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Louisiana Buys Time To Find New CIO
by Liza Porteus
Louisiana has bought itself some more time in its search for a state chief information officer (CIO).
The Office of Information Technology (OIT) has been searching for a CIO since the state's first CIO, Jim DuBos, resigned amid charges that he was trying to steer business to his former company, Exodus Communications. In October, Gov. Mike Foster appointed Chad McGee as acting CIO, and McGee has "hit the ground running," said OIT spokeswoman Sarah Kracke.
"He's doing a really good job," she said. "A lot of people are working well with him."
McGee formerly was an assistant chief of staff and director of technology in Foster's office, and he served as the governor's primary technology policy adviser. Before his work with the governor, McGee served as an account executive at Nortel Networks and as director of computer services at the Louisiana Community and Technical College System.
In his new position, McGee oversees IT planning and implementation across 15 state departments, and manages a $500 million IT budget. He also oversees IT development in the state's education administration system. His immediate goal is to implement Foster's objectives and convince the legislature to improve the state's return on investment technology. Kracke said OIT will evaluate McGee's performance after a 120-day work period.
"He's going like gangbusters," she said. "We're not holding our breath anymore."
OIT also has issued a draft request for proposals for a consulting-services agreement that would help state agencies plan, implement and maintain technology services. Qualified consultants would have to enter a three-year agreement with OIT, thus allowing them to compete for a contract with state agencies. The official request will be released next February or March.
Kansas Panel Discusses Cyber Security
The Kansas' legislature's Special Committee on Kansas Security met in partially-closed session this week to discuss cyber and logistics security.
Don Heiman, the state's chief information technology officer, gave an overview of cyber-security issues within Kansas infrastructures, according to Robert Waller of the legislative research department. Heiman gave attendees a "crash course" on issues such as firewalls and protection systems like passwords, keycards and thumbprint identification technology, and he outlined how his office is trying to combat computer threats.
Representatives from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation addressed similar issues and detailed how law enforcement is combating cyber threats. Kansas' Criminal Justice Information System is the only FBI-authorized system for sending criminal-justice information over the Internet. Using tokens, authorized officials such as court officials and law enforcement agents can get through the system's firewalls to access the information.
Also at the Kansas Security Committee meeting, Eddie Rodriguez, Southwestern Bell's assistant vice president for regulatory policy, discussed what SBC Communications, the parent of Southwestern Bell, does to protect its information systems against hacking and what firewalls it has established. An SBC spokesman said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks "increased awareness" of companies to protect both physical and IT assets.
The next committee meeting will be Jan. 7-8.
In other Kansas news, the following tech-related bills were signed into law this year:
- H.B. 2004, which set an Oct. 1 deadline for all state government CIOs to submit IT budget estimates and three-year plans for the state's IT architecture.
- H.B. 2035, which calls for the establishment of the KAN-ED network to connect schools, libraries and hospitals to high-speed Internet networks.
- H.B. 2055, which sets the research and development tax credit at 6.5 percent.
- H.B. 2136, which allows the state attorney general or district attorneys to prosecute violators of the state's consumer protection laws.
- H.B. 2480, which prohibits the disclosure of personal information protected under the 1999 federal Gramm-Leach-Bliley law on financial privacy. The bill also requires that state regulations implementing financial and medical privacy laws be in place by February, and it bans the use of deceptive advertising.
- S.B. 1, which sets the tax rates for certain telecommunications providers.
- S.B. 63, which allows e-signatures to be used on voter-registration forms.
- S.B. 209, which enacts the federal National Crime Prevention and Privacy Compact. The compact provides the framework for federal-state exchanges of criminal records via a telecom network.
Heading Into Indiana's 'I-Light'
The state of Indiana, Indiana University and Purdue University have launched an ultra-high-capacity fiber-optic communications system designed to make Indiana a major IT center and maintain the universities' leadership in developing advanced communication applications.
The $5.3 million I-Light network provides near limitless connectivity between the two universities. Purdue's Indianapolis campus serves as the hub, connecting within the city to the Internet2 high-speed backbone, and other national and international networks.
"In addition to being the 'Crossroads of America' ... Indiana is now the 'crossroads of information,'" Indiana Gov. Frank O'Bannon said last week. "Crossroads of America" is the official state motto.
I-Light will expand to deliver multiples of 10-gigabit connections to enhance communication capabilities and serve as a virtual campus network for Indiana and Purdue universities. State officials hope the new development and the state's central location will help Indiana become the next Silicon Valley, boost economic development and increase collaboration among universities.
"Not only does I-Light signal to the rest of the country that Indiana is open for business, but it also says, 'We have the light on for you,'" John Dudley, Verizon Communications' Great Lakes Region president, said in a statement.
In other news, Qwest Communications and Internet2 last week announced that they have reached a five-year deal to quadruple the Abilene Internet2 network capacity, which will enable 190 universities to work on global issues such as cancer research, artificial intelligence and robotics, and distance learning. The deal will increase Internet2's capacity to 10 gigabits per second through the use of optical networking technologies, which is enough to send 9.7 million five-paragraph e-mails per second.
Nebraska Revamps Homeland Security Efforts
Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns this week said he will formalize the role of Lt. Gov. Dave Heineman as Nebraska's director of homeland security, and Johanns will revamp the structure for coordinating homeland security activities.
Heineman will chair the Governor's Homeland Security Policy Group, which will oversee the Governor's Homeland Security Leadership Group. The policy group will coordinate all security-related activities between state agencies, and promote the development and implementation of all terrorist planning, training and response activities. The leadership group will include public safety officials and representatives from the attorney general's office and FBI.
Nevada Opens High-Tech Forensics Lab
The multi-agency Nevada Cyber Crime Task Force recently opened its first forensics laboratory, with computers featuring some of the latest forensics tools.
Formed three years ago, the task force, based in Las Vegas, includes local, state and federal authorities charged with finding and prosecuting computer hackers, software pirates and other felons. The new facility in north Las Vegas now provides a base for operations, information sharing and law enforcement training in computer-related crimes.
San Diego Council Grants Tech Awards
The San Diego Software Industry Council (SDSIC) last week honored local companies that demonstrated excellence in 2001.
Award recipients included: Peregrine Systems, which provides infrastructure management solutions; Qualcomm's Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) platform, which combines data and voice capabilities; PacketVideo, which provides multimedia technology platforms to work with wireless standards; and Conneq, which offers marketing software and other services to companies.
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