A publication of e.Republic GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY ® SOLUTIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN THE INFORMATION AGE VOL20 ISSUE04 APRIL 2007 inside: plus: Mobile Hooking Up: Wi-Fi on Is regional wireless the cheap the next big thing? Back off: Lidar targets tailgaters. WON Nanotechnology is on the verge of changing DER everything — from cancer PAGE32 treatment to water desalination. www.govtech.netj GGT04_01.inddT04_01.indd 2 33/5/07/5/07 33:38:37:38:37 PPMM 100 Blue Ravine Road Folsom, CA. 95630 _______ Designer _______ Creative Dir. 916-932-1300 Pg Cyan Magenta Yellow Black ® _______ Editorial _______ Prepress 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 Gateway delivers end-to-end solutions customized to your unique needs. Together, we can design and implement a technology plan to help you enhance service levels and make the most of your budget with: • Effective, Affordable Technology: Available on most state contracts, Gateway offers reliable servers, managed desktops, widescreen displays and flexible notebooks like the Gateway® M465-E featuring Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology.1 • Customized Technology Lifecycle Services: Increase productivity and minimize challenges with a comprehensive suite of service options that range from financing to 24/7 U.S.-based technical support.2 • Dedicated Account Team: Expect superior customer service with a professional team offering immediate response and problem resolution. Call Gateway today to learn how we can improve your efficiency. 866-380-0028 | www.gateway.com/govtech2 ® WSCA Contract #A63308 22/27/07/27/07 11:41:00:41:00 PPMM 100 Blue Ravine Road Folsom, CA. 95630 _______ Designer _______ Creative Dir. 916-932-1300 Pg Cyan Magenta Yellow Black ® _______ Editorial _______ Prepress 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 Gateway recommends Windows Vista™ Business. 1. Performance may vary. See www.intel.com for additional information. 2. Service methods subject to change without notice or obligation. ©2007 Gateway, Inc. Gateway Terms and Conditions of Sale apply. Trademarks used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of Gateway, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Intel, the Intel Logo, Intel Inside, the Centrino Logo, Centrino and Intel Core are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Microsoft and Windows Vista are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. Not responsible for typographical errors. Ad Code: 130280 22/27/07/27/07 11:41:36:41:36 PPMM 100 Blue Ravine Road Folsom, CA. 95630 _______ Designer _______ Creative Dir. 916-932-1300 Pg Cyan Magenta Yellow Black ® _______ Editorial _______ Prepress 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 april 2007 features govtech.net j 10 Big Picture An ultra-long distance phone call connects the deep sea with outer space. 18 Cloudy Forecast Regional clouds could be the next generation of municipal 10 wireless networks, but governments must collaborate. BY SHANE PETERSON 18 COVER STORY 32 Small Wonder Nanotechnology is on the verge of changing everything — from how we treat cancer to how we desalinate water. BY CHAD VANDER VEEN COVER ART COURTESY OF SCOTT DOUGHERTY/ » ISSUE 4 LAWRENCE LIVERMORE NATIONAL LABORATORY The inside pages of this publication are printed on 3280 percent de-inked recycled fiber. e 20 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 2007 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. Publications Mail Agreement Number #40048545. Return undeliverable contents Canadian Addresses to: Station A, PO Box 54, Windsor, ON N9A 6J5 or e-mail <[email protected]>. 4 APRIL 2007 GGT04_04.inddT04_04.indd 4 33/6/07/6/07 33:35:12:35:12 PPMM 100 Blue Ravine Road Folsom, CA. 95630 _______ Designer _______ Creative Dir. 916-932-1300 Pg Cyan Magenta Yellow Black ® _______ Editorial _______ Prepress 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 2006 Accenture. All rights reserved. © We know what it takes to be a Tiger. Outstanding strategic instincts driven by unrelenting executional diligence. That balance of capabilities is a defining characteristic of high performers, according to our groundbreaking research on over 500 of the world’s most successful companies and governments. For an in-depth look at our study of and experience with high performers, visit accenture.com/research GGT_FebTemp.inddT_FebTemp.indd 3 11/11/07/11/07 11:29:07:29:07 PPMM 100 Blue Ravine Road Folsom, CA. 95630 _______ Designer _______ Creative Dir. 916-932-1300 Pg Cyan Magenta Yellow Black ® _______ Editorial _______ Prepress 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 april 2007 Genius departments G-Note 7100 govtech.net 22 Stretching Resources j Schools save money when four students share the assets of one PC. 24 A Snipe at Speedsters Lidar offers pinpoint accuracy in nabbing speeding motorists. news 16 GT Spectrum 40 When No One’s Home Reports from the IT horizon. Technology grant helps communities catalog and 46 Two Cents manage their vacant properties. Is the Gateway E-2600D up to the grueling task of simultaneously word processing and surfing the Net? 44 X Factor XQuery makes processes easier. 48 Products The Genius G-Note 7100 digital tablet offers 32 MB of memory for note taking or presentations. Looking for a conference or event? You’ll find it in Government Technology’s online calendar. govtech.net www.govtech.net/calendar columns online exclusives j Point of View The Tax Man 8 14 How it Works The U.S. Department of the Treasury joined Reinventing with Illinois and South Carolina to give business Our Web Site taxpayers the ability to pay federal and state signal:noise taxes simultaneously through one system. 50 12 The Last Mile The Traf-O-Matic Wi-Fi on the Bus Taxes Through Time The Colorado Springs Transit Services Division finds a way to offer Wi-Fi Internet access on a local commuter bus system. Viewpoints Government Technology editors and Center for Digital Government analysts comment next each week on the issues shaping month: public-sector IT. www.YouRBusted A growing number of police officers use the Internet to turn the tables on crooks. We’ll show you how. contents 6 APRIL 2007 GGT04_04.inddT04_04.indd 6 33/2/07/2/07 44:28:57:28:57 PPMM 100 Blue Ravine Road Folsom, CA. 95630 _______ Designer _______ Creative Dir. 916-932-1300 Pg Cyan Magenta Yellow Black ® _______ Editorial _______ Prepress 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 A people-ready organization runs on Microsoft software. Collaboration is central to public service. So make sure your people have tools that make it easy. Like the enterprise search features in the Windows Vista™ operating system, running on Microsoft® Offi ce SharePoint® Server 2007, to help pinpoint the right information across your organization. And the collaboration tools in the 2007 Microsoft Offi ce system help teams work more productively, to get results. Citizens like results. Microsoft. Software for the people-ready business.SM microsoft.com/peopleready/gov How do you make government run like a well-oiled machine? Make your . GGT_JanTemp.inddT_JanTemp.indd 5 112/11/062/11/06 111:40:151:40:15 AAMM 100 Blue Ravine Road Folsom, CA. 95630 _______ Designer _______ Creative Dir. 916-932-1300 Pg Cyan Magenta Yellow Black ® _______ Editorial _______ Prepress 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 point of view Reinventing Our Web Site j Raise Your Voice e talk plenty in Government Just as important, the new site off ers sophis- Your opinions matter Technology magazine about ticated personalization tools designed to make to us. Send comments societal and technological this potential overload of information relevant about this issue to the forces that are changing to you. For instance, a “My Briefcase” feature editors <editorial@ W government. But the truth is that many of lets you compile resources from govtech.com >. Please govtech.net those same forces are reshaping the pub- — documents, videos, blogs, conference pre- list your telephone number for confirmation. lishing industry. sentations, etc. — and material from other Publication is solely Just as your constituents expect to conduct sites into a single page containing the informa- at the discretion of much of their government business electroni- tion you need most. the editors. Government cally, readers now demand a much richer and By the way, you may have noticed I began Technology reserves the more relevant experience from publication calling the site “govtech.com” a few paragraphs right to edit submissions Web sites.