Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Top Ten Technology Accomplishments for State of Utah in 2004 Following up on last year's top 10 technology accomplishments in Utah state government, I'll attempt a top 10 for 2004, although it will be hard to match the 2003 accomplishments. Utah Wireless Integrated Network Phase I.  Voice integration of multiple state networks including the UCAN 800 MHz trunked system in the Wasatch Front, the Utah National Guard, the State Repeater System, Salt Lake City's 800 MHz network, Salt Lake County, and the State VHF law enforcement network was achieved on schedule in July and tested in a multi-level homeland security exercise coordinated by the Utah National Guard. Careers.utah.gov.  This new portal implementation was coordinated by Darrin Brush of the Utah Department of Workforce Services. Controlled Substance Database.  This system which rolled out this Fall is the first online system of its type in the country and gives prescribers and law enforcement access to over 22 million records.  The purpose of the database is to provide a resource to aid in the prevention and treatment of prescription controlled substance drug misuse, including law enforcement efforts. Just for Youth website.  With Utah being about the youngest state in the country, the State rolled out the JustforYouth portal in September.  The portal focuses on issues of interest to this community including finances, education, employment, etc. Utah Business Portal Second Place Nationally.  The Utah Business Portal (business.utah.gov) was recognized as the second best government to business service in the country in October by the Center for Digital Government.  The state was recognized as eighth place in the overall Digital State competition. Online Transition.  Governor-elect Jon Huntsman posts news of his transition to governor on the state portal, even allowing interested citizens to apply for key positions online. Hunting and Fishing Agent.  The entire hunting and fishing license process goes online with service rolled out to license agents throughout the state in addition to the personal internet service directly to citizens. Portfolio Management.  The Division of Information Technology Services was among many agencies recognizing the value of portfolio management and implemented an open-source project management system along with a more comprehensive portfolio management process to better manage information technology projects, as well as products and services. Payment Express.  The Utah State Tax Commission developed this new service earlier in the year to allow payment of a variety of tax types through a single service. Mobile Data.  The State began testing the first 700 MHz mobile data network in the country in November.  Rollout through the state is expected to continue in 2005. I'm sure that I have missed some that are worth of mention here as well.  This list may be revised. Dr. John Gotze of Denmark just completed his year in review.  John expected 2004 to be the year of digital identity.  Here in Utah, we continued to augment and expand on the Utah Master Directory.  More services now use the directory for authentication.  Speaking of that, Daniel Solove has published a new book entitled The Digital Person.  Should be of interest to those involved with digial ID and privacy issues. eWeek has a range of prognostications for 2005, including the suggestion that authentication services will soon spell the end of anonymous access. Evelyn Rodriguez' personal account of how she was struck by the recent tsunami is a must read.  The South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog has amazing coverage of the tsunamis and ways to help with the response.  Jeff Ooi of Screenshots also has extensive information.  Also see the Tsunami Disaster HQ. MCI completed a 40 Gbps connection between Salt Lake City and Sacramento today. Bob Morgan, Executive Director of the Department of Natural Resources has added his name to the list of retiring cabinet members.   Several important egov initiatives were completed during Bob's tenure at DNR, including online campground reservations at the state parks.  Another big change will be to fill Kermit Hall's shoes at USU.  6:59:16 AM    comment []

TEPR Scheduled for Salt Lake City in 2005 The annual TEPR (Towards an Electronic Patient Record) Conference will be held in Salt Lake City in 2005.  This is especially appropriate with the emphasis that the State has placed on electronic government, particularly in healthcare and with Governor Leavitt's recent appointment to lead HHS.  TEPR is the leading healthcare technology tradeshow in the country and is directed at CIOs and CEOs as well as healthcare professionals.  Some of this year's interesting topics include mobile health, RFID, and technology architecture. 6:09:12 AM    comment []

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