Tech Tools for
TOUGH
TIMES
GOVERNMENT AGENCIES
INVESTING IN INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGIES THAT MAKE
BETTER USE OF EXISTING DATA
AND RESOURCES CAN ACHIEVE
POSITIVE, TANGIBLE RESULTS.
BY DENNIS McCAFFERTY
BASELINE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010
30
IT MANAGERS AT GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE seldom opted for expensive tech tools simply for bragging rights, and, in the current economic climate, that’s not likely to change: The spending forecast for
2010 remains cautiously optimistic, focused on practical
values, such as cost savings, increased efficiencies and better
service to citizens.
Federal government agencies currently spend $76 billion
annually on IT—a figure expected to increase to $90 billion
by 2014, according to INPUT, a market research firm that
specializes in government IT spending. President Obama’s
fiscal 2010 budget planning indicates that the top IT priorities and demands include cloud computing, “green” IT, health
care solutions and cyber-security. (See “No Vacation for Cyber-Security Solutions” on page 32.)
State and local government IT spending will increase
from $49.6 billion in 2009 to $60.1 billion in 2014, INPUT
reports. In a recent survey, cyber-security, consolidation,
shared services, data management, performance measures and
health information exchange were among the top priorities for
state governments’ IT investment, according to the National
Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO),
a Lexington, Ky.-based organization.
One common theme among government agencies is the
need to make better use of the information and resources that
already exist—whether this involves technology that better
analyzes databases, that helps far-flung agencies collaborate
and communicate more effectively, or that launches Web 2.0-
styled solutions that inspire innovation.
Business Analytics Makes a Difference
With 2,200 social services employees overseeing a mega-load
of needy clients (including 19,000 welfare recipients, 61,000
receiving Medicaid and 28,000 citizens depending on food
stamps), Northern California’s Alameda County could easily
become over whelmed by such demand. Under the gun to meet
a federal mandate to place 50 percent of individuals who are
in the welfare program into jobs, the county’s social services
department has struggled to track which recipients were
working and which were collecting benefits while staying at
home. Tracking teens who would go from foster care to juvenile detention to probation also proved problematic.
”We were data-rich and information-poor,” admits Don
Edwards, the assistant social services director overseeing
information systems.
To make better use of all the accumulated data, in July, the
department officially launched an analytics system solution
