GovTech.com interviews Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman
I ran across this video interview of Governor Dave Heineman shared by a colleague at the AIM Institute and thought it was an interesting three-part discussion on the Governor's use and direction to align Nebraska with the title of "IT Hotspot."
The Omaha World Herald also did a follow up article on the videos in yesterday's edition: Heineman called 'tech savvy.'
I am excited by the opportunity for Nebraska to be labeled as a possible "IT Hotspot." In addition to all of the work currently underway, we need to continue to focus on developing the grassroots and organic growth of entrepreneurship, and focus on not only bringing large companies into the region, but building the ecosystem for home grown businesses and ideas to thrive and retain resources within our state.
ARCHIVED COMMENTS
I don't know why, but it really amazed me that the state govt didn't have a single email system. Who thought everyone having their own would be a good idea?
If you knew the competence level of the people currently running the single system at the state CIO's office you would understand why the agencies don't want to have to rely on them. Productivity is down, communication is more difficult, per-agency expenses are up and we are forced to use inferior, buggy and security-issue-laden Microsoft software. Not to mention the fact that the Nebraska taxyapers are paying 10 million dollars to replace an email system that was already 100% owned and was working just fine.
It sounds like the issue isn't so much with email as it is with staff. No email, no matter how good, can cover up inferior personnel.
The issue is with politicians who think they understand technology (but they don't) trying to make themselves look good by saving money (when all they are doing is shifting it from one place to another) and handicapping the employees of the state, hurting their customers and costing Nebraska taxpayers money. A secondary issue is the fact that the state CIO's office does not have a budget of it's own, they can only survive by billing other agencies for services. The E-Mail switch was not only a perfect opportunity for them to make a power grab but also a great boon for their budget. After all someone has to come up with the cash to plunk down for their overpaid top-heavy management's salaries.