It's a story of change, agility, efficiency, innovation, and economic development. It's one that would have executives who are hardened to mergers and acquisitions paying attention. This story isn't being played out in a commercial business, but rather in the state of Virginia.
My colleague Eric Chabrow and I had a chance to chat with Gov. Mark Warner recently about the progress of his aggressive transformation plan to use IT to run the state more efficiently and to drive innovation in all pockets. Warner, who is halfway through his term in a state that limits its governors to one term, only has a short while to see it through. He's partially through consolidating IT operations from nearly all state agencies under the Virginia Information Technology Agency. (You can read more in "Advancing A Tech Agenda").
Virginia Technology Secretary George Newstrom told me recently that before the transformation began, the state operated "like a Mickey Mouse watch when it needed to be a Swiss watch." The state, he says, is approaching the change from a business-process position, not just a technology position.
Want to learn more about business-technology innovation in the public sector? Check out governmententerprise.com.
Stephanie Stahl
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