Renovation Nation

"Everything we need to know about making government service delivery better, particularly during tough economic times, we can learn from home improvement television."


That's the premise behind a major new white paper from the Center for Digital Government that couples everything good about home improvement with a contemporary view of government modernization.  It is all about building a smart and sustainable platform for governing in the age of stimulus. 

There was more material than would fit inside the covers of the Renovation Nation, so it overflowed onto this companion site. 

On this page:

• Priority Plans by States in the Top Five Categories of Government Modernization
• State-specific applications launched on existing platforms
• Videos featuring many of thought leaders quoted in the paper
• The full white paper, Renovation Nation, available for download here or here. 
• The companion presentation, Renovation Nation Roadshow, available for download
• An additional companion presentation, All-a-Twitter about Web 2.0 in government, available for download

Be sure to bookmark this site -- www.govtech.com/renovationnation -- to share with your colleagues and check back for updates.

Renovation Nation was made possible through the underwriting support of:

• Informatica
• Intuit
• Red Hat/ DLT Solutions
• salesforce.com
• Sungard Public Sector

and these members of the Digital States Performance Institute:

• Accenture
  
• EMC
• NIC
  

WEB EXTRA: Priority Plans by States in Top Five Categories

The Center for Digital Government surveyed U.S. states on the functions of government that would grow in importance even as the public treasury becomes constrained. 

The consensus between state executives and technology leaders held for the top 5, but there was less agreement in priorities moving forward on the remainder of the list.  That said, it is useful to see what is driving select states to make smarter and sustainable approaches their highest priorities.  It is also worth noting that in each of the examples that follow, the possibility of transformation is rooted in an organization and a process that values knowledge.

1.    Public Safety, Emergency Management, Corrections and Courts 

Public safety is a perennially high priority and the economic downturn has not displaced it from a matter of first importance.  Arizona, Utah, Michigan, Washington, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, California and Virginia have all outlined aggressive plans for modernization in the next biennium.

Arizona's AZ3D will bring together geospatial data from local, state and federal sources through service-oriented architecture to provide an advanced utility for better data exchange, situational awareness, visualization and enhanced decision-making in handling emergencies and managing the state's border and homeland security needs.

Utah is radically redefining what was once called radio interoperability.  Over the next two years, the state will begin transitioning radio communications to IP, a platform that will further integrate voice and data.  Increased bandwidth to patrol cars will allow for the streaming of video from the scene to a central video capture environment that is the basis of a comprehensive library of law enforcement video.   What is true on the ground is also true in the air, where the state maintains a small fleet of remote-controlled, camera-equipped mini helicopters that help manage and report on traffic accidents and other incidents. 

2.    Finance and Administration

There is nothing like a public sector revenue recession to focus attention on finance and administration systems.  States as diverse as Kentucky, New Jersey, Virginia, Utah, Michigan, Tennessee, Maryland, Arizona and Georgia are making investments in smarter money managing.

Kentucky is completely re-engineering and replacing a pair of core systems -- personnel and tax -- with a view to improving human resources and tax services, adding significant new online self services and increasing the transparency of government spending activities. 

One commonwealth over, Virginia is modernizing a trio of central administrative systems - financial, budget and personnel -- through its Enterprise Application Public-Private Partnership Office that was established by the General Assembly.  The new performance budget system will use analytical information on outcomes as the foundation for resource allocation.  For the first time, it will connect actual and targeted results to spending while establishing an environment to discuss, evaluate and re-evaluate earlier decisions.  The replacement of the 1980s vintage personnel management system needs to be sufficiently malleable to accommodate the widely different staffing structures among agencies, prompting the state to look to ERP and Software as a Service (SaaS) technologies to optimize flexibility while managing risk in incremental chunks.    

Georgia is taking a phased approach to replacing the 23 existing systems that, together, collect $23 billion per year with a single system that integrates sales and use tax, withholding and corporate tax.  It will allow Department of Revenue (DOR) employees to view all the taxpayer's accounts simultaneously while reducing manual intervention, increasing accuracy and improving accounting controls.

3.    Enterprise IT Infrastructure and Applications     

Extending the reach and benefits of networked digital technologies is a common theme among states as they prepare to meet the needs and expectations of a smarter century.  It goes beyond conventional approaches of consolidation to providing a common platform for doing the public's business.  No two states on a long list of those with ambitious plans in this area --Michigan, South Dakota, Maine, Virginia, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas, California, Texas, Colorado and New York - approach it the same way, owing to notable differences in their respective histories, geographies, hierarchies and policy priorities.

"Michigan/1" is the aptly named campaign to simplify that state's technology architecture by introducing a centrally-supported, enterprise-wide common productivity platform, providing the basis for a cohesive approach to telework, security, continuity and collaboration.  Seven of 19 agencies were migrated in the program's first 18 months.  And it scales. When it's done, Michigan/1 will be among the largest infrastructure migrations in either the public or private sectors.

The state of Maine is taking an active role in extending terrestrial broadband into underserved communities through the ConnectME Authority.  Through a grant program, the state has been able to tap community initiative and enjoy a multiplier effect in introducing broadband access to 14,400 household and businesses in 50 communities that had no previous infrastructure and were unlikely to receive high-speed service from conventional providers. The authority is projecting that, in the next 12-24 months, the state will add another 12,500 additional households to the broadband universe through a combination of WiMAX and Wi-Fi mesh networks, with two of the larger projects using a multi-modal solution, combining DSL and wireless equipment.

4.    Health, Human Services and Employment     

Health and human service agencies face the challenge of reconciling infinite demand with finite resources. Utah, Pennsylvania, Michigan, South Dakota, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, Washington, Arizona, Kentucky, California, Virginia, Mississippi are among the states that are modernizing their systems to stay ahead of the demand.

Cover All Pennsylvanians (CAP) is the self-descriptive name of a program which makes affordable basic health insurance available to eligible small businesses that do not presently offer health insurance to their employees, and to the uninsured, offered through the private insurance market. A companion plan will promote non-emergency settings for non-emergency care and increase the number of care centers in underserved areas.  To make it work, the Pennsylvania Health Information Exchange (PHIX) will provide secure access to patient information to authorized users at the point of care.  This high-level goal encompasses many initiatives which have been announced or are in planning and will provide the required framework to make health information available.  Due for initial release in late 2009, PHIX will serve as a platform for data sharing among Medicaid and public health information systems, with the ability to take advantage of electronic medical records and electronic prescribing.

Kentucky is pursuing a priority-driven razing and renovation across a number of social service agencies and the systems that support them.  Health and Family Services is developing an e-Health Interchange System to be a standardized platform for admissions, billing, pharmacy management and patient medical records for the state's mental health and mental retardation facilities.   The commonwealth is also re-engineering the eligibility systems that administer food stamps, medical assistance and other programs for families in transition to break free of the constraints caused by the age and complexity of legacy systems.  The story is the same for the systems that help support and enforce the administration of programs for child support, assistance for needy families and foster care.  Add to the mix new systems for real-time access to (and processing of) vital statistics on one hand and online electric death registration on the other - all with a view of increasing accuracy and reducing the need for manual intervention.

5.    Economic, Business, Community and Workforce Development 

Economic development is multi-faceted and a multi-agency undertaking.  Regardless of the size or geography of the state -- California, South Dakota, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Maryland, Maine, South Dakota, North Dakota, Kansas, Kentucky, Arkansas, New York - they share many of the same goals and characteristics, but allow for regional diversity.

The country's largest state is taking a platform approach to modernizing the administration of its unemployment insurance program. The UI Modernization (UIMOD) project at the California Employment Development Department (EDD) will implement Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and a service-oriented architecture to allow customers faster access to EDD services. The UIMOD project replaces the existing telephonic platform in favor of new automation technologies to be more responsive to customers requesting information about their claims. The project will also introduce a multi-channel self-service application for claim submission.


WEB EXTRA:
Nationwide Comparables: What Have You Done for Me Lately?

State-specific applications launched on existing platforms


Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts    
An accountability and transparency-related site that tells taxpayers "Where the Money Goes."

Utah Educator Licensing Suite   
The Education Service Suite exemplifies innovation and it's a fast and efficient alternative to the lengthy paper process.
  
Virginia's Regulation Information System and Virginia Regulatory Town Hall 2.0
This Web-based enterprise approach allows agencies to seamlessly submit regulatory actions for review and approval, for public comment and to the Registrar for real-time publication.

Missouri Business Portal     
This site brings together information from a variety of sources related to doing business in Missouri.  In addition to the service to the taxpayers, the increased usage of online business registration could save 30 to 40 hours per registration.

Tennessee 511   
The information results in reduced traffic congestion, thereby improving air quality and a reduction in traffic crashes. 

Michigan Mobile 24-hour Fishing License   
The state saved $239,200 in development hours and did not require any special hardware or software purchases. Every angler saves an average of 30 miles of round-trip drive time, fuel expenses and emissions. 
 
Hawaii Online Hunting License Application   
The state had more licenses sold online than through paper forms -- 52% vs. 48% -- in fiscal year 2008. 

California Bond Accountability   
California succeeded in providing a satisfactory level of transparency that benefits two major stakeholder groups.  First, it established a window for residents to see how their government is spending money.  Second, it gives public policy experts, including the legislature, access to instantaneous information on approved bond expenditures. 
  
Oregon Building Permits
Since its launch in May 2005, the site has been used by contractors to purchase over 30,000 building permits.  The number of participating jurisdictions has grown from six to 20, with an additional 15 jurisdictions in the process of joining. 

Wyoming E-Filing of Annual Reports   
Since mid-March 2007, over 19,500 annual reports have been filed online for over $1.1 million in fees.
  
Vermont CourtPay    
In its first year and a half of use, the CourtPay service processed over 30,000 transactions and collected approximately $4.7 million in overdue fines for the state
 
Washington DOT Good to Go   
This project was to provide electronic tolling on the new Narrows Bridge. By opening day, more than 60,000 customers had established Good To Go! accounts and more than 130,000 transponders had been distributed - nearly three times the goal. On opening morning, smooth-flowing traffic heralded the commute as 73 percent of the peak commute drivers used the electronic toll lanes. Traffic zipped along at freeway speeds for the first time in years. Today, eight months after the bridge opened, more than 220,000 transponders are distributed and 85 percent of morning commuters use the electronic toll lanes.

Massachusetts Virtual Gateway/Consumer Facing Food Stamp Application   
Consumers can apply for food stamp benefits through the online application as well as hard-copy applications. Currently, DTA receives approximately 25% of the total amount of applications online (about 1,800 applications per month).

New Jersey Registration Renewal Application   
The application has successfully processed around 571,000 renewals, representing over $30 million in revenue. Included in the transactions were almost 2,300 specialty plate add-ons and over 24,000 addresses changed. The daily average is just short of 3,000 requests, with the highest day's volume exceeding 5,200 completed transactions.

VIDEO WEB EXTRAS:
Heads in the Cloud




GETTING SOMETHING DONE
Federal CIO Vivek Kundra on the inevitability of cloud computing

RAINING ON THE INSIDE
State of California EDD CIO Dale Jablonsky on the merits of internal clouds

FATHER OF THE INTERNET, IP AND ME
Internet Evangelist Vint Cerf on computational power of the cloud

OVERCOMING HIS OWN RESISTANCE TO THE GATHERING CLOUD
Cerf on the advantages of cloud connectivity
 
ADEQUATE CONNECTIVITY, CAPACITY AND A LITTLE LUCK
Cerf on why it is better to be lucky and good
 
HEY YOU, GET OFF OF MY CLOUD
Cerf on why disconnection is as bad as you think it is