Tuesday, December 16, 2003

Continued Growth in eFiling According to a report from the IRS Oversight Board, efile continues to experience significant annual growth rates, although last year's growth rate of 12.5% was the lowest in five years.  Overall, 52.2 million returns were filed electronically last year.  That is significant enough for the IRS to close several processing centers.  I don't understand why anyone would want to file any other way. Other Interesting Stuff William Grosso on the design of RSS aggregators Brian Sweeting discovers Magnolia, a new open-source content management system Apple's development team publishes its Best Practices for Web Development  Gerry McGovern suggests  Avoid the Santa Claus Approach to Content Management Smart Mobs lists some great ways to take advantage of your new cameraphone (besides blogging) Interesting presentation on 4.9 GHz and 700 MHz NPSTC's Wideband Loading Calculator (Excel spreadsheet) Search comments on FCC filings Somehow I missed last month's hearing on Project Safecom Wisconsin CIO Matthew Miszewski predicts [their new egov intiative] would be "a revolution in the way the state delivers services." He said nearly every state is working toward a similar shared information system, but "I'd say we're pretty far ahead of the pack." 8:28:45 AM    comment []

Education Yearly Progress Reports. The annual "No child left behind" yearly progress reports are now available to be searched on the Utah Dept. of Education website.  The reports are very simple, one page for each school with a "yes" or "no" as to whether the school passed the requirements. 8:09:20 AM    comment []

Procurement Card Audit Several years ago, we developed a statewide contract for a procurement card.  Since then, 9 of 10 public colleges and universities have adopted procurement cards.  It is an important part of e-government, facilitating online purchases.  Yesterday, the legislative auditor published an audit of higher ed's use of procurement cards.  Although they stated that they find no evidence of fraud or abuse, they did mention several concerns.  The recommendations should actually apply to any type of procurement, not just those made with a procurement card.  The audit did recognize that p-cards can improve purchasing efficiencies.  Overall, the p-card appears to be a success for state government.  I know that on the occasion where I have made online purchases, it has been very helpful.  Purchasing Card Policy Manual 7:51:38 AM    comment []

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