULIE DEDEAUX [email protected] Web Services/Proj. Coord: ADAM FOWLER [email protected] groups and companies sought to shape munities will cover this in some detail, Subscription Coordinator: GOSIA COLOSIMO [email protected]

this part of the bill to their advantage. both in future magazine issues and on CORPORATE At the same time, congressional turf the Digital Communities Web site, www. CEO: DENNIS McKENNA [email protected] Executive VP: DON PEARSON [email protected] battles pitted rural lawmakers against govtech.com/dc. Executive VP: CATHILEA ROBINETT [email protected] urban representatives, each of whom In this issue — most of it written CAO: LISA BERNARD [email protected] CFO: PAUL HARNEY [email protected] wanted to ensure that their jurisdic- before President Barack Obama signed VP of Events: ALAN COX [email protected] tions didn’t lose out. the stimulus package — we look at vari- Marketing Director: DREW NOEL [email protected] The compromise plan provides $4.4 ous proposals that were being made for Government Technology’s Digital Communities is published by e.Republic Inc. Copyright 2009 by e.Republic Inc. All rights reserved. Government Technology is a billion to extend broadband and wire- enhancing broadband. Those matters registered trademark of e.Republic Inc. Opinions expressed by writers are not less services to rural, suburban and remain, and how they are addressed necessarily those of the publisher or editors. urban areas through the U.S. Commerce will have much to do with determining Article submissions should be sent to the attention of the Managing Editor. Reprints of all articles in this issue and past issues are available (500 minimum). Please Department’s National Telecommunica- the long-term results of the broadband direct inquiries to the YGS Group: Attn. Erik Eberz at (800) 290-5460 ext.150 or tions and Information Administration, stimulus. Digital Communities will be [email protected]. in addition to $2.8 billion to expand following this closely in the coming Subscription Information: Requests for subscriptions may be directed to Circulation Director by phone or fax to the numbers below. You can also subscribe online at broadband access to rural areas through months. www.govtech.com.

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Keep up with policy while keeping your wits. Mandates change. Your communications strategy must evolve with them. So account for change on your terms while equipping your people to handle it on theirs. Do it with seamless connectivity. And secure access to critical applications where and when they’re needed. To change your game, visit att.com/wirelessgovernment

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Vivek Kundra, chief technology ofﬁ cer of the District of Columbia, How can has drawn national attention government for his innovative style and drive to use technology to become the greatly increase government IT trendsetter transparency and citizen instead of involvement. He spoke with Digital Communities Editor standing in Blake Harris about his the private management approach, IT governance innovations, sector’s cost-cutting measures and shadow? the pace of innovation. A INTERVIEW BY BLAKE HARRIS

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go PHOTO BY JOHN HARRINGTON

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Q: WHAT ARE SOME OF THE NEW APPROACHES YOU’VE INTRODUCED IN WASHINGTON, D.C.? I usually point to three areas in terms of what we are doing here. It starts with a shift in philosophical thinking, but there are three pillars. First, there is the question of how you lower the cost of government operations by moving toward consumer technologies rather than technologies

focused within the enterprise. What I Kundra said using a project management dashboard makes it easier to track and quantify results. mean by that is, for too long the public sector has thought for some reason that approaches in government and people Union-style debate, where the project it’s so special that it must have custom would not get fi red if they were incom- manager of that initiative has to argue applications, it must have radios for petent or they didn’t perform. We were in the affi rmative for keeping the proj- the public safety unit that cost $6,000 also relying too much on consultants to ect going and somebody on my team a piece, it must have applications drive the government agenda. So what argues in the negative, to close it down. targeted for the enterprise. And the I said was, if on my iPhone as I’m walk- That way, we can see what’s going on government chooses to pay for things ing down the street I can check the with that project. Based on the out- that it can get for free. price of any publicly traded stock, and come, we decide to buy, sell or hold Second, there is the question of how at the same time, get all the news cov- those projects. Recently we just “sold” you drive radical transparency in the erage around that stock, why can’t I do one and saved $3 million. For another public sector. We are doing that by that with public-sector spending? that was in a lot of trouble, we put in an democratizing data and opening up the I decided to get rid of my tradi- emergency team to take over. warehouse of government information tional project-management team and To give you an example, in contrast to the public so people can innovate; I hired fi ve people. The reason I hired to this model, of what was happening they can slice, dice and cube that data fi ve was that I had fi ve major clusters before: Three years ago, D.C. public to create amazing and creative applica- of government operations: public safety, schools spent $25 million deploying tions for citizens and government. education, health care, economic devel- PeopleSoft applications. Now this proj- And the third big pillar has to do with how you fundamentally rethink “The promise of technology was not that it would cost IT governance. What I’m doing with IT millions of dollars and always be behind schedule. The governance essentially is simplifying it, getting away from complicated meth- promise was that it was going to fundamentally change odologies, and getting more focused the way we worked.” on process rather than outcome. Here we’ve moved to a simple “stock market” opment and government operations. I ect failed. Not a single person was fi red, model where every technology project began treating each IT project like a and not a single company was sued. is treated as a publicly traded stock. stock. I literally built this stock market They just fl ushed $25 million of hard- fl oor, and with each project we look at earned taxpayer dollars down the toi- Q: YOUR LAST POINT BRINGS UP HOW the “happiness index.” This indicates let. And what this stock-market model YOU’VE APPROACHED RUNNING IT PROJ- how happy the customers are, how allows us to do is rethink IT governance. ECTS — WHICH IS QUITE DIFFERENT. happy the people who implement the When I came to the district, it had project are and how happy the stake- Q: RADICALLY INCREASED TRANSPAR- spent more than $1 billion in IT. Yet it holders are. We micro-poll to get the ENCY REALLY TIES INTO WHAT YOU was very diffi cult to say which IT proj- happiness index. We see how they are MEAN BY A SHIFT IN PHILOSOPHY. CAN ects resulted in benefi ts and what those doing in terms of schedule [and] then of YOU ELABORATE ON THAT? quantifi ed benefi ts were. Or what the course, evaluate the management team. It’s a very personal thing for me project failures were and what caused When that’s put together as “stock,” we because I grew up in Africa, in Tan- those failures. There wasn’t any real categorize them into buy, sell or hold. zania to be specifi c. I grew up in an way to do this type of analysis. And For stocks that fall under the sell cat- environment where there were scarce frankly, we did not get a billion dollars egory, we actually bring in the project resources and you had to get by with worth of technology. These followed old manager and we conduct an Oxford very little in life. Those early years really

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go shaped my thinking about surviving the public school system, as the comput- better government. My view is that citi- on very little. But more important than ers were being deployed, there was a live zens are co-creators of government, not that, it left a lasting impression of the data feed that showed where they were just subjects of it. difference between good and bad gov- deployed, which school and a [phone] ernment, and what bad governance number for the principal. Q: ONE EXAMPLE OF TURNING CITIZENS looks like. INTO REAL PARTNERS IS YOUR APPS When you have corruption, when you Q: YOUR APPROACH IS TO TREAT CITI- FOR DEMOCRACY PROJECT. CAN YOU have a system that’s broken, when you ZENS AS PARTNERS IN GOVERNMENT, TALK A LITTLE ABOUT THIS? have people in the public sector who RATHER THAN SIMPLY AS CUSTOMERS That followed after I published all care more about themselves rather than TO BE SERVED. these data feeds related to govern- “we the people,” you end up with a failed Exactly. Back in the days of kings, ment. I thought how do you really state or failed organization. I brought people would kiss the ring, and the king embark on a technology revolution in that with me when I moved to the Unit- would decide all the rules and regula- the public sector? And the best way to ed States at the age of 11. And our bed- tions and how to promulgate them. But do it, in my view, is to actually engage rock principles of democracy — freedom the purpose of democracy is that you the citizens. We basically said we’re of the press, open government, sunlight move away from being treated as sub- going to put out $50,000 — a modest — all those resonate with me. You real- jects and become active citizens. That’s sum — for a competition, out of which ize that government and democracy die what participatory democracy is all $30,000 went to run the competition behind closed doors. So it’s very impor- about. It’s not about being a subject to a and only $20,000 went to prizes. The tant that government is practiced in the centralized, autocratic government, but highest prize was $2,000. I put a limit public square, so to speak, and not in it’s about “we the people” being able to of 30 days on the competition, and the the halls of power behind closed doors hold our government accountable. And challenge was for citizens to create amongst just a few people. By democra- also ensuring that we are creating a applications for citizens themselves tizing data and information and public and the public sector. To my delight, processes, making them open and avail- Increasing Accountability we ended up getting 47 fully function- able, you are able to engage citizens in a Ever since Vivek Kundra’s been in al applications in 30 days for $50,000. way you never could before. I think the charge of D.C.’s Offi ce of the Chief By our calculations, that would have information revolution has enabled a lot Technology Offi cer (OCTO), it seems like cost us about $2.6 million and would of that. innovation has been the norm. In 2008, have taken us two years. the department won an award for IT Q: WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF THE Project and Portfolio Management from Q: WHAT KIND OF APPLICATIONS DID KIND OF PUBLIC DATA THAT YOU HAVE the National Association of State Chief CONTESTANTS CREATE? NOW MADE AVAILABLE? Information Offi cers (NASCIO) — thanks There is one called iLive.at. This A few examples: One is on every con- to a portfolio management project application allows you to put in your sultant I hire in the government, I’ve designed to increase accountability and home address and based on that address, actually put out as a data feed who in transparency. it lets you know crimes that happened the government hired that consultant, OCTO created a team of portfolio in your neighborhood, the closest bank how much we are paying that consul- managers to oversee IT initiatives. The and things of interest near you. It lets tant and an hourly rate, which company team manages a portfolio of projects you fi nd the buses and trains and when he or she works for, and the company’s like a stock fund and decides whether they are coming. So it really takes all address. That’s to democratize informa- to commit more resources to projects those data feeds and gives them to you tion about procurement in the public or “buy,” maintain current resources and in the context of your address. sector. A second example: Every 311 call “hold” or cancel the project and “sell.” A second application is for people that comes into the District of Colum- Kundra’s plan is for this Wall Street who love bikes. It lets you know where bia — a service request — we actually model of managing projects to create the best bike routes are, where bikes publish that. So whether that has to do real-time performance data to gauge are getting stolen, where you can buy with a broken parking meter, potholes how they do. The market reaction, so cheap bikes, and it lets you create a or crime — all that is published and put to speak, is customer satisfaction to community of bicyclists if you want to into the public domain. A third example projects, and these projects are viewed go on long rides. is a lot of the crime data, whether it’s as companies by portfolio managers. A third application is called Point assaults, burglaries or homicides. All The department created a Web-based About, created specifi cally for the PDA. that data is put out there, available to IT investment portfolio tool with dash- We are using it as one of the offi cial the public in real time. A fourth one: boards for managers to track project inauguration apps because, using your When we were deploying computers to value and performance. iPhone and your BlackBerry, based on Source: NASCIO

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go your GPS coordinates, it lets you know Q: WAS THIS THE ARGUMENT YOU the closest Metro station and when the USED TO SELL THIS APPROACH? Fast Facts next train is coming or where the clos- Yes, but more important, we started est restaurants to you are. It takes those with a pilot. I started with my agency u Vivek Kundra reportedly will data feeds we have and geocodes them. of 700 people. With those 700 people, we join the Obama administration People can look all these up on the Web moved forward, tested it, made sure all as head of the Offi ce of at dps.dc.gov. That URL, by the way, is the security requirements we had were E-Government and Infor- part of my vision of creating a digital well documented, and then scaled it mation Technology, a post public square. from there. And all along, Mayor Adrian created in 2001 within the Fenty was extremely supportive. Q: DID YOU FACE ANY OBSTACLES White House’s Offi ce of MOVING AWAY FROM THE CUSTOM OR Q: WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO Management and Budget. ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE AND TACKLING A CIO WHO WAS TRYING TO ADOPT A u In this new position, Kundra THE NOTION THAT GOVERNMENT IS SIMILAR APPROACH? may have an opportunity to DIFFERENT OR THAT THE SECURITY One of the biggest things that has HAS TO BE SO MUCH BETTER? been very helpful for me was the cre- introduce some of the inno- Yes, but I think it’s the 80/20 rule. I ation of test labs. I’ve created labs vations, such as his “stock would agree with the critics who would within my organization that are the market” model for IT initia- say classifi ed information can’t be test bed for innovation. We try out new tives and the greater use of moved to the cloud or if you have very ideas, we look at models that can be third-party tools like Google sensitive information, you need to deal scaled quickly, and we throw hundreds Apps, that have earned him with that differently. I totally agree of ideas against the wall and try to fail with that. them fast. And the ones that resonate, wide praise as D.C.’s CTO. we scale them very fast also. It keeps u As e-gov administrator, Q: SO PUBLIC SAFETY APPLICATIONS, the pace of innovation moving forward. Kundra will oversee the FOR EXAMPLE, ARE A SEPARATE CASE Then philosophically, the question is federal government’s $70 WITH VERY LEGITIMATE CONCERNS. why government has to be a laggard BUT THOSE CONCERNS DON’T THEN when it comes to innovation and tech- billion annual IT budget. HAVE TO EXTEND RIGHT ACROSS ALL nology. It used to be that government GOVERNMENT. was the leader — government was the Right, and that’s my argument: The trendsetter. And we’ve lost that. Now The promise of technology was not sensitive or classifi ed data represents 20 everybody’s taken these hyperconser- that it would cost millions of dollars percent of the public sector. But there vative positions and that hurts us now and always be behind schedule. The are cost-saving possibilities for the 80 when it comes to innovation, effi ciency promise was that it was going to funda- percent, where most of the information and delivering services. From a philo- mentally change the way we worked. So isn’t highly sensitive. It’s training videos, sophical approach, I would say, “Be how do you think this through? What collaboration or rules and procedures bold. Be aggressive when it comes to did the light bulb do when it became — all of those things. They aren’t classi- innovation. Don’t just turn it into a part of our cultural fabric? It trans- fi ed. They might be a little sensitive, but word that you talk about — execute.” formed the way we worked, played and they are not classifi ed. So why would we The lab I have consists of three peo- lived. In the same way, what can these pay millions of dollars more to secure ple who I work closely with, and we new technologies do, what transforma- them when, at the end of the day, you basically experiment. We try to think tion will they bring? What did the loco- have a bunch of consultants managing through where the technology going, motive and steam engine do in terms that infrastructure anyway? What often what it is going to look like. And we try of transforming our economy? That’s happens is that 20 percent of the govern- to look at where the country is headed, what we need to focus on — going back ment ends up driving 100 percent of the where the world is headed, what’s hap- to the basics and determining how you decisions, rather than being pragmatic pening in the developing world, what’s increase value at lower costs, rather about it. There are certain things where going on in the public-sector space. than asking for these big, multimillion it doesn’t make sense to buy your own We try out new ideas, whether that’s dollar enterprise projects. And fi nally, I applications. Why buy blogging software in the social-media space, or whether would say that there’s no better time to when you can get free blogs? Or you aren’t that’s artifi cial intelligence, whether innovate than during tough economic going to go out there and re-create Twit- that’s in robotics. We look at all those times. This is a great opportunity. ter, Facebook, Picasa or Flickr when you technologies to see how they could can get it all done for free. transform the public sector.

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go -FBEFSTIJQ 0O#MBDL#FSSZ

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go ABetterBetter Broadband BY SASCHA D. MEINRATH

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go There’s no shortage of ideas for how the U.S. should build out Better broadband infrastructure. d Stimulus: New Thinking During a Time of Economic Crisis

he economic crisis that’s hammering the U.S. has created space for innovative thinking and new ideas. “The age of market fundamentalism, with its ideological belief that markets are always right, that wealth should trickle Tdown and that less government is better, is simply over,” said Mark Cooper, research director of the Consumer Federation of America. Furthermore, Cooper said, “Public policy must start from a new understanding of the role of government and the private sector.” This new reality has created an opportunity to improve broadband build-out. For the past six months, a multibillion dollar expenditure battle has waged in Washington, D.C., that will help decide America’s communications future. With hundreds of billions of dollars being spent by Congress to stimulate the economy, broadband is ﬁ nally getting its due. John Windhausen, president of Telepoly Consulting, sums up the rationale: “Big broadband networks promote economic growth and jobs; companies locate businesses in communities that have faster broadband networks; and, in a global economy, local broadband networks help the U.S. attract businesses from overseas.” However, until congressional leaders decided what provisions to include when they reconciled the House and Senate versions of the Economic Stimulus bill, no one really knew exactly how much funding would be made available and through which speciﬁ c processes and agencies. The compromise plan, we now know, provides $4.4 billion to extend broadband and wireless services to rural, suburban and urban areas through the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration and $2.8 billion to expand broadband access to rural areas through the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service. Spurred by this investment, a healthy debate has sprung up over the details of what an “ideal” broadband plan should entail — a debate that will continue to have relevance as decisions are made on exactly how this stimulus money is spent.

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Side-by-Side Comparisons: Infl uential Broadband Stimulus Interventions As a co-author of one of these benefi ts for those who have broad- broadband proposals, I’ve focused on Building a 21st Century Broadband band access (and the detriments faced trying to solve the “middle-mile prob- Superhighway: A Concrete Build-out by those without it). Connectivity is lem” — the lack of competitive service Plan to Bring High-Speed Fiber to the currency of the Information Age, providers connecting last-mile net- Every Community by the New America much like the computer era integrated works to the Internet backbone. I’ve Foundation machines (from laptops to PDAs, and talked with many key policy proposal Available online at: www.newamerica. cell phones to iPods) into our daily regi- drafters in Washington, D.C., and sev- net/ mens, the Industrial Revolution brought eral overlapping facets among these Most important facets: This plan manufactured goods to public life and proposals point to better ideas that focuses on simultaneously repairing the agrarian revolution helped allevi- could be incorporated into an ideal one public good (roads) while creating ate famine. A new social contract that long-term broadband infrastructure another (national broadband); creating includes Internet connectivity for all is build-out. At its heart, however, is a a Digital Excellence Fund to fi nance not a particularly expensive endeavor dawning understanding that the days ongoing network build-out and — free broadband for everyone would of Internet connectivity being a lux- maintenance and creating programs to cost a tiny fraction of the Wall Street ury item are long behind us. Today’s increase digital literacy. bailout and would be cheaper than one debates center on what it means to live Cost: $1.2 billion to $3.6 billion year of the Iraq war. in a 21st-century society and work in a Problems addressed: Decisions made Many politicians, from municipal modern economy. in Washington, D.C., over the past representatives to President Barack several years — including the “Brand X” Obama, actively support broadband Is Broadband a Luxury? Supreme Court ruling and the scheduled build outs. And the January debate We live in a civil society — a place removal of several AT&T/SBC merger about the economic stimulus package where primary education is free to all, conditions — have resulted in more dif- made nationwide Internet infrastruc- anyone can enjoy a walk through pub- fi culty for rural broadband access. The ture development a key component of lic parks or on sidewalks and freely lack of fi ber middle-mile infrastructure the intervention. A multifaceted solu- drive on streets. Libraries in the U.S. has impaired deployment of competitive tion is needed. For instance, fuel-effi - broadband networks. This remains one loan books for free — literature that ciency and car-safety standards have of the most immediate and cost-effective can be read on a spring day in parks or helped shape the national transporta- last-mile solutions for communities that beneath the streetlights of Main Street have minimal access to broadband and tion grid, but the U.S. had to make a on a warm summer’s evening. You don’t must rely primarily upon dial-up Internet major public investment in the infra- have to tip the fi refi ghters or pay for connections. The Department of Trans- structure. Broadband poses a similar police protection. In a civil society, pub- portation is also interested in employing challenge and opportunity. lic safety is freely available to everyone. wireless communications to create an My colleague Benjamin Lennett of Americans enjoy myriad services and intelligent transportation system, which the New America Foundation, and I resources that they don’t pay for each would better manage traffi c fl ow and have been working on one proposal, time they use them. Yet each of these improve general transportation safety. Building a 21st Century Broadband key facets of contemporary society is It would need a national (roadside) fi ber Superhighway: A Concrete Build-out infrastructure to operate. part of a new social contract, adopted Plan to Bring High-Speed Fiber to only after years of battle and turmoil How will this plan help municipali- Every Community, to create a national to overcome a status quo (e.g., private ties and local communities? This plan broadband superhighway that would fi re protection and educational services, encourages competition by lowering provide fi ber capacity to cities, towns prices and increasing connection or for-fee libraries and parks). Eventu- and rural areas across the U.S. Its core speeds, and would also make the ally, however, some newfound service idea is very simple: Each time we rip deployment and operation of municipal models are deemed to provide such an and community networks much easier. up, repave or build a road, we should enormous benefi t to the population that The plan to bury fi ber under existing also lay fi ber infrastructure along that society is willing to invest in ideas that roads could greatly increase access to route anyone can use. Over the next fi ve “lift all boats.” As a society, each of us middle-mile broadband connectivity, years, this initiative would create a web is better off when certain basic services which continues to burden smaller, of connectivity — a critical new infra- are freely available to all. independent Internet service providers. structure for the digital age. At the dawn of the digital era, dur- Communities that are already connected Communities, Internet service pro- ing this fi rst decade of the 21st century, would have multiple service provider viders and municipalities are engag- the most important new commodity is options, not to mention several pathways ing in demand-side aggregation, but — these choices would lead to more Internet access. A growing canon of affordable Internet access is lacking reliable networks in general. research has documented the enormous — a bottleneck that our proposal

CONTINUED ON PAGE 16

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Internet Speeds Though Americans have the luxury of free Internet access, the United States continues to trail other countries when it comes to Internet speeds, according to the 2008 Report on Internet Speeds in All 50 States. However, broadband proponents hope this will change under the new presidential administra- Median downloadtion and recent speed funding by zip code.allocation There werefor broadband no tests infrastructure. in unshadedSource: areas.speedmatters.org

Less than 768 kbps Median download speed by ZIP code. There were no768 tests kbps in unshaded to 6 mbps areas. Less Morethan 768 than kbps 6 mbps Hawaii 768 kbps to 6 mbps MoreState than 6 boundaries mbps

Puerto Rico Alaska

solves. Thousands of networks around Communications Workers of America, Wally Bowen, founder and execu- the globe provide free connectivity to said the No. 1 goal should be to fi nd tive director of the Ashville, N.C.-based participants. For example, residents areas of agreement among key stake- Mountain Area Information Network, of Philadelphia and St. Cloud, Fla., holders. Goldman sees the key as a believes that the most effi cacious inter- already receive free broadband. Groups focus on creating jobs. “If we’re going vention would be community-based. “It like the Tribal Digital Village and to talk about creating and maintaining makes far more sense to direct broad- CUWiN Foundation have been building jobs, we’ve got to be technology-neutral band infrastructure funding to local free networks to serve local communi- and neutral in terms of where this mon- networks — the local and regional ties for years. There are opportunities ey goes,” Goldman said. “We have to nonprofi ts, telephone and utility coop- in the U.S. to implement broadband make sure it’s going to companies and eratives and municipalities that have solutions that dramatically improve organizations that know how to spend been springing up all around this everyone’s lives. Therefore, the question the money, operate and build networks, country,” Bowen said. “These are the is: Does this new administration have and can do it fast.” To facilitate this, the networks most likely to have ‘shovel- the gumption to create a “broadband Apollo project” to maximize the poten- “If we’re going to talk about creating and maintaining jobs, tial of the Information Age? we’ve got to be technology-neutral and neutral in terms of Building Better Broadband where this money goes.” “In the broadband space, for us it is Debbie Goldman, research economist, Communications Workers of America clear that the cozy duopoly of telcos and cable companies has failed to deliver Communications Workers of America ready’ broadband projects, [and] they adequate service at reasonable charges supports targeted tax credits for new are more easily held accountable for the as required by the Communications Act,” investment. And it’s not alone. taxpayer dollars that are in the stimulus Cooper said during a recent forum at the Robert Atkinson, president and package [because] local network opera- New America Foundation. “The stimu- founder of the Information Technology tors live in the communities they serve.” lus package provides an ideal opportu- and Innovation Foundation, a Wash- Lennett, a senior program associate nity to try a different approach.” ington, D.C.-based think tank, agrees of the New America Foundation, said The challenge, then, is fi nding over- with the Communications Workers of one key problem is perspective. “We lapping areas among the numerous pro- America’s assessment. “We think there are not viewing broadband as infra- posals that are being presented. Debbie should be rural tax credits [and] a structure, we’re still viewing it as basic Goldman, a research economist for the speed tax credit,” Atkinson said. connectivity or a luxury,” he explained.

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go The broadband stimulus bill, in its current form, is a one-off intervention. Lennett said this sort of intervention may garner political hay, but the problem is really that “we continue to focus on short-term Band-Aid approaches without having any sense of where we need to go and building in policy mechanisms and recommendations that are going to be focused on long- term approaches ... that will handle the demands of the future.” A key feature of the many proposals that would future-proof broadband networks is ensuring that they remain open to innovation and competition. “Requiring openness for public money is absolutely critical,” Lennett said. “The whole point of public subsidization and public investment is that you’re trying to benefi t as many people as possible. ... CONTINUED FROM PAGE 14 If you encourage closed networks that A Blueprint for Big Broadband — The Digital Road to Recovery: limit who can benefi t, that goes against by EDUCAUSE A Stimulus Plan to Create Jobs, the whole point of public investment.” Available online at: http://net.educause. Boost Productivity and Revitalize Derek Turner, research director of edu/ America by the Information the media reform group Free Press, Technology and Innovation Foundation Most important facets: This plan makes the case succinctly: “We don’t focuses on building 100 megabits per Available online at: www.itif.org/ want to be using federal dollars to second connections to every U.S. Most important facets: This plan fund networks that are closed and dis- home and business; creating a Universal includes grants and tax credits, but the criminatory.” In addition, many public- Broadband Fund to cover the upfront tax credits are conditional upon provid- interest groups want to see a package construction costs associated with a ing connectivity to unserved areas or that’s specifi cally targeted to inter- large-scale deployment (i.e., initial increasing network speeds in areas that vene in unserved and underserved U.S. digging of trenches to lay fi ber or already have service. It doesn’t favor one regions. The thinking is that the most deploying wireless antennas) and kind of broadband provider over another. postulating that after these expenditures, bang-for-the-buck will occur “where Cost: $30 billion, but “the actual the ongoing maintenance of the network the investment equation is such that no amount of stimulus needed may be wouldn’t require annual subsidization. broadband investment would probably more or less than $30 billion.” Cost: EDUCAUSE proposes that the take place there absent some sort of Problems addressed: “The goal of federal government provide $32 billion grant infusion from the government,” our plan is to get as much broadband in matching grants — approximately Turner explained. “It’s also the best investment in 2009 and early 2010 one-third of the $97 billion that use of money from an economic effi - as possible.” nationwide broadband deployment is ciency standpoint because a lot of these estimated to cost. How will this plan help municipalities areas have pent-up demand, and you’re and local communities? The plan Problems addressed: This plan would able to maximize consumer surplus by places a premium on deploying stimulate investment in broadband from putting your money there rather than networks in unconnected communities public and private monies. The plan also in an area that’s already served.” and increasing connection speeds in focuses on the network’s social benefi ts communities that already have service. — telemedicine, public safety communications, e-government, distance learning, etc. How will this plan help municipalities Sascha Meinrath is the research director and local communities? The of the New America Foundation’s Wire- EDUCAUSE proposal lets municipalities less Future Program and coordinates the bid directly for funds from the Universal foundation’s Open Technology Initiative. Broadband Fund. The only requirements: He is a regular contributor to Digital The bid winner must serve everyone in Communities. the area, charge affordable rates and build an open network.

16 DIGITAL COMMUNITIES MARCH 09

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Stressed about Video Surveillance?

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Local government and IT industry partners offer their advice and support to the Smart Obama administration. Sustainable Communities

he CIOs of 28 of America’s largest cities the appropriate implementation and application and counties — home to more than 40 of information technology. Tmillion citizens — have joined with In September 2008, the National League information and communication technol- of Cities, along with the National Governors ogy industry representatives in a program Association, the National Conference of State called Digital Communities, created by the Legislatures, the Council of State Governments, Center for Digital Government and Govern- the National Association of Counties and the U.S. ment Technology magazine. Together they are Conference of Mayors (USCM) joined to high- working to help communities ensure a healthy light the important roles state and local government and prosperous future by becoming smarter leaders play in solving national issues and called and more sustainable. on the next president to engage these leaders While long associated with environmental when determining national policy. Digital Com- issues, Digital Communities members believe munities members do not seek to duplicate the sustainability is a more expansive idea that good work of the major associations, but to add reaches across a community’s and region’s their support and perspective as information endeavors. Sustainability means meeting technology professionals in local government to today’s needs and provisioning for the future. It the work already done. They want to make clear is a powerful framework for thinking and acting their support for key provisions of the Obama on a range of challenges facing towns, cities and and Biden Science, Technology and Innovation counties, and it is one that will depend heavily on for a New Generation platform. 59 ©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/DNY

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Digital Communities members have identiﬁ ed the following issues as critical to their ability to support and improve the local governance process and, therefore, suggest them as priority issues for the Obama administration.

• The defi nition of “infrastructure” as it is currently considered in Congress should be expanded to include information and communications technology (ICT): voice, video, data, hardware and software and other services supported by broadband infrastructure (wire line and wireless). ICT has become integral to effi cient, equitable, affordable and available health care, social services, public safety, education, job training, transportati on and other lifeline services and should, therefore, be considered a key component of any economic stimulus bill. Inve stment in ready-to-go infrastructure projects — including funds for airports, housing , schools, highways, bridges, tran sit, clean water, sewer, energy, public safety and broadband infrastructure (wire line and wireless) — creates jobs and stimulates the economy while allowing govern ment agencies to become more effective, effi cient and transparent.

• A national broadband infrastructure plan should be developed and implementedstent consi with President Obama’s promise to “get true broadband to every community in America” and the provisions of the Conference of Mayors’ Resolution #104. Digital Communities members support the USCM’s call for development of a comprehensive national broadband policy that includes high-speed broadband deployment to cities and urban counties and that preserves the ability of local governments to provide broadban d capability and services within their communities. Further, the administration, Congress and the FCC should work with local governments to expand and focus resources to spe ed the development of competitive, affordable services to American communities.

• The federal-state-local partnership is vital to ensuring the welfare and well-being of our citizens and our nation. An important element of that partnership is represented through the federal grant process. Digital Communities members support the NLC’s request that the incoming administration and Congress work together with local government to encourag e and create incentives for regional and interlocal cooper ation and solutions. Federal grant programs, regulatory and reporting requirements, funding formulas and other practices should change to promote cooperation at the local and regional levels. The goal should be to simplify and speed up the process to enable localities to better leverage limited funds and more effec- tively carry out vital programs and services, while supporting their regional economies. The grant process must be managed with a view to derive publicue val from available resources and avoid unnecessary du plication.

• Finally Digital Communities members support President Obama’s plan to appoint a federal chief technology ofﬁ cer (CTO) to ensure that our government and its agencies have the right infrastructure, policies and services for the 21st century. The CTO, in addition to leading federal inte ragency efforts to i mprove electronic service delivery and information sharin g, should also involve local gove rnment and industry in efforts to improve the secu rity of public service and public safety networks and to further develop and implement the inf rastructure and policy guidance to move electronicservice delivery forward. For example, on June 30, 2000, Congress enacted the Electro nic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act,

Produced by Government Technology and the Center for Digital Government, divisions of e.Republic, Inc. 100 Bl ue Ravine Road, Folsom, CA 95630 | Phone 916.932.1300 | Fax 916.932.1470 | www.digitalcommunities.com

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go but acceptance, adoption and implementation, and the associated beneﬁ ts of electronic commerce and electronic government have been slow in coming to many communities. The new federal CTO should work with federal, state and local government, industry and the federal courts to develop uniform standards and guidelines for electronic transactions and reconcile existing nonconforming protocols.

Local government is the front line of public service delivery, and it is, by deﬁ nition, closest to the people it serves. Cities, counti es and regions across the country have proven their ability to bring people together, experiment, innovate and identify viable and practical solution s to many of the challenges facing our nation. Digital Communities members are anxious to share their expe- riences with the Obama administration and to work together to support the president’s desi re to expand the important and positive role technology can play to reconnect American s with their democracy in new ways.

Digital Communities Participants:

Government CIOs Baltimore, Md. New York, N.Y. Contra Costa County, Calif. Boston, Mass. Phoenix, Ariz. Cook County, Ill. City of Charlotte Portland, Ore. El Paso County, Texas & Mecklenburg County, N.C. Seattle, Wash. Franklin County, Ohio Chicago, Ill. Tucson, Ariz. Harris County, Texas Columbus, Ohio Washington, D.C. King County, Wash. Corpus Christi, Texas Alameda County, Calif. Maricopa County, Ariz. Fort Worth, Texas City & County of Denver, Colo. Oakland County, Mich. Los Angeles, Calif. City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii Orange County, Fla. Miami, Fla. City & County of San Francisco, Calif. Palm Beach County, Fla. Milwaukee, Wis. Clark County, Nev. Yuma County, Ariz.

Industry Participants: Accela Alcatel-Lucent AT&T BlackBerry CDW-G OnBase Microsoft Netlogix Sunguard

Produced by Government Technology and the Center for Digital Government, divisions of e.Republic, Inc. 100 Blue RavineProduced Road, Folsom, by Government CA 95630 Technology | Phone and 916.932.1300 the Center for | Digital Fax 916.932.1470 Government, divisions | www.di of gitalcommunite.Republi ies.com blic, Inc.c, Inc. 100 Blue Ravine Road, Folsom, CA 95630 | l Government, divisions of e.Repu and Phone the Center916.932.1300 for Digita | Fax 916.932.1470 | www.digitalcommunities.com Produced by Government Technology | www.digitalcommunities.com | Phone 916.932.1300 | Fax 916.932.1470 100 Blue Ravine Road, Folsom, CA 95630

20 DIGITAL COMMUNITIES MARCH 09

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go (Guess who’s comingcoming to the rescue.)(Guess who’s coming to the rescue.)(Guess who’s coming to the rescue.)

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go ACK DHS/ FEMA NEWS PHOTO PHOTOS PROVIDED BY JASON P JASON PHOTOS PROVIDED BY THE ASSOCIATION OF PUBLIC-SAFETY COMMUNICATIONS OFFICIALS ENDORSES A NATIONAL STANDARD TO AUTOMATICALLY TRANSMIT ALARM COMPANY ALERTS TO 911 CENTERS. »

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go BY ANDY OPSAHL | FEATURES EDITOR 911 FAST TRACK » ureaucracy faced a blow recently that “That means police, fi re and emergency »could save lives. The Association» of Pub- medical services» will get to the scene of an » B lic-Safety Communications Offi cials (APCO) emergency two and a half to three minutes announced the approval of a national standard faster,” Hobgood said. enabling alarm companies to automatically Roughly 90 percent of the alarm alerts an transmit alerts to 911 centers. Alarm vendors alarm company receives never make it to 911 typically place a phone call to 911 centers centers, explained Pamela Petrow, chief oper- when an alert sounds. ating offi cer of Vector Security Inc., the alarm An automated standard could eliminate 32 company that participated in Richmond’s pilot. million of these calls nationally, erasing minutes of Phone call follow-up authentications reveal processing time 911 call-takers need for obtain- most alarms to be false. Under the new stan- ing information from alarm company operators, dard, once an alarm company determines an explained Bill Hobgood, public safety team proj- alert to be legitimate, alarm monitoring soft- ect manager of the Richmond, Va., Department ware transmits the alert to the appropriate 911 of IT. He led pilot testing of the standard in Rich- center, which then routes it to the local police, mond, which eliminated 5,000 calls during its fi re or emergency medical services computer- two-year time span. aided dispatch (CAD) system.

DIGITAL COMMUNITIES MARCH 09 23

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Getting Started information to the 911 center. This allevi- Hobgood insisted. This person would A 911 center or police department ates legal liability for the alarm company, follow up with alarm companies want- would likely be the entity initiating the which can avoid blame for inaccurately ing to double-check rejected addresses. national standard in its community. communicated address information. Hobgood expects alarm compa- Hobgood highlighted the importance of Oftentimes an alarm company has a nies won’t have trouble adopting the building a coalition from the beginning. customer listed under the wrong police standard. Richmond’s pilot involved one alarm jurisdiction — often the result of custom- “The standard is XML-based. A com- company and two 911 centers, one in ers submitting incorrect data when they plete package has been laid out for all Richmond — part of the Richmond Police sign up for the company’s services. CAD providers,” he said. Department — and the other in nearby That accuracy will be a welcome Alarm company alert monitoring York County. improvement for alarm company phone software providers also will need time Richmond Police Capt. William Smith operators, who periodically endure long to adjust their products. So far, Vector enthusiastically supported the pilot. hold times when calling 911 centers, only Security’s monitoring software vendor, “When you take away those two to to be told the address they’re passing GE Security, is the only one capable of three minutes, you get police offi cers along isn’t in that center’s jurisdiction. interfacing with the standard. responding to an incident that much The 911 center can program its CAD quicker. The probability of catching the system to accept batches of addresses Job Security suspect goes up tremendously,” Smith from alarm companies to check for Would the new standard prompt 911 said. “It doesn’t sound like that much accuracy. The company then follows up centers to cut staff because there would time, but if you’re in a fi ght, it’s the dif- on any rejected addresses. Every time be fewer incoming calls? Hobgood said ference between visiting the hospital the alarm vendor enrolls a new cus- he doubts that would happen. Fewer and not.” tomer, it can run the customer’s address calls from alarm companies would free through the 911 center’s CAD system to the call-takers to answer the remaining Bad Directions Banished check accuracy. calls promptly, he said. One reason Smith said he supports “The problem today is there is a de the standard is that it will force par- Deployment Lowdown facto standard within 911 centers that ticipating alarm companies to purge Preparing a 911 center for the standard all calls must be answered in 10 seconds their customer databases of address shouldn’t take its IT staff longer than a or less. 911 centers are not meeting that errors. Implementing the new system week, Hobgood predicted. However, the because the volume of calls is increas- makes customer databases with 100 center’s CAD vendor could need several ing, yet their level of staff has remained percent accuracy essential because the months to conform its software to the the same,” Hobgood explained, blaming 911 center’s CAD system will automati- standard. APCO is receiving numerous funding shortages and high turnover. cally reject alerts it doesn’t recognize. queries from vendors eager to reprogram. Quicker turnaround time will be a Address errors send police offi cers on Hobgood said APCO is pleading with relief to alarm companies, said Petrow. wild-goose chases when they discover no companies to spread the cost of adjusting “It has never been a problem for us in alarm sounding at the home or business their software across the many custom- Richmond or York County, but there are indicated by the alarm company. Human ers likely to convert to the standard. some [911 center] alarm phone lines on which we could be on hold for an hour, “When you take away those two to three minutes, you get 45 minutes, half hour or 20 minutes,” said Petrow. police offi cers responding to an incident that much quicker.” “We want to make sure these 911 call- Capt. William Smith, Richmond, Va., Police Department takers are charged with a manageable level of calls and have more time to spend error at the alarm company or 911 center “A CAD company may sit down and on the true emergencies,” Hobgood said. is usually the culprit, Petrow said. decide it’s going to cost them $250,000 Hobgood played recordings of this to develop an interface in order to make misinformation happening between use of the new standard. We’re saying, call-takers for Smith when soliciting the ‘Don’t put that $250,000 cost on the fi rst captain’s support. [911 center] that comes along and wants “ B e f o r e , w h e n w e w o u l d j u s t v e r b a l l y g i v e to buy it. Just spread it out the best you the information to a call-taker, they would can,’” Hobgood said. sort of screen or decide what was passed A 911 center should also designate an on,” Petrow said. Under the new stan- employee, usually the 911 coordinator, to dard, the alarm company passes specifi c interact with alarm companies regularly,

24 DIGITAL COMMUNITIES MARCH 09

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Produced by:

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go BY ULF WOLF

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26 DIGITAL COMMUNITIES MARCH 09

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go BY CHANDLER HARRIS

rika Benitez-Gill had no idea “It’s a way to showcase employees from a more internal she would have to fi ll potholes as point of view, but also to showcase some of the services Ea producer and host for Miami- Dade (Fla.) TV, but that’s exactly what that go unnoticed by the public.” she does — and more — on the Inside Judi Zito, director, Miami-Dade County Government Information Center County Jobs TV show. She also repairs cracks in sidewalks, unplugs storm produced a seven-minute show detail- user/MiamiDadeTV. The county portal drains and fi xes stop signs. ing training exercises with county fi re- features other educational and informa- Inside County Jobs is a local equiva- fi ghters. With 45 pounds of fi refi ghting tive videos, including the County Connec- lent of the Discovery Channel’s popular bunker gear strapped to her petite frame, tion show that offers short episodes on a show Dirty Jobs. Like Dirty Jobs, the the show revealed just how rigorous fi re range of issues, such as how to get rid of local Inside County Jobs details often- rescue training can be. old Christmas trees, information about unseen, gritty tasks, but with a focus on “When Benitez-Gill and her crew farmers markets and traffi c problems. Miami-Dade County workers. With slick returned from the shoot, we production and editing, Benitez-Gill realized there was much learns about and participates in the jobs more to this than a one-min- of some of the county’s 28,000 workers. ute news story,” said Donn The TV show is part of a larger effort Patchen, Miami-Dade TV’s by county offi cials to use social-net- station manager. “We were in working trends and strategies to educate awe of what fi refi ghters need citizens about and increase their partici- to do regarding their con- pation in local government. stant level of training.” The “We know, working in the county, that idea for Inside County Jobs there are so many things county employ- developed from there. ees do that the public is unaware of,” said “I had no idea what type Judi Zito, director of the county’s Gov- of things fi refi ghters do, and ernment Information Center. “The idea of with the new team I’m work- the show is to raise awareness of county ing with, I’m learning a lot as services, but then also feature county I go,” Benitez-Gill said. “It’s employees, because we’re like any other really interesting to see how organization — we have our own char- much pride employees have acters and people. It’s a way to showcase with their jobs — even if it’s fi lling up Inside County Jobs host Benitez-Gill inspects employees from a more internal point of potholes, they have a great sense of pride. a chemical up close in a laboratory. view, but also to showcase some of the They’re not just doing their job but help- services that go unnoticed by the public.” ing the community.” With thousands of different county Firefi ghting Blazes the Way jobs to choose from, Patchen, Benitez- The programming’s purpose is not In 2006, Miami-Dade TV merged with Gill and the rest of the Miami-Dade TV only tied to community outreach and the Government Information Center, crew aren’t short on material. The pilot education, but also helps county employ- which handles the county’s 311 online episode was the fi refi ghting training ees’ sense of pride. In a time of budget services, print graphics, translations, Benitez-Gill participated in and pro- cuts and dwindling government budgets, marketing and advertising. Soon after duced. The second episode featured her Zito said boosting employee morale can the merger, Miami-Dade TV commit- working with the county’s Neighborhood be challenging. ted to Internet programming by making Enhancement Action Team (NEAT), an “Internally we’ve already seen, after its shows available on demand from the agency that fi nds and fi xes problems on one episode, county employees with pride county’s Web portal. Previously govern- county streets. and excitement about the opportunity ment meetings were aired exclusively on The show can be viewed at the that somebody is putting out there what the government cable TV channel. Miamidade.gov Web portal at http:// county employees do every day,” Patchen The proverbial light bulb illuminated miamidade.gov/wps/portal/tvjobs, or its said. “We’ve been contacted by fi ve dif- when Miami-Dade TV host Benitez-Gill YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/ ferent departments interested in being

DIGITAL COMMUNITIES MARCH 09 27

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go profi led. We haven’t seen this kind of gram shows the work county offi cials do in what’s going on in government,” interest internally after one episode since that typically goes unnoticed by the public. Zito said. I’ve been here.” “The show absolutely gives me a great In 2008, Miami-Dade used the same Rhonda Buroker, a NEAT crewmem- sense of pride for my job,” Buroker said. interactive technology for employee-only ber featured on Inside County Jobs, was “People see the county as such a large meetings, using streaming video to con- excited to be featured. She said the pro- employer, with nearly 30,000 people who nect county workers in different offi ces. work for the county. Inside County Jobs In a countywide strategic plan meeting reveals what we do for the people we serve.” that was called the biggest staff meeting Social-Networking Tools The county continues rolling out new ever, county leaders solicited input from Social-networking sites like MySpace, episodes. Benitez-Gill visited the Snapper employees on how to trim the budget. Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have Creek Trash and Recycling Center, which Some employees were selected to meet outgrown their reputation as a youthful handles more than 1 million pounds of with the county manager, and it was novelty to become marketing tools — not trash weekly. webcast online. “It’s a way to pull people only in the private sector, but also for the together and get messages out to the top, public sector. Webcasts Spur Interactive Meetings rather than send memos,” Zito said. Government organizations world- Miami-Dade County has also used its Miami-Dade County plans to continue wide are growing more interested in Government Information Center for other using new technologies progressively the usefulness of social-networking purposes, such as producing interactive after recently contracting with a vendor applications and how government can forums that garner public participation to provide bandwidth, storage capac- improve service delivery, policies and ity and streaming video capabilities for democratic processes via community in government and county employee par- feedback collected from social-network- ticipation in meetings. three webcast channels — one to produce ing Web sites, according to Gartner, an For example, the center produced an and archive public meetings, the second IT research fi rm. However, so far, many interactive forum for a Charter Review for Miami-Dade TV original program- government deployments of social-net- Task Force, which sought public input ming and the third for an internal chan- working applications have been limited on potential revisions to the county’s nel for staff meetings that’s expected to and lack clear goals. Home Rule Charter. The county gathered go live February 2009. “Organizations need to articulate a opinion from its Web site, 311 calls and purpose and maintain a balance with e-mail, while producing live webcast vid- social networking,” said Adam Sarner, eo of council meetings. The county is now Chandler Harris is a business and research director of Gartner. “We get so updating its strategic plan and is seeking technology writer based in California’s many calls from organizations that say, public input. Bay Area. ‘We want to do a social application for “I think it’s interesting because people something,’ and when we start asking who might have previously had to come what are the outcome and the hard to County Hall at night, now they have Some jobs are dirty, but others are even dirtier. benefi ts they are seeking, it’s almost Shown here is Benitez-Gill helping county the choice to stay at home and engage unknown. They haven’t gone that far.” workers with a sidewalk renovation project. Yet some government agencies have made the leap into the social-networking arena. For instance, the U.S. Environ- mental Protection Agency has Facebook sites and the CIA has used it for recruit- ing. Virtual worlds, like Second Life, are being used by the U.S. Department of Defense, IRS, U.S. State Department, CIA, NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a host of other federal and state agencies. Counties have typically been slower to respond to social-networking trends, yet Miami-Dade’s progressive thinking sym- bolizes what may be the future of county outreach, programming and citizen interaction.

28 DIGITAL COMMUNITIES MARCH 09

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Grow Your Green IT Knowledge

Whether your city hall seeks the role as environmental steward, or a tough economic climate has you searching for every possible operational efﬁ ciency gain, the pursuit of green solutions is not Visit our Green IT slowing down. Get a jumpstart on the movement by increasing your Resource Today! understanding of the latest technology trends, products and strategies that can play a positive impact on your agency’s bottom line and overall carbon footprint. www.govtech.com/greensolutions

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go Viewpoint

BY TODD SANDER | DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL COMMUNITIES

Please Stand Up Government leaders must tell the truth and expand communication technology in 2009.

o Tell the Truth was a TV game to “get true broadband to every com- government must be more transparent, show that challenged celebrity munity in America” and the provisions accountable and participatory. ICT will Tcontestants to correctly identify of the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Reso- be critical to the ability to exchange a central character from three choices. lution #104, which calls for a national information between government and The central character normally had an broadband policy. citizens, and the security of networks, odd job or had done something signifi - The federal-state-local partnership personally identifi able information and cant. Following questioning and voting should focus on encouraging and creat- data are paramount. by celebrity panelists, the show’s host ing incentives for regional and interlo- All this can be done by further imple- would ask, “Will the real [person] please cal cooperation and solutions through mentation of Web 2.0/Gov 2.0 social stand up?” At that point the central improvements to the grant process. networking tools and applications; tech- character identifi ed himself or herself. nical and organizational consolidation 2009 is going to be a year when com- and virtualization; implementation of munities will need the real leaders cloud computing, which shifts the focus to stand up and tell the truth. The from individual, fi xed infrastructure to challenges facing our jurisdictions are Web-based connectivity and services; signifi cant and growing, even as rev- and expansion of business analytics/ enues from sales and property taxes, intelligence and content-management user fees, state shared revenue and applications to create, identify, maintain other traditional sources are declining. and share information more effi ciently. It’s tempting in this environment to sit But it won’t happen by accident, and down, shut up and hope the storm of the stakes have never been higher. If diffi culty passes. Digital Communities government can’t meet expectations, our members know that isn’t the answer. social fabric will unravel and dimin- Instead they’ve chosen to stand up Digital Communities members sup- ish our shared institutions. Success and take responsibility for helping iden- port the president’s plan to appoint a will require IT professionals to develop tify a way forward for themselves and federal chief technology offi cer to ensure and demonstrate an understanding of the nation. The Digital Communities that our government and its agencies the broad challenges facing our nation, CIO Task Force created a policy brief- have the right infrastructure, policies regions and communities. We also ing paper for the Obama administration and services for the 21st century — with must create formidable and workable that identifi es four areas where infor- special emphasis on further development strategies. mation and communication technology and extension of standards, guidelines Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently (ICT) will play a critical role in ensuring and protocols for electronic commerce put it this way: “It feels like we’ve entered communities’ long-term sustainability and government service delivery. a period of reduced expectations, a time and viability. Diffi cult economic conditions and when we may be tempted to temper As governments look to invest in criti- global uncertainties cause people to our optimism and scale back our ambi- cal infrastructure, it should expand to look to government for relief in a way tions, but no matter what happens with include ICT: voice, video, data, hardware, that hasn’t happened in decades. Public the economy or how long this recession software and other services supported “bailouts” of major fi nancial institu- lasts, I believe our digital lives will only by broadband infrastructure. tions, and even whole industries, are continue to get richer.” I believe that’s A national broadband-infrastructure examples. As part of this larger, activist the truth, and government must do its plan should be developed and imple- role in the economy, people will expect part; now it’s time for the real leaders to mented consistent with Obama’s promise more of government. In particular, please stand up.

30 DIGITAL COMMUNITIES MARCH 09

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go What’s your take on the economy?

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Editorial Prepress �� PAGE �� Other OK to go