California Establishes Five-Year IT Capital Planning Process

Photo: California CIO Teri Takai

According to the Web page of California's CIO Teri Takai, "State agencies will be required to prepare and submit a Five-Year IT Capital Plan to the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) and the Department of Finance," beginning in Fiscal Year 2008-09.

"California needs an overarching business-driven IT strategy that ensures the statewide strategic use of technology," continues the publication, "rather than independent initiatives that dissipate the state's financial and technical capacity. To forge the necessary integration of the business and IT functions in California state government, beginning in Fiscal Year 2008-09 state agencies will be required to prepare and submit a Five Year IT Capital Plan to the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) and the Department of Finance."

Details and Resources

On June 30, 2008, the OCIO released Management Memo 08-07, which established the five-year IT capital planning process, and announced:

• The process for preparing and submitting Information Technology (IT) Capital Plans
• The associated updates to the State Administrative Manual (SAM) and Statewide Information Management Manual (SIMM).

The IT Capital Plan is a component of the OCIO's May 15, 2008 Supplemental Report to the Legislature (Item 0502-001-9730 1) that outlined the role of the agency and provided a plan for strengthening statewide information technology to create a more responsive state government. The IT Capital Plan has been added to the SIMM as Section 57.

The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) reminded agencies and departments that completed agency and department IT Capital Plans must be submitted electronically to the OCIO and the Department of Finance by October 1, 2008. For further information, Agencies and Departments should contact their assigned OCIO manager. A list of OCIO staff assignments is available online.