What are some of your priorities?
One key initiative we have is around what we call "cross-boundary opportunities." How can we leverage some of the state's services and infrastructure to better support our counties, townships and municipalities? The second area that has been a major focus is what we call "transformation and innovation." For example, we are building a business portal that's requiring complete back-end integration of our legacy systems. So when an employer comes in, they can bring up their profile and all their information.
How are you doing that integration?
It's extremely difficult, and I don't want to give any impression that it's going to be done overnight. These are all legacy systems that have been built over a 10-, 20- or 30-year time period. We're looking at Web services, enterprise architecture and how to leverage enterprise service buses. It is a long, cumbersome process.
Describe what's happening with cross-boundary collaboration.
Does the economic slowdown make state agencies and local governments more willing to work together?
It does. The locals are going through some tremendous budget pressures. You can bring people to the table who would have never considered it before, given the current situation they are facing.