STATES OF OPPORTUNITY

The Arizona State Procurement Office, on behalf of the Department of Administration's risk management section, will release this month a solicitation for a risk management information system. The new system will provide statewide integrated support including worker's compensation, property and liability claims management. The system must be flexible and accept upgrades as technology advances. The office hopes to build a paperless claims management operation

The state of Maine is seeking vendor input on development of a comprehensive strategic plan for its information technology environment. The solicitation is expected to be released this month.

The key elements of the plan include assessing the IT environment; identifying future business drivers; assessing emerging trends; identifying best-in-class approaches to reach business goals; reaching a consensus on a desired IT environment; and development of priorities to ensure efficient use of IT resources, a comprehensive migration plan, benchmarks to assess and evaluate progress and a process to ensure the plan remains consistent with emerging trends and changing business requirements.

The Indiana departments of Administration and of Workforce Development released a request for information to modernize the state's unemployment insurance tax and benefits application. The procurement is expected in late 2001. The Department of Workforce Development wants to develop and procure a system to replace the unemployment insurance application. The department wants a client-server application based on the standard unemployment insurance functional processes.

The New York State Thruway Authority will release a request for proposals to develop a traffic data retrieval and storage system. The RFP is expected in the third or fourth quarter of 2001. The Thruway Authority periodically collects data from 150 traffic counter sites, and intends to equip each site with permanent power and communications to collect data continuously.

These opportunities are complied by Federal Sources Inc., a market research firm in McLean, Va. (www.fedsources.com)