E-PARCC COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE INITIATIVE Syracuse University Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs Program for the Advancement of Research on Conflict and Collaboration The Adoption of Technology Open Standards Policy by the Commonwealth of MassachusettsCase Stud Summary This case discusses the adoption of an Information Technology (IT) Open Standards Policy by the Commonwealth of MA during the administration ofy Governor Mitt Romney. It details the political and administrative process of adopting and implementing an IT architecture to carry the Commonwealth forward into the 21st century and achieve operational, economic and political objectives. The political repercussions prompted an investigation by the State Auditor and the ensuing report provides important lessons in public management. Additionally, technological concepts and issues are explored in detail with consideration for their bearing on administrative and political functions. Readers interested in public management will find that the case explores and explains the key IT procurement policy considerations of open standards, total cost of ownership, and key (and often misunderstood) distinctions between free/libre and open source commercial and proprietary software and the challenges of vendor lock-in. This case more specifically also exposes the student to more technical issues that they may encounter in public management settings such as the concept of open data, open data standards (XML), This case was an honorable mention place winner in E-PARCC’s 2012-13 “Collaborative Public Management, Collaborative Governance, and Collaborative Problem Solving” teaching case and simulation competition. It was double-blind peer reviewed by a committee of academics and practitioners. It was written by Charles SchweiK and Lucia N. Miller the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. This case is intenDeD for classroom Discussion anD is not intenDeD to suggest either effective or ineffective hanDling of the situation DepicteD. It is brought to you by E-PARCC, part of the Maxwell School of Syracuse University’s Collaborative Governance Initiative, a subset of the Program for the ADvancement of Research on Conflict anD Collaboration (PARCC). This material may be copied as many times as neeDeD as long as the authors are given full creDit for their work. the idea of systems interoperability, and perhaps most importantly, the concern and some of the issues surrounding digital data archival – one of the key challenges the public sector1 (and every sector) faces in this emerging era of paperless operations. In concluding we stress that these IT concepts are more broadly applicable and in fact form the foundation of the new era of open government in the digital age. This is reflected in the Obama Administration Open Government Initiative and the corresponding federal mandate to establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. It is also borne in the so-called “Gov 2.0” ideas that recognize the power of government and technology combined as a platform for participatory democracy, problem solving, and innovation. 1 I (co-author Schweik) once had a discussion with a former National Science Foundation Program Officer who ran the Digital Government program for many years. Over dinner, I told him that I thought he should write a book; that by reading all the grants being submitted to his program, he had a better idea than almost anyone in the country what the key research needs were around information technology and government. I then asked him what he thought was the most pressing issue in the digital government area. Without hesitation, he responded that he thought digital archival of data was a really key issue that we, as a country, needed to work on. Table of Contents Pages Case Narrative …………………………………………………………………………………… 1-15 Information Technology Explanations ………………………………………………… 16-25 Detailed explanations of IT concepts commonly found in public sector settings and referenced in the narrative are provided at the end of the case. We wrote this case thinking that readers will flip back to these boxes when they are first reference d in the case text, but some readers who want to understand the case terminology, may want to consider reading these boxes first, and then read the entire case. These informational boxes, describe the following: • Box 1 Why an Agreed Upon Data Storage Format (an “Open Standard”) is Important for Digital Archiving ………………………………………………………… 17 • Box 2 The Concept of Open Standards ……………………………………………... 18 • Box 3 The Concept of Proprietary (or “Closed Source”) Software ……… 19 • Box 4 The Concept of Open Source Software ……………………………………. 20 • Box 5 How the Terms “Proprietary,” “Commercial,” “Open Source,” and “ Open Standards” Relate to Each Other ………………………………………………. 21-22 • Box 6 The Total Cost of Ownership in Software ………………………………………… 23 • Box 7 The Importance of Structured Data, XML, and Open Standards ………… 23-24 • Box 8 Short Summary of the Open Document Format (ODF) Standard …… 25 • Box 9 Short Summary of the Office Open OOXML Standard …………………… 25 References ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 26-27 Teaching Notes ………………………………………………………………………………………. 28-34 Attachments (separate files) [Note: We attach these appendices to be co-located with this case because we are concerned that over time, their URLs may change or they may be taken off the Web (a digital archive issue! This occurred in the time lapsed between the first draft and this final version.] Attachment 1. From the Executive Office for Administration and Finance (www.mass.gov). The Enterprise Open Standards Policy 1/13/2004. Note that this policy is still in effect as of February, 2013. Attachment 2. The Office of the State Auditor’s Report on the Examination of the Information Technology Division’s Policy for Implementing the Open Document Standard, No. 2006-0884-4T. While this entire report is relevant, four appendices are of particular interest for this case: Appendix 1. Chronology of Events (p. 59) Appendix 2. Memorandum re Information Technology Policy 9/25/2003 (p. 61) Appendix 4. Cost Analysis 9/19/2005 (p. 63) Appendix 5. CIO Letter 8/23/2006 re adaptive technologies (p. 66) Key Players in the Administration of Governor Mitt Romney, Massachusetts Secretary of Administration and Finance Eric Kriss worked with Romney at Bain Capital, served as campaign policy advisor, led transition team, then took A&F post and led IT Policy adoption Bethann Pepoli succeeded Eric Kriss on an interim basis Thomas Trimarco served during the State Audit Chief Information Officer Peter Quinn joined Eric Kriss as technology delivery systems expert and led IT Policy adoption Louis Gutierrez succeeded Peter Quinn and served during State Audit Chairman of the Senate Committee on Post Audit and Oversight Senator Marc Pacheco requested State Audit of IT Policy State Auditor Joseph DeNucci was responsible for the IT Policy audit 1 Introduction The sun reflected brightly off the Statehouse dome on historic Beacon Hill in Boston. Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was still riding the post-election high after handily defeating his rival in the November 2002 election. As a Republican governor in this Democratic stronghold, Romney took his victory as a green light from the electorate to pursue his free market economic policies, at least as far as the predominantly Democratic legislature would allow, and unleash the power of the marketplace. With a highly educated and technologically savvy workforce, Massachusetts had long been a hotbed of technological innovation. Recently, however, both the brainpower and companies were finding the West Coast more appealing, and the state was losing its competitive edge. Wishing to return the Commonwealth to its position of national and international technological prowess, Romney saw great opportunity in unlocking the creativity and innovation found in the multitude of institutions of higher education, established and start- up information technology (IT) enterprises for which the Commonwealth was known. Along with higher education, the IT sector was one of the state’s greatest assets, and competition among its innovators was sure to be a boon to the economy. Technological innovation was the ticket to economic development in a state with a legacy of Yankee ingenuity. Expertise in the Romney Administration Governor Romney had found kindred spirits in his administration with Eric Kriss and Peter Quinn. Kriss cut his teeth in the financial world in 1983 as one of the founders of Bain Capital, now one of the largest private equity firms, and also well known to be one of the sources of Governor Romney’s wealth. Kriss honed his entrepreneurial and tech skills in the private sector where he gained experience with and an appreciation for the importance of Information Technology (IT) systems. He went into public service in the administration of Governor Weld, who preceded Romney, serving as both Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary of Administration and Finance from 1991 to 1993, then returned to the private sector. In 2002, when Governor Romney’s first ran for office, Kriss served as a policy advisor, then led the transition team, and later took the post of Secretary of Administration and Finance, a key position in the Romney administration. Peter Quinn, on the other hand, came to his position from Boston Financial Data Services where he had risen from Systems Officer to Chief Information Officer (CIO). His leadership in the analysis of technology delivery