Michigan Garners Most Finalists in 2008 NASCIO Awards Program

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) has selected 30 state IT initiatives in 10 categories as finalists for the 2008 Recognition Awards for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Information Technology in State Government.

NASCIO's Recognition Awards Program, celebrating its 20th consecutive year, features categories reflecting the wide range of IT projects currently under development within state governments. Emphasis was placed on recognizing programs that exemplify best practices, support the public policy goals of state leaders, represent an innovative use of existing technology or a use of new technology, assist government officials to efficiently execute their duties, provide cost-effective service to citizens and are transferable to other agencies or units of government.

"State information technology best practices should be promoted and shared," said Oklahoma Deputy Director of IT and NASCIO Awards Committee Chair, Joe Fleckinger. "Recognizing NASCIO's 20th year of the program, NASCIO's leadership has revised the process and expanded recognition to a field of finalists. The program provides a showcase of innovative initiatives from across the nation and encourages state governments to continue to focus on efficiency, excellence and quality service to citizens."

Thirty exemplary initiatives were chosen as finalists from 114 submissions by 30 states. NASCIO's Awards committee, composed of NASCIO state and corporate members representing leading public and private IT organizations, selected the 2008 award finalists. One initiative in each category will be honored as the award recipient during the state dinner and award presentation at NASCIO's annual conference on September 23 in Milwaukee.

The following is a list of award finalists organized by category:

Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery

• California -- Computer Aided Dispatch System
• Michigan -- Enterprise Storage, Backup and Recovery
• Minnesota -- Health-Related Licensing Boards Continuation of Operations Plan

Cross-Boundary Collaboration and Partnerships

• California -- Los Angeles Regional Transportation Management Center
• Michigan -- Michigan Surface Water Information Management System
• Tennessee -- eHealth Exchange Zone: The Nation's First Statewide Health Information Network

Data, Information and Knowledge Management

• California -- California's eBudget Solution
• Pennsylvania -- JNET Statewide Consolidated Warrant Search
• Virginia -- Virginia Knowledge Center

Digital Government: Government to Business

• District of Columbia -- CBE Resource Center: Promoting the Home Field Advantage
• Hawaii -- Hawaii Compliance Express
• Oklahoma -- Oklahoma State Treasurer's Electronic Trading System

Digital Government: Government to Citizen

• District of Columbia -- The CapStat Website: Building a City that Works
• Michigan -- Direct Certification Program
• Minnesota -- RxPrice Compare

Digital Government: Government to Government

• Michigan -- Wildland Fire Application
• Minnesota -- Applications for Road Closures, Routing and Common Operating Picture for the Interstate 35W Bridge Collapse
• Pennsylvania -- National Hydrography Dataset Data Stewardship and Enterprise Water Applications

Enterprise IT Management Initiatives

• California -- Office of Systems Integration: Large Project Management
• Missouri -- Active Directory and E-Mail Consolidation Project
• Virginia -- Virginia Information Technology Infrastructure Partnership

Information Communications Technology Innovations

• Arkansas -- Implementing the Arkansas Wireless Information Network
• California -- Telecommunications Infrastructure Replacement Project
• Michigan -- MI Drive Web Site Project

Information Security and Privacy

• Michigan -- Utilizing PCI Compliance to Improve Enterprise Risk Management
• Pennsylvania -- Security Incident Response Process

IT Project and Portfolio Management

• District of Columbia -- Tapping into the Stock Market Model for Washington, DC's IT Governance
• North Carolina -- Software Quality Assurance (SQA) Services Offered in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Delivery Model
• Pennsylvania -- Enterprise Program Management Office: A Focus on Project Management Commitment

State government projects and initiatives from the member states, territories and the District of Columbia were eligible to be nominated for these prestigious annual awards. Criteria for selection included a description of the business problem and solution, significance of the project to the improvement of the operation of government and the benefits of the project.