The IT reform effort brings the best practices from the business world to state government, addressing problems like these: Virginia state government has 3,000 servers, 200 of which do not meet basic industry standards; every major email system is used state government, but they are unable to interface; and IT security is managed separately by each agency, so state government has no comprehensive IT security plan. Going forward, VITA will be solely responsible for managing and developing information technology solutions across state government.
"People all over the country are looking to see what we are doing here in Virginia, and I am confident the work done by VITA will serve as a blueprint for other states in the months and years to come," said Warner. "Throughout all of our reforms, our goal has been two-fold: to give the taxpayers of Virginia the best value on their dollar, and to make Virginia more competitive for the kind of economic growth that creates good jobs and a Commonwealth of opportunity for all."
The Investment Board appointments include individuals with years of experience in the corporate and technology sector. The Governor appoints four of the nine members. The Governor's appointments are:
- Christopher G. Caine, vice president, Governmental Programs, IBM
- John C .Lee, IV, president, CEO and founder of Lee Technologies.
- James W. Hazel, principal in Angler Companies, a real estate development firm, and former policy advisor on technology matters to Gov. Warner.
Legislation creating VITA charges the board with reviewing and prioritizing enterprise-wide technology investments across state government. The board will also appoint the CIO to serve as VITA's chief administrative officer. Additional board members will be appointed by the General Assembly with the Secretary of Technology George Newstrom serving as a voting, ex officio member and the Auditor of Public Accounts serving as a non-voting ex officio member.
"The purpose of VITA is to provide outstanding service and technology solutions to support our customers reliably, consistently and cost-effectively, and I look forward to working with the Investment Board to do just that," Newstrom said.
At the kick-off, Cathilea Robinett, the Executive Director of the national Center for Digital Government spoke about the significance of Virginia's IT consolidation and its effect on other state's efforts. "VITA represents one of the most comprehensive transformations of information technology in the nation and firmly establishes Virginia as a leader in the use of technology in government service and information," she said.
Other IT reforms initiated and in place as of July 1 include procurement reform to re-negotiate existing state contracts and better leverage the purchasing power of the Commonwealth and its institutions of higher education. Also, the re-branding of the Commonwealth's official portal, to emphasizes a new, unified face for Virginia in the global digital marketplace. As part of this transition, the Governor's Office, cabinet secretaries, and VITA all now have new email addresses that are easier to understand, explain, and use, and other state agencies will be phased-in to virginia.gov.
The legislation also calls for agencies to transition into VITA by size with small agencies under 100 employees on or before January 1, 2004, medium size agencies of 100-400 on or before July 1, 2004, and large agencies of more than 400 employees on or before January 1, 2005.
The VITA inauguration comes on top of a number of advances and recognitions for Virginia's e-government initiatives in the last year. Last summer, Virginia became the first state in the nation to offer real-time, live assistance to constituents on its Internet home page. The Commonwealth made certain state services available through wireless and handheld devices. The Center for Digital Government named Virginia's Internet portal the best of any state in the nation. And last November, the Progress and Freedom Foundation and the Center for Digital Government announced that Virginia has jumped from 28th to 6th place among the 50 states in the Digital State Survey - the annual ranking of how states use technology to deliver services
