IBM and SAP last week announced a partnership to provide business applications and consulting for the transportation and logistics industry. The new initiative is intended to combine SAP software — for transportation management, event management, customer relationship management and billing and revenue — with IBM’s implementation and configuration services. IBM’s best practice templates will allow the transportation industry solution from SAP to be tailored to meet each transportation company’s needs.
HP Enterprise Services has launched a new secure private cloud solution designed to help federal, state and local governments move IT programs to the cloud and save on costs, the company announced last week.
The California Department of General Services (DGS) will hold a public meeting on Friday, May 30 to discuss how the state will engage in cloud service contracts and software as a service (SaaS). The Friday meeting is the final scheduled step in the development process before publication of a revised “Cloud Computing Services Special Provisions SaaS.”
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) recently completed scanning 170,000 active offender case files comprising some 200 million documents. As reported earlier in Techwire, this was a major milestone in CDCR’s Strategic Offender Management System (SOMS) which will modernize legacy computer systems, enable access to accurate and complete offender information, and consolidate intake, history and tracking of inmates across its more than 30 institutions.
Harold Tuck — former CIO of San Diego County — has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by Cox Business and San Diego Magazine. Since retiring from the county, Tuck has continued to provide expertise to organizations and causes, and is a senior fellow for e.Republic’s Center for Digital Government. Tuck was out of town visiting his first grandchild and could not accept the award in person, but in his acceptance video he said “To be honored while I can still smell the roses is especially gratifying.”
The California Legislature is in session, and here are a few of the bills Techwire is following that were updated last week. Links are to the most recent text. For complete information search by number at the Bill Information Site.
The Internet of Things, that rising industry of Internet-enabled products, is set to gain its own cellular network in San Francisco dedicated specifically to its growing number of connected devices.
In the hands of the public, open government data are giving businesses and citizens an unprecedented opportunity to innovate and drive the "app economy" in places like San Francisco. The demand for data is also growing within government, leading to more agencies opening their data vaults and sharing across departments, according to a report issued Thursday by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers.
The federal government — which earlier this month launched a preliminary investigation of the flatlined Cover Oregon health information exchange — on Tuesday released subpoenas that, according to an ABC news report, include demands for communications among the former head of Oregon’s Health Authority, former Cover Oregon executive director, former Cover Oregon CIO, and former Health Authority CIO Carolyn Lawson, who previously held technology positions in California state government, including CIO for the California PUC. At issue is whether Oregon misled federal officials on Cover Oregon’s status.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has just completed the conversion of some 200 million documents into electronic images — a major milestone in CDCR’s Strategic Offender Management System (SOMS). As reported last September in Techwire, SOMS will modernize legacy computer systems, obtain access to accurate and complete offender information, and consolidate intake, history and tracking of inmates across its more than 30 institutions.
The Assembly Budget Subcommittee on State Administration on Tuesday unanimously approved Governor Brown’s budget proposal to fund a $2.4 million project to conduct an independent assessment of the failed 21st Century Project, also known as the MyCalPAYS system. The assessment would review system designs, analyze what parts of the project are salvageable and determine how much it would cost to complete the project.
SB 1443 by Senator Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) passed the Senate unanimously on Monday. It establishes a gift limit of $200, bans all gifts from lobbyists, and prohibits specified gifts to state officials and designated employees, including: tickets to professional concerts and other professional entertainment events, golf, spa, recreational trips and cash equivalents.
SAP — which according to California Controller John Chiang fumbled the $90 million MyCalPays payroll system — has announced some changes at the top along with a possible business makeover.
UC Irvine School of Medicine this month will become one of the first in the nation to integrate Google Glass into its four-year curriculum, according to a university release. Google Glass will join other UCI Med School tech-based initiatives such as an iPad-based iMedEd Initiative, in which every medical student is equipped with an iPad filled with electronic medical texts, podcasts, reference materials and notes for all course work and clinical experiences.
After last year’s failure of the State Controller’s 21st Century project, Governor Brown’s May Revised Budget proposal has some significant technology-related adjustments, according to Tuesday’s summary released by the Department of Finance. If passed, the budget would create the Statewide Project Management Office within the Department of Technology (CalTech) and fund a $2.5 million independent assessment of the 21st Century Project after the state last year cancelled a $90 million contract with vendor SAP.
The Department of General Services is seeking input from the vendor community on the development of the state’s Draft Special Provisions for Cloud Computing Services for Software as a Service. Comments are due by May 23, according to a memo issued on Friday.
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel – who is championing school broadband and E-Rate reform, met with the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) May 7th at that organization’s mid-year conference in Baltimore to bring those topics before state CIOs.
Last summer’s White House-backed National Day of Civic Hacking spurred nearly 100 hackathons around the country, and illustrated some exceptional coding talent from paticipants as young as 12. Now, California educators and tech industry leaders will present a letter to Gov. Jerry Brown urging the introduction of coding into school curricula.
The California State Board of Equalization – responsible for sales, use and other taxes and fees – on May 1st launched Open BOE, an open data portal which consolidates tax data that can be downloaded or exported into various formats and charts. The portal allows access to aggregate tax, revenue and expenditure data for use by media, institutions, government agencies and the public, but does not reveal confidential taxpayer information.
Much of TechAmerica’s staff will continue on with CompTIA as the the IT trade organization looks to expand its role in the market. It’s the end of the road for TechAmerica and a new beginning for CompTIA.
In an effort to modernize the Department of Motor Vehicles website, IBM has signed a $5.5 million contract with the state to migrate away from its aging infrastructure. The Department of Technology will serve as the system integrator, working directly with IBM on the contract that ends on Dec 31, 2015.
Sacramento City Manager John Shirey released a proposed city budget in which — for the first time since 2008 — the budget is balanced with some $400,000 allocated to an “Economic Uncertainty Reserve” or rainy day fund.
Department of Defense CIO Teri Takai will step down May 2, she announced April 28 to the governmentwide Chief Information Officers’ Council. The DoD confirmed the announcement. Takai served as DoD CIO since 2010, and before that she was CIO of California.
California House Bill 777, authored by Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi, D-Torrance, would “qualify rocket propulsion systems for an existing business inventory tax exemption and update California law to ensure the growing number of jobs created by the space exploration industry remain in the state.” If Governor Brown signs the bill into law, California-based companies such as SpaceX would get a 10-year property tax break.
California Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima) was named one of Government Technology’s Top-25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers in 2013 for his work on tech-related policy, and again in 2014 for his role in driverless car legislation. He’s also been at the forefront in legislative discussions on an earthquake early-warning system for California and health-care technology. Padilla appears on Government Technology’s list of 13 tech-savvy state senators and representatives “who have shown a keen interest in and willingness to tackle technology policy and legislation.”
Former telecom executive will build an IT organization for the First Responder Network Authority. FirstNet — the organization spearheading the federal government’s plan to launch a nationwide public safety communications network — has hired former telecom executive Jim Gwinn as CIO, according to multiple news reports.
