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CIOs Lament 'Stovepipe' Mentality
by Liza Porteus
State and local chief information officers (CIOs), industry representatives and policy experts gathered in Chicago earlier this week to discuss the challenges and promises of enhanced e-government services.
The Progress and Freedom Foundation (PFF) held the conference as the first in a series of regional conferences to help e-government practitioners identify successful strategies. Industry representatives such as Siebel Systems CEO Thomas Siebel and IBM officials joined several state and local CIOs on panel discussions about security and privacy issues surrounding homeland security and e-government success stories.
Marty Wagner, associate administrator of the General Services Administration (GSA), gave National Journal's Technology Daily an overview of an e-government address he delivered.
"The government has to learn to change the mindset" and look from the inside out to provide a citizen-centric e-government model, Wagner said. He highlighted the Bush administration's 24 e-government initiatives and said business cases should be made for all e-government projects, whether proposed at the federal, state or local level.
"They were interested ... in not just hearing where the feds were going but also, given that we've been in this, what we have learned from some of our attempts," Wagner said of the participants at the conference.
Wagner also stressed that citizens are increasingly using the Web to interact with government and that most of the time, citizens do not distinguish between federal, state and local services. "You really need to work together to integrate the different efforts," he said. "People want a service. They don't want to have to be an expert in the government's plumbing. ... People and customers care about results, not how you get there."
Iowa CIO Richard Varn appeared on a panel at the event and said in a later interview that federal funding for upgrading state networks, buying public-key infrastructure technology for verifying identities in electronic communications, and incorporating encryption technologies and other security is being funneled into duplicative efforts.
"The problem is that you have everybody's stove-piping their projects," Varn said. "There's nobody in Congress or the White House or the administration" who is actively asking states for technology plans to prevent such overlap. He noted that the lack of budgetary authority of White House Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge does not help the situation.
"Those of us out here in the receiving end of the requirements and the money ... look at these stovepipes and say there's no coordination going on," Varn said.
He said that coordination is particularly necessary in the area of security technologies and that a federal point person is needed to coordinate all federal, state and local efforts "so we don't end up with a stack of 25 different smart cards" or other new forms of identification technologies.
In other news, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is requesting counties' comments on the $3.5 billion initiative for "first responders" to emergencies outlined in President Bush's fiscal 2003 budget. A notice in the Federal Register last week contains eight key questions pertaining to the design of the proposed grant program. Comments are due May 16.
States React To Sept. 11
More than 1,200 bills have been filed in state legislatures in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to a report released by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). The report tracks legislation regarding information technology and the Internet, emergency management, crime and justice, economic affairs, and government operations, among other issues.
At least five states -- Florida, New York, Michigan, South Dakota and Virginia -- have enacted laws to increase penalties for terrorist attacks. At least 20 states are considering such revisions. All 50 states now have offices of homeland security.
The NCSL report shows that legislatures have begun to enact bills on electronic surveillance and cyber terrorism. Louisiana enacted a computer-tampering bill, H.B. 699, that would apply to events resulting from terrorist activity. A Michigan measure, S.B. 942, provides penalties for the use of Internet telecommunications systems or devices to disrupt critical infrastructures or government operations. And a Virginia bill, H.B. 1120, expands wiretapping capabilities.
As of this month, at least eight states have pending legislation on wiretapping, while 28 states have filed electronic-surveillance bills. As of March, Virginia is the only state that had enacted such laws. One Virginia measure, H.B. 41, permits law enforcement to monitor communications under certain circumstances, while another, S.B. 514, grants the attorney general the authority to seek a wiretap for suspected terrorists and expands the use of "pen registers" and trap-and-trace devices, which are used for surveillance.
Nearly every state has statutes banning hacking and unauthorized access to computer systems, according to NCSL. At least 16 states have made it illegal to unleash computer viruses and contaminants, while three states have laws specifically aimed at electronic terrorist threats or acts. Nearly 40 states have acted to curtail identity theft, with at least half of all states having laws to protect financial privacy.
Tech People On The Move
Michael Cassidy, president and CEO of the Internet Commerce Corporation, will assume the position of regional vice chairman of the electronics group AeA New York City. Cassidy joins George Fox, group vice president of electronic systems for EDO, who serves as regional vice president for AeA in Long Island.
AeA NY Council Executive Director Richard Lerman said he hopes to add a third regional vice president for northern and central New York, and begin providing events and services in those regions. Cassidy and members of the AeA New York City Committee will oversee and set direction on all events, activities and programs in New York City.
Meanwhile, California Gov. Gray Davis has appointed Patricia Garamendi as assistant secretary of international trade and investment for the Technology, Trade and Commerce Agency. Garamendi most recently served as deputy administrator for international cooperation and development for the U.S. Foreign Agriculture Service.
Davis also this month announced the 12 winners of the 2002 Governor's Technology and Innovation Awards, which honors programs that help foster the state's tech-based economy. Recipients included the Business Technology Center in Los Angeles, Chabot Space and Science Center in Oakland, the Computers for Families program, and Mark Morrison, director of New Technology High School in Napa.
Texas, China Reach Deal On Trade Promotion
Texas Secretary of State Gwyn Shea earlier this month signed an agreement with Vice Governor Tingsheng Lin of the Shandong Province in China to promote trade and business relations.
Between 1997 and 2000, Texas exports to China increased by 72.5 percent -- close to three times the national average, according to Shea's office. Texas is the third-largest exporter to China among the U.S. states, and its largest exports include chemicals, industrial machinery, computers, electronic equipment, scientific instruments and transportation equipment.
South Dakota Gets New Computers
More than 100 local libraries across South Dakota now have new computers for public use under a new initiative begun by Gov. Bill Janklow this spring.
The desktop computers began arriving last week at local libraries. In total, Janklow sent 472 computers to 115 libraries and paid for the $410,000 project from discretionary funds available in his budget. Libraries were surveyed earlier this year about their computer needs and capabilities.
"South Dakota is the most-wired state in the nation for school technology, and this is another step," Janklow said in a statement.
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