The Office of the State Chief Information Officer has released the 2009 strategic plan for revamping California’s information technology infrastructure (Maile 1). This plan is needed for the Executive Branch of California and is intended to satisfy the needs of public, private, and institutional citizens through cost-effective, available, safe, and reliable methods (CA IT Strategic Plan 35). Examples of services this new technology offers are that citizens can easily pay their taxes, register their automobiles, apply for grants, and stream live traffic news online (Maile 1). The advantage is that these services are offered 24:7. The Strategic Plan is composed of six concepts including; to make IT as efficiently dependable as electricity, to utilize IT to improve lifestyles, to use IT for “self-governance”, to use IT as an asset, to make IT efficient and sustainable, and to promote collaboration for better resolutions (Maile 1). To effectively implement this strategy, the state will accept the existence of risks, and integrate strong project structures, management, and oversight (CA IT Strategic Plan 30). State leaders will continually improve work processes and leverage available technology for optimal results. The state will continually train IT workers to keep them up to par, and locate areas where IT workers will leave the workforce due to the Baby Boomer effect. The state will also ensure that IT assets, such as checks to be granted to vulnerable citizens in disaster situations, will remain safe. The Strategic Plan includes the Governor’s Reorganization Plan (GRP) that will consolidate the IT infrastructure under the Office of the State Chief Information Officer to increase performance and accountability (Maile 1). GRP is inspired from the Little Hoover Commission Report and will eventually save taxpayer money and further streamline state processes and operations. Maile, Bill. “Schwarzenegger Administration Releases Information Technology Vision, Strategic Plan.” State Technology Update. 21 January 2009. Office of the State CIO. 24 April 2009. http://www.cio.ca.gov/Public/Newsletters/technology_update012109.html. Takai, Teri. “California State Information Technology Strategic Plan.” California IT Strategic Plan. 2009. CA.gov. 24 April 2009. http://www.itsp.ca.gov/. My name is Linda Kuang, and I am enrolled in an Operations Information Management class at UCONN. This class is useful, informative, and very interesting. I suggest to everyone that they take this course!
