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May 9, 2012 By Steve Towns
Carlos Ramos was appointed California CIO by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2011. He’s spent more than two decades at various state agencies, including several years leading California’s Office of System Integration.
Why does the governor’s 2012-2013 budget proposal shift the California Technology Agency into a consolidated administrative agency that handles procurement, IT and human resources?
The proposal has to be looked at in the larger context. The governor is trying to group together like functions and organizations across state government. So he has proposed to move our agency into a large agency called the Government Operations Agency, which would consolidate departments that do cross-cutting governmental administrative operations. The idea is to make government more effective and efficient. In terms of functions, mission and authority, that really doesn’t change. We’ll have all the power we need to continue to do our job, and the head of the organization will still be the state CIO. I think it makes it easier to align some of the external factors that often are critical to the success or failure of an IT operation.
You’d have to be a casual observer of what’s going on in California government to come to the conclusion that he is anti-technology. He is not. The governor sees technology as a driver of California’s economic competitiveness. He’s made trips to Silicon Valley to meet with tech companies and gets very involved to see that they have the government support they need to be successful. The things that he laid out as challenges for me were to use technology to make government more effective, efficient and responsive to consumers, so I think that he very much sees the potential and the promise of technology.
Teri had the right idea about what needed to happen: consolidation, centralization, making better use of technology across the enterprise, and leveraging and reusing components. Now that the train is on the track, my job is to see that it gets all the way to the station. I am trying to put in place a collaborative governance structure and a collaborative policy and standard-setting process — and really engaging the tech community to make sure they buy into the concept.
We are going hard and heavy into the mobility space. We have developed and launched a resources kit for public-sector agencies where we have a template for ready-made application launching, so folks can develop stuff in a couple of hours. It leverages social media and some of the cloud technologies that are out there for mapping. It’s location-aware and free. So we are moving into the space rapidly.
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Where ever the CTA lands, the big problem is that they are just another layer of unnecessary costs and bureaucracy. Instead of trying to force agencies to consolidate services through their high cost and ineffectual Agency, they should instead focus on creating enterprise licensing with software venders so that each Department doesn’t have to go through the procurement process. One license for the entire State to use if they want. This will eliminate many inefficiencies and redundant tasks.
I retired from State government and found that over 25 years the State has done very little to improve the efficiency of their business processes. The conversion from paper-based business processes to automated ones can save, on average, 52% of any departments' operating costs. I wrote a proposed bill four years ago that would save the State billions annually, if interested please contact me.
The Governor's objective to move the Office of the CIO/IT to a Government Operations Agency is problematic. The CIO/IT's role as an enabler of organizational change and in the improved delivery of public-centric services is dependent on organizational interaction and key relationships built at the Cabinet/Agency Head level. Teri Takai understood this and spent a significant amount of effort gaining the Governor's and Legislative support to have the Office of the CIO become a Cabinet level office. IT within the State is too bifercated and to gain any economies it will take a person with a clear vision and the direct support of the Governor, his key executive staff and the appointed Agency Executives. Moving the CIO down in the organization will distance the office, make it less effective and make it difficult to achieve the real advantages of IT as a enterprise catalyst for change and operational improvement. While the Governor may appreciate IT, it does not appear by his actions that he sees it as a strategic asset for improving state operations. It is unfortunate that during the time Carlos has been in the office that he has not been successful in demonstrating the value of his office and why he should be reporting directly to the Governor as a cabinet level appointee. Clear and decisive leadership, while always important, will now, more than ever, be essential if the State is to achieve the operational objectives associated with the effective application of technology enabled solutions. This action is a step backward and represents a missed opportunity!
Jon is absolutely right. This is a step in the wrong direction. I would note that Carlos is in a bind here. It is tough to manage up in these kinds of situations.