IT Trends: Legislature and Public-Sector CIO Issues, Most Energy-Efficient States

Grappling With Issues

As 2010 begins, there are many tough issues on state legislatures' and public-sector CIOs' plates. While legislatures are dealing with policy issues, local, state and federal CIOs are battling external forces that will affect their IT organization. Below is a comparison of what legislatures and CIOs have identified as their toughest issues.

State Legislatures

• Balancing state budgets and creating revenue
• Managing health costs and coverage
• Lowering unemployment rates
• Affording higher education
• Analyzing sentencing and corrections costs
• Maintaining transportation and infrastructure
• Balancing and managing state government
• Developing clean energy alternatives
• Examining sex offender registration
• Expanding broadband access

Public CIOs

• Security
• Budgets
• Changes in business model
• Internal customers
• Regulatory concerns
• Technological factors
• People skills
• Globalization

Sources: National Conference of State Legislatures and IBM's The New Voice of the CIO

CIOs Say ...

In a global survey of 2,500 public- and private-sector CIOs conducted by IBM, 83 percent identified business intelligence and analytics as a top priority. Also of increasing concern are data reliability and security, with 71 percent of CIOs planning to make additional investments in risk management and compliance.

Distracted Drivers

25% of all police-reported car crashes are caused by someone using a cell phone, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

41% of cell phone users say they multitask by making phone calls while commuting or waiting, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Social Media TV

Can't keep up with Twitter and Flickr? Stupeflix.tv, a Web-based TV service, scours the Web for content you want and combines it into your own live TV channel. The site could serve as a resource for governments to learn what constituents are thinking.

States of Efficiency

Many factors, including the recession, force governments to be energy efficient. Here's a list of 2009's top 10 most energy-efficient states, according to a 50-state scorecard on energy-efficiency policies, programs and practices from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

• California
• Massachusetts 
• Connecticut 
• Oregon 
• New York 
• Vermont 
• Washington 
• Minnesota 
• Rhode Island
• Maine

Source: American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

iPhone E-Reader

iPhone and iPod touch users who want to sample the Kindle e-book experience can satisfy their curiosity by downloading the free Kindle for iPhone app, which gives users access to nearly 400,000 books on the go.
Pro: Avoid purchasing a $250 Kindle.
Con: Must read on the relatively tiny iPhone screen.

Security Trends for 2010

Security professionals are constantly combating Trojans and malware -- working hard to ensure network security -- and 2010 will be no different. According to Kaspersky Lab, an Internet threat management solution developer, the top six security predictions of 2010 will are:
1. A rise in attacks originating from file sharing networks.
2. An increase in mass malware epidemics via peer-to-peer networks.
3. Continuous competition for traffic from cyber-criminals.
4. A decline in fake anti-virus programs.
5. An interest in attacking Google Wave.
6. An increase in attacks on iPhone and Android mobile platforms.