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State & Local Government Division

Overview

The State & Local Government Division (SLG) addresses the dynamic state and local government technology market. SLG serves as a collective voice for companies engaged in business development and legislative affairs with public sector organizations other than national governments. As such, SLG offers a wide array of programs that allow members to engage with state and local government officials — and their national associations — through committee meetings, Board meetings, private dinners, and widely attended events. We provide opportunities in all of our programs and policy work to partner private and public sector representatives in initiatives that foster the understanding and adoption of technology products, services, and solutions.

Highlights of our activities are posted below. For a more complete view of our programs, please contact Carol Henton, Vice President, State and Local Government, or Michael Kerr, Sr. Director, State and Local Government.

The 2011 State CIO Survey

TechAmerica has partnered with the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) and Grant Thornton to survey state and territorial CIOs or their equivalents on their most challenging issues and significant opportunities.

Results are based on the responses of 48 state participants, the District of Columbia, and two U.S. territories.

The report, which is the second Annual Survey of Chief Information Officers, is titled: “A New C4 Agenda: Perspectives and Trends from State Government IT Leaders.” The report is available for download free of charge and employs a full array of interactive web technologies.

TechAmerica Urges States and Localities to Embrace Innovation in Major Programs, Streamline Support Functions

SLG Board of Directors Releases Policy Priorities for State and Local Government Technology

In all corners of the country, state and local government (SLG) officials are discussing ways to trim government budgets and address the challenging fiscal conditions in which they must continue to operate. In light of these constraints, TechAmerica’s State and Local Government (SLG) Board of Directors released a new set of policy recommendations to help these officials employ IT to make improvements to major programs and support operations.

The policy priorities laid out by the TechAmerica SLG Board are focused on transforming the way programs are run, making possible major leaps forward in program effectiveness and efficiency, and improving productivity and cost control. TechAmerica urges states and local governments to:

Increase collaboration and communication between the private sector and state and local government in all areas of technology acquisition, deployment and service delivery.
Allow for acquisition and operation of applications, infrastructure, and solutions that encompass the entire government enterprise.
Streamline acquisition processes to enable more rapid technology and solutions procurement.
Appoint strong, visionary Information Technology officers, with authority to align technology assets, operations, and services across the enterprise.
Preserve the private sector role in deploying technologies and providing services to government agencies and their customers.

Please click here to view or download a copy of the statement.

TechAmerica SLG Briefing Paper: “Why Think Enterprise? State and Local Government Options for Reducing Costs and Improving Services”

SLG_Why Think Enterprise? On November 10, 2010 – as transition teams, and re-elected leaders, ramped up their preparations for new terms in office – TechAmerica announced the release of a new report, “Why Think Enterprise? State and Local Government Options for Reducing Costs and Improving Services.”

The report, the second from TechAmerica’s Public Sector State and Local Government (SLG) Board of Directors, highlights best practice examples to help states and local governments address pressing financial, managerial, and technology challenges.

The report outlines three main strategies that state and local governments can employ during these difficult financial times: Transforming programs and services through IT-enabled innovation and improvement; consolidating IT infrastructure and applying asset-optimizing tools; and applying new delivery models and technologies to drive savings, enable innovation, and promote economic development.

The 14 best practice examples highlighted in the report include the states of Delaware, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Utah. The local governments highlighted are Savannah, Georgia; Clark County, Nevada; the City and County of San Francisco; Plano, Texas; and Fairfax County, Virginia.

Please click here to view or download a copy of the report.

Get Involved

State & Local Government (SLG) Board of Directors

Chairman of the SLG Board: Caroline Rapking, Vice President, Global Public Sector, CGI
Vice Chair: Jennifer Axt, Vice President, State and Local Government, Education, EMC
Secretary/Treasurer: Scott French, Vice President, Public Sector, Panasonic

Our SLG Board serves as a forum for senior state and local government business executives to discuss strategic issues in the SLG marketplace and provide guidance to TechAmerica staff on its SLG programs and offerings and its public policy positions.

State and Local Government Dinner Series

SLG hosts a successful series of State and Local Government Dinners. Almost every month, we invite a State or Local government CIO to speak to a small gathering of PS Group members. These informal gatherings provide for a free-flowing information exchange, allowing the guest speaker to ask questions of the industry representatives and the industry representatives to ask questions of the speaker. Currently, dinners are held in Pentagon City, VA and Sacramento, CA.

California Procurement Committee

Chair: Ann Shook, EMC

Established in 2000, this committee focuses on a variety of issues of interest to the vendor community doing business with the State of California. We continue to dialogue with California’s Department of General Services (DGS) on IT terms and conditions and procurement-related policies & procedures. Staff contact: Carol Henton

Oregon Procurement Reform Task Group

The State of Oregon, in June 2009, reached out to industry and asked for its assistance in understanding how it could change its approach to IT acquisition to get better competition, improved services and lower costs. TechAmerica coordinated a broadly-based industry response. Steve Hill, IBM, served as Chair of the Task Group. Staff contact: Carol Henton

Human Services IT Advisory Group (HSITAG)

Chair: John Petraborg, HP Enterprise Services
Vice-Chair: David Jennings, Northrop Grumman Information Systems

HSITAG seeks to improve the delivery of human services programs through IT and modern management practices. The group meets monthly, often with guest speakers representing federal and state human services agencies and other associations in the human services field. Staff contact: Michael Kerr

State Procurement Committee

Chair: Kathy Baird, DRC
Vice Chair: Alec Rogers, Xerox

Working within the framework of TechAmerica’s State Government Affairs program, this Committee tracks procurement-related legislation and advocates for reforms of procurement policies and procedures (in states outside of California). Staff contact: Michael Kerr

State Government Affairs

TechAmerica’s state government affairs is member-driven. Our policy committees actively monitor and impact legislation in a number of critical issue areas important to the IT industry.

SLG Division Events

TechAmerica SLG events allow for substantive dialogue between state government executives and technology companies’ executives in a non-sales environment, as well as excellent peer networking opportunities. During 2011, we have held SLG CIO dinners in: Lansing, MI: City of San Jose California; Columbus, OH; Phoenix, AZ; Chicago (CTA), IL; Oklahoma City, OK, and Sacramento, CA. In addition we have hosted or co-hosted larger events in Harrisburg, PA; Austin, TX; Atlanta, GA and Los Angeles, CA. More dinners and events are planned for the second half of 2011.

For a full listing of past and upcoming TechAmerica SLG events, please go to: http://www.techamerica.org/slg-events.

Here are some pictures taken at recent TechAmerica SLG events:

Austin Breakfast Briefing Participants with Karen Robinson, CTO and Executive Director, Texas Department of Information Resources

l – r, Dave Behen, CIO, State of Michigan, Aneesh Chopra, US CTO, and Phil Bond, then-President & CEO, TechAmerica – Beyond the Beltway 2011

Monday, March 7, 2011 at the Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner, McLean, VA.

BTB resources:

Please click here to view the full event agenda, with links to presentations.

Please go here to see a slideshow from the conference.

Richard Sanchez, CIO, Los Angeles County, and Jennifer Axt, EMC, at Beyond the Beltway 2011

Documents and Resources

3% Withholding on all Federal, State and Local Government Contract Payments

TechAmerica has launched a new web resource to provide members with important information on the implementation of Sec. 511 of the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005. Under certain conditions Sec. 511 mandates that federal, state, and local governments withhold 3% from payments for goods and services. The implementation of Sec. 511 has been delayed twice but it is now set to go into effect on January 1, 2012. Don’t get caught unprepared!

SLG Procurement Reform

Contract terms and conditions are discouraging competition among vendors for state and local government technology projects, according to a new paper by TechAmerica titled Transforming Procurement for the 21st Century: Reforming IT Contract Terms and Conditions to Improve Procurement Environments and Outcomes. The paper was released by TechAmerica’s State Procurement Committee.

For more information on the Committee and its activities, please visit the State Procurement Committee, or contact Michael Kerr.

Managing the IT Agenda in Leaner Fiscal Times

TechAmerica has released a report offering ideas for technology programs designed to ease the stress put on state coffers by a souring economy. The publication provides state executive, legislative and agency leaders with recommendations for technology-driven savings and creative funding models – including case studies demonstrating savings, enhanced revenues and operational efficiencies. It also features a review of trends in state budgets and technology spending. The document is available for download here.

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[...] Government Market & Procurement Policy [...]

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