States take on bioterrorism

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will distribute more than $900 million to state governments in coming months for bioterrorism preparedness, including about $300 million slated for information technology solutions.

Opportunity Knocking

The Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth is looking for bidders to provide a system for tracking the deaths of children. The procurement will be released in 2003.

Checklist for bidders

The teams chasing the Georgia communications outsourcing project must meet the following requirements.

Opportunity Knocking: Contracts

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Georgia to WorldCom: Keep out

The state of Georgia issued new requirements this month for its convergent telecommunications outsourcing project that would preclude WorldCom Inc. from competing as a prime contractor or key member of a bidding team.

Across the Digital Nation: State and local slowdown is a beginning, not an ending

The state and local government marketplace has been in a dramatic state of flux over the past year. With budget shortfalls forecast in 46 states and a lack of defined movement in homeland security funding, new technology opportunities have leveled off. In many respects, forced cutbacks have exacerbated the problem in specific jurisdictions and created an uneven balance of technology investment v. technology deployment.

School of hard knocks

Having learned the hard way that information technology contracts should be awarded through competition, California officials are moving to strengthen the integrity of the procurement process and reform IT systems management, including shifting some services and operations from contractors to state employees.

Eye on the States: New winds blowing, IT companies must adjust their sails

Everywhere you turn, there are signs it's a new day in state and local government. Tax collections are failing to keep pace with state spending needs. Spending cutbacks are widespread. The governors, once again, are looking to the federal government for relief.

States want larger e-gov voice

State officials are clamoring for a larger role in shaping the White House e-government strategy and programs, saying federal e-gov initiatives directly influence many state and local government operations.

Opportunity knocking: Contracts

The Washington, D.C., Office of the Chief Technology Officer needs an administrative modernization program that includes human resources, pension, payroll, time and attendance, benefits administration, procurement and property management.

Searching for business soul mates

Like many business relationships, the strategic partnership between systems integrator IBM Corp. and mobile computing provider Xybernaut Corp. was sparked by compatible goals. In this case, each company wanted to strengthen its position in the homeland security market.

eVA gets toll relief

The state of Virginia is tweaking the funding model for its electronic procurement system to provide temporary relief to vendors that found paying both a subscription fee and a transaction fee to use the system was unduly burdensome, state officials said.

Across the Digital Nation: Business process outsourcing may be next frontier

State and local government organizations have long had a skeptical view of the need to outsource functions to vendors. Political realities, turf battles and cost constraints have made outsourcing a highly contentious issue.

Opportunity Knocking: Contracts

The Virginia Department of Transportation is looking to hire a systems integrator to manage an intelligent transportation system along Interstate 81. A request for proposals is expected in the third quarter. VDOT issued a request for information on development, coordination, integration and operation of such a system.

Attitude adjustment

Following years of entrenched opposition to information technology outsourcing, state and local government officials are recognizing it can help them overcome staff shortages and modernize their technology and services.

Eye on the States: Playing amateur sleuth in the Oracle-Calif. investigation

What were they thinking?That's the question of the day as details emerge of California's controversial purchase of Oracle Corp.'s database software. On the surface there are many unanswered questions. Multiple investigations are under way to get to the bottom of just what happened.

Newstrom tightens the belt

Virginia's new secretary of technology is looking to cut as much as 15 percent to 20 percent from the state's information technology budget to help the state cope with a $3.8 billion shortfall.

Across the Digital Nation

State and local governments are increasingly facing a human capital management crisis, particularly in technology services. The recent departure of Keith Comstock, chief technology officer of West Virginia, is yet another in a long, steady stream of CIOs that have left the public sector for other opportunities.

Two-way street

State chief information officers will push the federal Office of Management and Budget this summer to support several related initiatives they consider key to integrating e-gov across all levels of government, said the states' new representative on the federal CIO Council.