State of Technology
Running IT by Committee
By Sharon Fisher, 1-17-07
Idaho's state computer systems are so disjointed that it's reportedly not possible to send a single email message that reaches all state employees.
Idaho is also one of only about 10 states and territories that doesn't have someone with the title "Chief Information Officer" or "Chief Technology Officer" running the state's information technology needs. That's according to a list published by the National Association of State CIOs.
The staffer listed for Idaho is Pam Ahrens, who announced in December that Governor Butch Otter had asked her to leave. She was the head of the Information Technology Resource Management Council (ITRMC), part of the Department of Administration -- a department that Otter has proposed dissolving.
The ITRMC is slated to become part of the Division of Financial Management, in the Governor's office, which statewide IT coordinator Kevin Iwersen viewed as a positive because it will increase the group's visibility and tie it more closely to the budgeting process. He was speaking to the Idaho Science and Technology Advisory Council.
And despite Otter's plan to eliminate the Department of Human Resources and Department of Administration to either outsource those functions or put them into the hands of the individual departments, Iwersen does not see it as a move toward further decentralization of Idaho's IT. In fact, he said he sees it as a shift toward centralization and privatization.
Members of the ITRMC -- which is now run by former controller Keith Johnson -- include Democrats Senator Eliot Werk and Representative Branden Durst, and Republican Representative Thomas Loertscher; the Republican Senate position is vacant. Other members include controller Donna Jones, superintendent of public instruction Tom Luna, and representatives from a number of other state agencies and private organizations.
The group is responsible for functions such as broadband, geographic information systems, security, and privacy, as well as Idaho's award-winning state website.
However, the disjointed nature of Idaho's state IT organization not only makes it harder for employees and citizens to use, but could be costing the state money. "The state is very siloed when it comes to IT," admitted Iwersen, referring to industry terminology of "siloes" for individual departments and groups that don't interact with each other. For example, no one looks at interactions between the different groups that use Idaho's state IT services: government, health, higher education, K-12 education, community, and business/industry. Each department makes its own telecommunications budget requests.
"There is a potential for huge savings" if Idaho could centralize and consolidate its IT functionality, said George Mulhern, a Science and Technology Advisory Council board member from Hewlett-Packard. On the other hand, the potential for a botched implementation could be disastrous, noted Dwight Johnson, a member from the Office of the State Board of Education, who cited examples from other states. Iwersen added that there is also typically an upfront cost in implementing such a system and it can be difficult to prove the long-term savings.
Iwersen said possible models for Idaho's IT organization could include Michigan and Kentucky, each of which use different sectors that are looked at individually.
In the meantime, the ITRMC is Idaho's "CIO by committee," Iwersen said.
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