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Texas Declares Sovereignty, E-Gov, Conferences: GT News Wrap

All compulsory federal legislation that requires states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties, or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding, be prohibited or repealed.

General News

Texas Declares its Sovereignty

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." Texas Gov. Rick Perry this week, in a video presentation, joined state Rep. Brandon Creighton and sponsors of House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 50 in support of states' rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and affirms that Texas claims sovereignty under the 10th Amendment over all powers not otherwise granted to the federal government. It also designates that all compulsory federal legislation that requires states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties, or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding, be prohibited or repealed.

Yahoo Partners With Four Universities to Advance Cloud Computing

Yahoo Inc. this week announced it has expanded its partnerships with U.S. universities to advance cloud computing research. The University of California at Berkeley, Cornell University and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst will join Carnegie Mellon University in using Yahoo!'s cloud computing cluster to conduct large-scale systems software research and explore new applications that analyze Internet-scale data sets, ranging from voting records to online news sources. To date, academic researchers have had limited access to Internet-scale supercomputers for conducting systems and applications research. To help alleviate this obstacle, Yahoo is granting these four universities access to the Yahoo cloud computing cluster. The Yahoo! cluster, also known as M45, has been operational since November 2007 and in use by Carnegie Mellon. The cluster has approximately 4,000 processor-cores and 1.5 petabytes of disks.

E-Gov Services

Utah Department of Public Safety Launches New Online Press Information Portal

The Utah Department of Public Safety (DPS) announced the launch of a new media portal Web application developed exclusively for communicating current news, information, and alerts to media outlets about public safety activities. The first-of-its-kind site provides a comprehensive view into current statewide law enforcement activities and includes sections for news releases and multimedia downloads. The site also incorporates pushed alerts to RSS and SMS feeds via Twitter on breaking news and developing stories. The portal will be available as a secure login for authorized members of the press only.

Imagination Library Electronic Registration Now Available Statewide

Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen today announced that parents and caregivers in all 95 counties can now easily register children under age five for the Imagination Library online. The governor made the announcement as he and First Lady Andrea Conte launched "Read to a Child Month" at the Nashville debut of a children's play adapted from the Imagination Library's most popular book, Llama Llama Red Pajama.

Virginia Beach, Va., Selects Permitting Solution

Virginia Beach, Va., has selected Accela Land Management to support the efforts of the Permits & Inspections Division.

Gov. Lynch Unveils New Job Match System

New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, joined by NHWorks officials, today unveiled a new Web site aimed at connecting New Hampshire residents looking for jobs with employers that are hiring. The new Web site was developed by the New

Hampshire Department of Employment Security, with the help of the Governor's Jobs Cabinet and other state workforce partners.

Arizona State Credit Union Launches New Web 2.0 Site

Arizona State Credit Union announced today that it has launched the first ever social media Web site, HelpingAZ.com designed to assist Arizona state employees, university employees and others who have been impacted by the economy, layoffs and furloughs. HelpingAZ.com will serve as a forum allowing open dialogue in an effort to foster community building. People will be able to share leads for current job openings and opportunities as well as find links to beneficial resources based on visitor postings. Other tools will include up-to-date state budget information, unemployment benefit information, money saving tips and financial assistance, all developed by active online community participants.

Oklahoma Debuts New Web Site Design

Oklahomans now have a redesigned portal to visit and use as the central gateway to interacting with the state government at the state's official Web site. OK.gov, which first launched in 2001 under the name of YourOklahoma.com, receives an average of nearly 1.3 million visitors per month and offers more than 260 online services to the businesses and citizens of Oklahoma. At the new OK.gov, visitors are greeted with new technologies such as a 'One-Click Search' utility to assist Oklahomans in finding answers fast by displaying the most recent and popular content.

E-Procurement Program Launched for Georgia's Department of Administrative Services

A new e-procurement program was announced this week for the state of Georgia's Department of Administration Services (DOAS), State Purchasing Division. The e-procurement program, deemed "Team Georgia Marketplace," is designed to transform the way in which state agencies handle the procurement process, making it more efficient and effective. On January 20, 2009, in partnership with the state of Georgia, CherryRoad rolled out the system for more than 300 users from DOAS, the Department of Human Resources and the Department of Corrections. The system will be rolled out to other users and state agencies in spring 2009. Ultimately, Team Georgia Marketplace will ensure better customer-agency collaboration and improve the practices, capacity, information tracking and technology of procurement for state agencies.

Conferences and Workshops

Texas DIR to host Power to Purchase Technology Expo

The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) will host the Power to Purchase Technology Expo on Thursday, April 30, at the Palmer Events Center in Austin. The Expo is free to all government and public entity personnel and will feature leading technology products and services.

Workshop on Open Standards for Government Transformation

OASIS, the international open standards consortium, joins with the World Bank Group's Global Information and Communication Technologies Department to invite representatives from the public- and private-sectors to participate in an eGovernment Workshop on 17 April in Washington, D.C. The workshop will explore the significance of open standards for efficient, citizen-centric and transformational government. Issues surrounding public financial management, e-procurement, security and interoperability frameworks will be discussed. Participants in Washington will be joined via interactive video links with officials from developing countries where the World Bank supports e-Government projects, including Russia, Moldova, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda.

URISA GIS in Public Health Conference

URISA announced the participation of two important keynote speakers at its GIS in Public Health Conference taking place in Providence, Rhode Island June 5-8, 2009. Corrie Brown, DVM, PhD, Coordinator of International Veterinary Medicine for the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Georgia, will provide the opening keynote address on Saturday, June 6 on the topic of: Emerging Zoonotic Diseases and the Need for Global Surveillance. On Monday, June 8, Leslie Lenert, MD, MS, FACMI, Director of the National Center for Public Health Informatics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will deliver the closing keynote address.

Wayne E. Hanson served as a writer and editor with e.Republic from 1989 to 2013, having worked for several business units including Government Technology magazine, the Center for Digital Government, Governing, and Digital Communities. Hanson was a juror from 1999 to 2004 with the Stockholm Challenge and Global Junior Challenge competitions in information technology and education.