Highlights: California CIO reorganizes technology agency; Telework could save California more than $1 billion; and South Dakota announces transparency initiative.
CALIFORNIA
The California Technology Agency (CTA) is being reorganized into two distinct sections that will separate service delivery from control functions such as policy and oversight, according to Carlos Ramos, secretary of the CTA. Ramos unveiled the new organizational structure last week at the California State Technology Executive Seminar. Under the new services arm, the CTA will be California’s Office of Technology Services, the Public Safety Communications office, an enterprise solutions office, the GIS solutions office and a new professional development office. The control section of the agency will consist of the policymaking, oversight and various administration functions. California CIO Carlos Ramos Announces Reorganization of the State’s Technology Administration
In addition to the savings in commuting times and employees' sanity, telework for public-sector workers in California could save the state more than $1 billion a year, News Junky Journal reports. A new study by the Telework Research Network estimates that if all state employees whose jobs allowed it worked from home just two days a week, California could save $1.5 billion a year. Telework could save the state $170 million in real estate costs alone, in addition to other expenses such as furniture, energy and office supplies, the study states. Telework could save Calif. more than $1B, study says
ILLINOIS
Despite a public pledge stating that public workers will not be laid off to close budget gaps, Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is moving to layoff some 1,900 state workers citing budget shortfalls. The move has reignited a bitter dispute between the Governor and the state workers union. The Governor says that job cuts are the only way to avoid a partial government shutdown before the end of this fiscal year. In addition to layoffs, seven public facilities will be closed in order to save money according to the Governors announcement. According to Quinn, the layoffs and closures are the result of the state legislature failing to approve enough money to keep the state running. Spokespeople for the administration were quick to point out that if there were new appropriations the state could avoid the cuts and closures. The layoffs and closures are expected to happen around the first of the year. The Governor said he’s holding off until then in order to give state lawmakers time to examine their choices. Quinn to layoff public workers, close facilities over budget gap
OREGON
After a series of fits and starts, the Portland City Council will hear a proposal for the city’s broadband plan this week. The highly anticipated plan comes after the city backed away from an earlier version that would’ve cost nearly a half billion dollars. City officials want to create a high-speed, city administered broadband network to support the growing community of high-tech companies and increase Portland’s overall competitiveness. The plan being presented is a far cry from the comprehensive and expensive plan of 2007, and does not require an up or down vote from the council. Under the terms of the new plan, the city says it is looking to ‘collaborate,’ with incumbent providers such as Comcast which currently serves most of the city, to provide the additional infrastructure without creating a large bill for the city. City officials, which once wanted a comprehensive broadband system throughout Portland, will push that goal back to 2020. Portland looks at broadband plan
SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard is looking to make government more transparent. At a recent event, the Governor announced his “Better Government Initiative,” which aims to provide more information to the public about the activities of the state government and also seeks to eliminate what the governor calls unnecessary rules and regulations. According to Governor Daugaard, South Dakota is plagued with redundant or inefficient rules and regulations which add needless red tape to government processes. Through his initiative, implemented quietly in January, the Governor is working with state agencies to determine which rules and regulations can be repealed or removed entirely from the state code. The Governor claims that he has already identified over 300 sections of state law that can be removed or repealed through this process. In addition to reviewing statute, the Governor is also working to put more information online. South Dakota gov announces transparency initiative, regulatory review
CONTRACTING/ACQUISITION
CGI Group announced that Wake County, NC will transition operation of its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to CGI’s AMS Advantage cloud, operating in CGI’s secure data center. The contract is valued at $30.5 million for 12 years. A client since 2005, Wake County utilizes the full suite of CGI’s built-for-government AMS Advantage ERP solution. Under the new contract, CGI will host the system and securely manage day-to-day operations under its Managed Advantage program, which includes application maintenance, technical upgrades, disaster recovery services, and client support. The County will benefit from a single point of accountability for software, services, and hosting as well as a predictable cost over the contract term for product upgrades, infrastructure and maintenance. CGI to operate Wake County, North Carolina’s ERP system in the cloud