Archived Government Notes
Published in 2013
Permanent URLIgnore Technology, Former Chicago CIO Chris O'Brien Says
This has to be a trap, right? The smartest thing I’ve ever done was certainly marrying my wife. Oh, as a public sector CIO, you say. Well, that is not so clear. I suppose I would have to say that the smartest thing I did as a CIO was one born not out of intellect but necessity: to ignore the technology.
Few were more surprised than me to learn that then-mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley, would appoint me to steward his technology program in 2000. Just two years earlier, as a management consultant at the age of 30, I had been lured to the city as a project manager by its current CIO. After accomplishing much, the CIO moved on to new challenges, turning over to me a role that, as long as I live, will define me professionally. But, you see, there was a problem – I was technology illiterate. For all I knew, chips, cookies and spam were foods to avoid, while fiber was something that, in appropriate amounts, could keep you light on your toes. All of a sudden, I was in charge of a massive technology program, and I kept wondering where the hamster wheels were.
In the early days of my tenure, however, while I was dressing up and playing the part of the chief technician, something began to dawn on me. Near as I could tell, the questions about the bits and bytes were pretty well covered – the smart technologists I inherited could, when provided with a clear set of objectives, decide what the right database platforms, application standards and technology tools were. Left unattended, however, in an organization where departments are by their nature silos, were questions about how it all fits together, and how the ballet of city government can be better choreographed. For too long, designing specialized technology to meet needlessly specialized processes was encouraging fragmentation. The CIO needed to think less about technology, and it seemed that destiny, or the mayor, had put me in my role because I was uniquely qualified to do that. continued…
first published week of: 06/03/2013
Permanent URLImproved Geographic Information System site for Henderson now operational
by frank boyett
The Henderson (IN) City-County Geographic Information System website is now cleaner, easier to use and more nimble.
The GIS, for those who aren’t familiar with the term, is a digital map that can be used by anyone with Internet access. Its strength is that it uses a large collection of databases contributed by various governmental agencies, which allows custom maps to be created on the fly and easily downloaded or printed.
Each database controls what are called layers, and the various layers can be turned on or off at will, which provides, for instance, the ability to quickly draw a map showing the boundaries, zoning and topography of a particular parcel of property. Or perhaps you want just the flood zone boundaries and the roads of a parcel.
The new GIS also has much more functionality when it comes to allowing users to put drawings on their maps.
“The old site was one size fits all,” said Chris Raymer, GIS coordinator. “We still have that option with the general map. But if you want to just see zoning, we have a zoning map.” The same is true for flood maps or magisterial district maps.
“The data’s the same; it’s just a different delivery method,” Raymer said. “The printing functionality is really nice with this.” continued…
first published week of: 05/13/2013
Permanent URLIndian IT firm accused of discrimination against “stupid Americans”
by jon brodki
Infosys, an Indian IT software and services company with offices throughout the world, has been accused of discriminating against American job applicants. One Infosys employee who raised concerns about the company's hiring practices was repeatedly called a "stupid American," the lawsuit states.
Infosys has about 15,000 employees in the US "and approximately 90 percent of these employees are of South Asian descent (including individuals of Indian, Nepalese, and Bangladeshi descent)," the lawsuit states.
Infosys allegedly achieved this ratio "by directly discriminating against individuals who are not of South Asian decent in hiring, by abusing the H-1B visa process to bring workers of South Asian descent into the country rather than hiring qualified individuals already in the United States, and by abusing the B-1 visa system to bring workers of South Asian descent into the United States to perform work not allowed by their visa status rather than hiring individuals already in the United States to perform the work." Infosys "used B-1 visa holders because they could be paid considerably lower wages than other workers including American-born workers," the lawsuit states. continued…
first published week of: 08/12/2013
Permanent URLIndiana's New CIO Sets Sights on No. 1
by colin-wood
Indiana changed technical leadership on Jan. 14, just as the Governor's office changed hands from outgoing two-term Gov. Mitch Daniels to new Gov. Mike Pence. Paul Baltzell took over as CIO, after serving as a deputy CIO for about three years.
Replacing outgoing CIO Brian Arrowood, Baltzell told Government Technology that he'll follow Pence's example, who aims to look for ways to “make good government great.” Priorities include continuing the state's tradition of avoiding red tape, and making Indiana the top technology state in the nation.
According to Baltzell, his job hasn't changed that drastically since becoming CIO, but he does have a broader scope of responsibilities. “I’m meeting with all the agency heads to understand their needs and their projects as well as getting my hands around the parts of day-to-day operations that I didn’t know,” he said. Dealing with the financial side of the house, he explained, is something he didn't have as much exposure to in his previous role.
The state’s biggest upcoming technology upgrade is an expansion of their PeopleSoft system to include contacts and digital signatures, a capability the state doesn’t yet have, Baltzell said.
Details Here
first published week of: 02/11/2013
Permanent URLInfographics for Govies
by colin wood
It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it -- which is the reason infographics have become increasingly popular over the years.
Infographics can present information in an interesting, easy-to-understand way. That’s why Bill Greeves, CIO of Wake County, N.C., opted to create one (below, click image to enlarge) to promote the county’s new website last October, adding it to the usual press release. continued…
first published week of: 04/15/2013
Permanent URLIssa, Spires sketch visions for IT reform and CIO authority
by camille tuutti
Granting federal CIOs more authority and budget flexibility might be the first step in a much-needed reform of IT acquisition to prevent mismanaged programs from draining scarce funds and resources. And a bill to do just that could be introduced within weeks.
In September 2012, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee posted a draft of reform legislation that aims to improve federal IT management and acquisition. The proposal includes several legislative ideas, such as decreasing the number of government CIOs to one per agency and giving that role more authority and flexibility.
Details Here
first published week of: 03/04/2013
Permanent URLLA schools halt iPad program in light of student “hacks”
by cyrus farivar
Last week, we reported on the fact that students in Los Angeles had figured out a way to “hack” the iPads they were given by their school. (In reality, it was a simple matter of deleting profile information as students found ways around the security limits implemented by the administration.)
Now, school officials at Westchester and Roosevelt high schools are seemingly pulling the plug on the entire program. They're asking for students to return the 2,100 devices that had been distributed. For the time being, however, only about two-thirds of those iPads have actually been returned to the school, and no one knows if or when the district's iPad program will resume.
"They carted them out of every classroom in sixth period," Westchester senior Brian Young told a Los Angeles Times reporter on Monday. "There has been no word of when they'll be back."
Officials from the nation’s second-largest school district “expressed some admiration for the students' ingenuity, and they discussed the possibility of enlisting students' help on an anti-hacking committee,” the Times added. (The Times' editorial board has slammed the entire program.) continued…
first published week of: 10/07/2013
Permanent URLLandscape of Municipal Zoning Data
by alisha green
Zoning impacts the most physical elements of communities and impacts people's daily lives. When it comes to being transparent about the zoning process and its outcomes, many local governments are posting information -- one way or another -- on their websites. It's a varied landscape, but it is worth assessing to see where there might be room for improvement.
It's not surprising, in a way, that so many local governments choose to proactively release various kinds of information related to zoning. Zoning regulations can impact everything from what can be built and where it can be built to how it can be built and more. How a lot is zoned doesn't just determine whether that land can be used for commercial or residential purposes (or something else entirely) -- it can also determine the very structure of buildings down to details like height and square footage. Zoning and planning ordinances can even impact how close certain kinds of buildings may be to one another -- schools and liquor stores are one example of a spatial relationship that is sometimes regulated. Zoning has an impact on many of the most concrete aspects of a municipality, and this makes it an issue that's of interest to residents, business owners, developers, and many other groups. This means zoning can also be a prime target for people who want to game the system to obtain influence over this important aspect of cities. continued…
first published week of: 06/03/2013
Permanent URLLawmakers re-introduce GPS protection bill against government spying
by cyrus farivar
Just two days after new legislative reform on e-mail privacy was re-introduced in Congress, another privacy bill was brought back from years past.
On Thursday, three members of the House (two Republicans and a Democrat) and two bipartisan senators introduced the GPS Act, which would require law enforcement to obtain a probable cause-driven warrant before accessing a suspect’s geolocation information. The bill had originally been introduced nearly two years ago by the same group of legislators.
As Ars’ Tim Lee wrote in 2012, the Obama Administration laid out its position in a legal brief last year, arguing that customers have "no privacy interest" in cell-site location records (CSLR) held by a network provider. Under a legal principle known as the "third-party doctrine," information voluntarily disclosed to a third party ceases to enjoy Fourth Amendment protection. The government contends that this rule applies to cell phone location data collected by a network provider.
Details Here
first published week of: 03/25/2013
Permanent URLLivingston Launches Geographical Information System
by mike donofrio
“We’ve been building this system over the past two years and we’re pleased to be able to release this user-friendly version to the public," said township engineer Rich Calbi.
Livingston launched its Geographical Information System this month. The interactive map will allow residents to view Livingston and the surrounding area, locate municipal buildings and even find out when the next upcoming garbage collection will be.
Check out the township's interactive map by clicking here.
“We’ve been building this system over the past
two years and we’re pleased to be able
to release this user-friendly version to the public," said township engineer Rich Calbi. "This is a great way to provide a lot of the
information our residents are looking for in one convenient place.”
The interactive map will allow users to:
- View maps of Livingston and the surrounding
areas, including street, topographic (elevation contours) and imagery maps;
- Locate public playgrounds, schools, streams,
easements, topography and building outlines;
- Search the map by property address, or block and
lot;
- Pan through the map, zoom in or out, print or
save a map; and
- See specific information for each property: garbage pickup day, recycling day, leaf collection
zone and polling location.
And residents can expect more in the future.
continued…
first published week of: 12/02/2013
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