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.
The Internet Association works with Congress and the administration on Internet-related policies, and will now expand into the Golden State. In a note to friends and colleagues last Friday, March 14, Robert Callahan, TechAmerica’s director of state government affairs in California, announced his departure. Callahan, the latest TechAmerica executive to leave the company, will become executive director of the Internet Association’s new California office.
Government Technology publisher e.Republic Inc. has acquired Techwire.net, a news website covering public-sector technology in California. The deal, announced today, is part of a move by e.Republic to strengthen its coverage of the government market for private-sector readers.
Richard Rogers of the Employment Development Department, Barney Gomez of the Department of Health Care Services, retiree Carlos Zamarripa of the Franchise Tax Board and Clark Kelso of the California Correctional Health Care Services department received top honors. IT leaders of California government joined at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento, Calif., from Feb. 25 to 26 to network, listen to talks on public IT administration, and to be recognized for their leadership and dedication to technology in government.
The Federal Communications Commission will establish rules to protect ‘Open Internet.’ The Federal Communications Commission has opened a new docket to solicit public opinion on net neutrality and guide it in establishing rules to protect a free and open Internet.
The Federal Communications Commission will vote to consider a retirement test of landline phones in favor of a digital VoIP network. The Internet has long been a pinch hitter for the landline telephone, with such services as Skype and Google Voice, but now federal regulators are probing to retire the landline in place of digital networks.
Data is transforming the way we work and play — learn how policy can spur more innovation in this area. We live in a data-filled society. Social media, Web browsers, mobile devices and vehicles collect it; governments collect it and share it with constituents; programmers use it to create apps and maps and websites that make it easier for the average Joe to digest and use.
After months of criticism managing development for the Oregon health exchange, Carolyn Lawson, CIO of the Oregon Health Authority and Department of Human Services, has resigned for personal reasons. After a series of failed attempts, back steps and delays to launch Cover Oregon, the state’s troubled health insurance exchange, Carolyn Lawson, CIO of the Oregon Health Authority and Department of Human Services, has announced her resignation due to personal reasons.
New portal provides citizens and civic app developers with municipal data in a user-friendly format. Joining the national push for open data, the city of Sacramento has launched an open data portal that provides access to building permit activity, crime reports, budget information, land-use data and more.
San Francisco’s Market Street once carried streetcars, horses and horseless carriages. Today, Market Street features free Wi-Fi, from Castro Street to the Embarcadero, a distance of three miles.
New analysis looks at the which areas of the country have experienced the highest rates of growth in tech jobs over the past 12 years. Tech jobs are expanding all over America in unexpected places, according to analysis from Mark Schill, research director at Praxis Strategy Group, published on NewGeography.com. Looking at a 12-year period, starting in 2001, Schill looked at job creation trends in the nation’s 52 largest metropolitan areas. Software, engineering, and computer programming service jobs were examined, in addition to STEM jobs in other industries.
California state Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced on Thurs., Nov 14 that she shut down 10 private insurance websites that “fraudulently imitated Covered California in order to lure consumers away from plans that provide the benefits of the Affordable Care Act.”
