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New York Merges Telecommunications with IT Department

The merger will become official in September.

ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York has begun merging its Division of Telecommunications with the Office for Technology (OFT), a move that is expected to strengthen the state's voice and data infrastructure and add support to new e-government applications, economic development and higher education.

The merger, which will become official on Sept. 12, will shift 107 staff from the Office of General Services to OFT. At the same time, the state's technology headquarters will be reorganized into three divisions: networking, computing and customer service, said James Dillon, the state's CIO.

"We made the move because it makes sense," he said. "Network issues have become more data related, while telecommunications has less to do with just voice and has become more closely linked with our applications."

For the first time, a single agency will oversee all of New York's various networks, which range from NyeNet, a high-speed, statewide extranet, to Empire Net, a legacy network-transport service. Others include the state's criminal justice network and a metropolitan network that handles data in the Albany region.

The telecommunications and technology consolidation will also give the state a unified platform for launching e-government and economic development projects.

Last week, Gov. George Pataki announced that a consortium of 12 major chip makers will build their next generation research and development center at the University of Albany. The $400 million project, known as Sematech North, will open in fall 2002 and is expected to attract major high-tech companies and jobs to upstate New York.

Dillon expects his newly expanded department to provide infrastructure support to Sematech, while also helping extend fiber into other rural areas of the state for both development and educational purposes.

"The importance of telecommunications and networks in government operations has grown considerably," he explained. "Telecommunications is no longer about handling voice in government buildings. It's bigger than that."
With more than 20 years of experience covering state and local government, Tod previously was the editor of Public CIO, e.Republic’s award-winning publication for information technology executives in the public sector. He is now a senior editor for Government Technology and a columnist at Governing magazine.