Wednesday, November 26, 2003

John Patrick on eGovernment and Corporate Blogging John Patrick, former vice president of IBM, on e-government: It is not surprising that most governments of the world have web sites -- in fact, many call themselves "e-governments". In early November, the United Nations issued a report entitled "E-Government at the Crossroads" which showed that 173 of the U.N.'s 191 members had Web sites. That is the good news. The bad news is that only 20% of people with Internet access use them. Does this low utilization mean there is a lack of interest or is that not enough people have Internet access? Neither. The problem is that most of the "e-government" sites don't have compelling content nor useful transactions.  (read more) Even more interesting are some of John's comments on corporate blogging in eWeek magazine, such as: "One technical guy at IBM whom I've known for many years, a distinguished engineer, told me that blogs are now his No. 1 source of technical information. That was about a year ago that he told me that, and I was taken aback." "IBM is embracing blogging in various ways, including participating in the development and evolution of the standards for blogging to ensure that it can continue to flourish for all." "I think we'll see blogging become the first derivative of the Web. It takes the Web to a higher level. It allows for more effective communications and sharing of information in a very structured way. So it will enable millions of people to infuse their points of view into the knowledge stream, a kind of massive enrichment of knowledge." Windley points out Tom Adelstein's list of over 185 local government applications that could be developed in open source.  Imagine being able to quickly add and adapt that much functionality to your city or county website.  Earlier this year, Adelstein wrote an eight part series on Linux Access in State and Local government: Part I Part II Part III Part IV Part V Part VI Part VII Part VIII Microsoft will argue against opensource in government next week in Rome. The next meeting of the UWIN governance board will be on Dec. 5th in Rm. B110 of the State Office Building. Rory Perry just got a new IP phone as part of a statewide rollout by the West Virginia Courts system.  Our IP telephony projects are being held hostage by a procurement appeals process. The November issue of Capitol Connections is online 2:31:58 PM    comment []

Homeland Security Reports I finally got around to looking at DOE's report on the Aug. 14th blackout.  This report should be of interest to anyone involved in infrastructure protection. A new website is up in conjuction with Governor Walker's watershed protection initiative: adoptawaterbody.utah.gov  On November 19th, the US Senate heard a number of reports on agroterrorism: The Bio-Terrorist Threat to Agricultural Livestock and Produce Assessing the Threat to America's Breadbasket Protecting the Nation's Foodchain FDA's Role in Counterterrorism Activities USDA Efforts to Protect Agriculture against Terrorist Attacks In terms of technology, Dr. Colleen O-Keefe stated, There is a serious discrepancy among states in terms of computer technology, mapping expertise, and animal tracking. Additionally, states with the appropriate mapping technology and data collection are the exception, rather than the rule. Accordingly, numerous states don’t have the hardware or software capacity to utilize the technology some states possess. USDA must immediately implement an electronic system to track livestock movements and monitor disease outbreaks. At the very least USDA should identify states, such as members of the Council, to conduct a pilot project of an electronic tracking system that could be duplicated nationwide. Dr. Penrose Albright of the Dept. of Homeland Security discussed technologies that might be used to enhanced agricultural biosecurity. The new engineering building at Utah State University has been completed.  This was part of Governor Leavitt's initiative to expand science and education degrees in Utah which has resulted in new engineering facilities on four state campuses.  Micron is funding a new digital design laboratory in the USU engineering department. 12:37:13 PM    comment []

Online Keno as eGov? The State of Kentucky was considering the idea of developing an online keno system as part of its egov services.  Living in Utah, I had never considered keno as an online government service.  The idea was squelched following a statement by Governor-elect Ernie Fletcher (no relation) that the decision was unconstitutional. Fletcher has more challenges ahead with a $262 million budget shortfall.  Governor Fletcher's commitment to technology: In the New Economy we are learning that the Information Superhighway is as important as interstate highways. As we invest in upgrading and maintaining our roads, we must also invest in information and communication technologies. Currently, about 70 percent of Kentuckians have access to the Internet. About 44 percent of those access it through a broadband connection. However, Kentucky ranks 41st in the nation in the distribution of broadband technology. Only West Virginia is ranked lower among our surrounding states. 8:38:45 AM    comment []

© Copyright 2003 David Fletcher.