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Texas Department of Agriculture Integrates Data

Six months to create an integrated information system

The most important aspect of the Texas Department of Agriculture's Bringing Resource Integration and Data Together for Greater Efficiencies (BRIDGE) project wasn't just the implementation of technology, but the show of how people working together effectively can make a project a great success. It was the leadership and staff involved that made it possible to launch a major project in about a six-month timeframe.

Started in March 2002, BRIDGE's first-phase implementation was completed by November 2002 and today continues to move forward. This short implementation phase is especially impressive given what BRIDGE is designed to do -- create an integrated information system that addresses the information needs of many divisions, including Marketing and Promotion, Pesticide Programs, Regional Operations, Regulatory Programs, and Rural Economic Development.

Developed on a legislative appropriation of $3.5 million with the assistance of private suppliers vendor BAE Systems and Primary System Design, BRIDGE allows staff and customers to enter information once and use it many times. It is available on demand, allows for transactions between the department and its customers to be conducted using the method chosen by the customer, and provides management the information necessary to effectively and efficiently allocate resources.

Its main goals are to: ensure data quality, eliminate stove-piped information, outsource a licensing system, improve reporting capabilities, provide online access, and provide program-based information. It includes an extensive array of features including: providing a standard set of information for every client regardless of program; sharing of that common information across programs; recording of money received and integrating with its accounting system; tracking of program-specific information; tracking of milestones; generating automatic letters, licenses, renewal notices and other correspondence; creating data-entry screens that match data collection forms; and much more.

"BRIDGE was a reworking of how the department had done business," explained Victor Gonzalez, deputy assistant commissioner for administrative services and chief information officer. "It started when we looked at the core functions that we perform. So, we looked at everything from the ground up, and came up with our core processes that the department does and then designed a system that could support those processes. We also looked at ways we could improve those processes before we automated them. So, we've done process reengineering, redesigned every form we have, looked at the data we collect across the agency, looked at who performs what functions, and wound up restructuring the vision to, for example, support licensing."