IE 11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

August Editorial

There is no security on this earth; there is only opportunity." - Douglas MacArthur

Regardless of what Congress decides to do with block grants, the national trends are all toward greater control and authority by the states, and a diminishing of the federal role.

Lobbyists who now walk the halls of Congress will soon appear in Austin , Albany, Tallahassee, Sacramento and Springfield. Those federal mandates to automate - and the funding to help spur it on - may disappear, to be supplanted by increased state legislative authority. That crucial information technology project will be just another item in the legislative hopper.

Even under the best of circumstances, budget hearings highlight the differences in viewpoint between legislators and agency executives. As one California assemblyman said to a group of technically savvy state executives "You don't speak English, nobody understands you." And when one cannot grasp the technical merits of a system, one focuses on familiar things. As a California executive said of the state Legislature, "They think they understand procurement and they certainly understand conflict of interest."

A sole-source contract may smell like conflict of interest to an elected official. Yet as one state executive noted, it is absurd to put out a competitive bid to add to a proprietary system. And yet legislatures, while perhaps not understanding the fine points of large projects, certainly do understand the political liabilities of wasted money. And nobody likes to be caught flat-footed and uninformed.

We often hear complaints from technology and program people about their state legislatures. The solution is to get out of a reactive mode, and begin to take the initiative. Brief your legislature on technology projects. Educate and inform them, demonstrate the potential for savings and service that exist in information technology projects. Help them understand the complexities and difficulties of information technology, and its strategic value in delivery of services.

With a $225 million technology bond before the Massachusetts Legislature, state officials rolled out existing technology projects and invited legislators and others to come and see what had been done so far.

Massachusetts' technology expo `95 (pg 8) was more than a demonstration of the state's innovative computer systems at work. It was also a demonstration of how to reach out to legislators.

No one understands this better than the state's CIO, John Thomas Flynn who hosted the expo. He was very pleased at the large number of legislators attending.

It will be people like Flynn, who understand technology and "speak English not technologese," who will be the leaders in this new era. People who take the time to understand the concerns of elected officials and help educate them on the business value of information technology. Who do not wait to be summoned by the legislature, but who create opportunities to explain and demonstrate.

Elected officials who understand the potential of information technology are able to see opportunities others would overlook. Many are taking the time to learn. The first issue of Government Technology, back in the fall of 1987, carried a front-page article by then-Gov. Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts, discussing six technology initiatives to aid in law enforcement.

Since then Government Technology has featured many articles by and about people who comprise a new face of the future. Public servants like Mike Hale, Steve Kolodney, George Lindamood and John Thomas Flynn. Elected officials like Hawaii Sen. Carol Fukunaga, Vice President Al Gore, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Utah Gov. Michael Leavitt, and political leaders - like Oregon Rep. Ron Wyden in the current issue - wrestling with the complex issues of telecommunications reform.

We've also featured industry professionals and "political outsiders" like Ross Perot, and in next month's issue we'll talk to Michael Hammer, the man who helped make "reengineering" a force in American industry and government.

Rapid change is the hallmark of our age. Recognizing opportunities when they present themselves - or creating them when they do not already exist - is a proactive strategy for today and tomorrow. That strategy can and should be applied to the changing role of state legislatures regarding information technology projects.





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.