1999 Outstanding Program Awards
Submissions
Technology/Technology Application

Submission Categories (click below to see the submissions in each category)

Public/Private/Non-Profit Partnerships * Human Resources/Training * Purchasing & Fleet Management * Public Works * General Governmental Services * Technology/Technology Application

American Samoa - Distance Education Program
aaaa In 1997, shortly after he became elected, the Lieutenant Governor recognized the important issues of telecommunications and information technology to development and public service, particularly for American Samoa.. The Lieutenant Governor saw the many needs and opportunities for telecommunications and information technology in education, health, emergency management, and many other areas, but recognized the problems, including the high cost of telecommunications and the absence of coordination among the public service organizations in information technology in American Samoa.
aaaa A major breakthrough occurred very early. Through discussions with what would become the American Samoa TeleCommunications Authority, an opportunity was encouraged to use advanced technology to compress the voice channels on an existing long-distance T-1 link to GTE Honolulu. By compressing the voice channels without loss of "toll" quality, the ASTcA was able to create capacity on its existing link. The capacity was contributed to the ASG DELTA Consortium for health, education, and other public service telecommunications.
aaaa This capacity was then used to build a first-time inter-governmental jurisdiction link in the Pacific Islands region that includes Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands, and the Freely Associated States (Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Marshall Islands, Republic of Palau). The contribution of the ASTcA was matched by a funding of a video teleconferencing system by the American Samoa Community College, the use of an electronic mail server and dial-up modems contributed by the Department of Health and the Department of Education, staff support from LBJ Tropical Medical Center, and other resources. The link was interfaced through the PEACESAT Program to counterpart educational, health, and other public service organizations in Hawaii and the world. The LBJ Tropical Medical Center was the point of presence for the link and contributed space and staff resources to implement the project.
aaaa The initial link took only six weeks to implement the initial capabilities, and the system was inaugurated with a teleconference between the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Cabinet members in American Samoa and Assistant Secretary of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and U.S. Senator Daniel K. Inouye in Hawaii. Since the inauguration of the link, the Consortium has met regularly to discuss other opportunities for collaboration and cooperation and has been successful in continuing to develop programs and infrastructure.
aaaa For more information, contact Gov. Tauese P. Sunia at 011-684-4116 or at asamoa@hawaii.edu


Kansas - Warrant Storage and Retrieval
aaaa Through the leadership of the Department of Administration, Division of Accounts and Reports and State Treasurer's Office, the state reengineered the check presentment and archival procedures. An imaging process was adopted for sorting, filing, and retrieving the annual 4.5 million redeemed warrants to replace the traditional method involving paper warrants. The goals of the program were to: replace labor intensive tasks, reduce storage space requirement, and improve response time for retrieving copies of stored redeemed warrants.
aaaa For decades, redeemed warrants were filed as paper copy in an area where staff could retrieve them when necessary. This required 600 square feet of storage space for current warrants and 3,000 square feet of warehouse space for those kept on file the required five years. Now, as warrants are presented to the Federal Reserve Bank for payment, the MICR line (the encoded information at the bottom of each warrant) is captured electronically. The electronic presentment file is transmitted daily to the State Treasurer's Office, and the warrant images are captured and stored on an optical disk storage device.
aaaa The previous process required the State Treasurer's Office to sort the warrants received from the Federal Reserve Bank, then forwarding them to Accounts & Reports where the warrants were archived. As agencies received requests from taxpayers for copies of warrants, they submitted a warrant request from A&R. Then they had to use a state motor pool car to get the warrant, copy it, and return it.
aaaa Since the cost of imaging is included in the banking fees paid by the State Treasurer's Office, the only operational cost is the $.75 per image for fax images requested. The annual cost of about $3,600 is within the existing budget It is estimated that this new program is realizing a savings of $75,000 annually considering salaries, storage costs, motor pool vehicle rental, document copies, postage and other costs both at the central and agency levels.
aaaa This project is an example of how an old, labor intensive, multi-step process can be streamlined.
aaaa For more information, contact Shirley Moses, Director of Accounts and Reports at 785-296-2314 or at shirleym@daar.wpo.state.ks.us.


Louisiana - Technology Innovation Fund
aaaa The Louisiana Technology Innovation Fund (The Fund) was created to be an incentive to accelerate the implementation of electronic government and to encourage state agencies to pursue innovative and creative approaches using technology to provide needed citizens services more cost-effectively and efficiently.
aaaa The fund allows agency technology innovators to compete for dollars on a year round/on-going basis. Dollars are provided for agency proposals proposing that cost-savings, additional revenue generation and/or better service delivery would be realized. It is not to be used to replace or offset appropriations for on-going technology expenditures and operations. The total amount established for the fund was $10 million dollars, with individual agency awards being limited to $1 million for each project. The "seed" money is provided for up to 24 months and operates similar to a venture capital fund in the private sector by allowing agency innovators to compete for available funding.
aaaa The five-member Louisiana Technology Innovations Council includes: President of Senate or designee, Speaker of the House of Representatives or designee, Commissioner of Administration or designee, Undersecretary or Deputy Secretary, appointed by the Governor and a Member of Council of Information Services Director, appointed by the governor. As of March 1999, 27 innovative projects had been received for consideration by the Technology Innovation Fund Council. Twelve of those projects were selected for funding.
aaaa For more information, contact Mark Drennen, Commissioner, Division of Administration at 504-342-7086 or at commissioner@doa.state.la.us


Maryland - Visual Communications and Digital Imaging
aaaa The Department of General Services' Visual Communications and Digital Imaging Division recently installed Network Digital Publishing Systems in both its Baltimore and Annapolis facilities to better serve the reproduction needs of customers. These systems enable customers to electronically submit printing jobs from their workstations via modem, local area network, or the Internet. This customer-oriented technology creates a true print-on-demand environment allowing the customer to print only the necessary quantity of documents required; thereby freeing up valuable office space currently being utilized for document storage. Additionally, printed documents can be archived for customers and retrieved for future reproduction.
aaaa These digital network systems have provided significant improvements to customer service and have increased the efficiency of the overall operation. The following customer improvements have been realized with this technology: reduced turnaround time of duplicating requirements; improved customers' image by providing better quality products; eliminates unnecessary transportation and improved data accuracy. Savings realized by state agencies since the implementation is approximately $235,000.
aaaa For more information, contact Samuel L. Cook, Director, at 410-767-4428 or at s.cook@dgs.state.md.us.


New Mexico Personal Income Tax Filing Over the Internet
aaaa The Personal Income Tax-A (PIT-A) application allows filing of New Mexico personal income tax returns over the Internet. This pilot project provides electronic transfer of individual tax returns as well as payment by credit card. The current system utilized for PIT returns requires the following:
aaaa TRD mails out PIT packages to prospective filers and locations so filers may pick them up; Thetaxpayer prepares the forms and mails the completed return to TRD.; TRD must then open the return, deposit payments and enter them electronically into the Taxation and Revenue Information Management System as well as preparing them for archival. This process takes a TRD employee approximately forty-five to sixty minutes per "error free" return to process plus storage. Payments received through this system have an average float time of five to seven days.
aaaa The PIT-A Internet system allows filers to access and process and submit returns from their personal computer. Significant savings are realized in handling, processing and storage costs. Turnaround time for refunds to these filers is three to seven days compared to approximately four to six weeks utilizing the paper filing system. Those filers who owed additional tax are now able to make payments via credit card with immediate deposit of these funds. This enhances state cash management and cuts down insufficient checks returned to the state and provides capability to meet the 24-hour requirement to deposit cash received.
aaaa For tax year 1998 the Department received 29,000 returns through this program. The state of New Mexico estimates savings of $140,000 due to returns received through this system for 1998. Long-term projection indicates savings of $500,000 per year. Taxpayers save time and the convenience of home filing.
aaaa For more information, contact Steven Beffort, Cabinet Secretary, at 505-827-2000 or at sbeffort@state.nm.us


Washington - Office of State Procurement/Materials Management Center
aaaa The manual ordering process, i.e, mail, fax and phone ordering, has been virtually replaced by an interactive point and click ordering process available to any customer with access to the Internet. State agencies, political subdivisions, and non-profit corporations may use this may use this service and actually view products online and submit orders through the Web site.
aaaa Cost reductions include labor required to process orders, order inquiries and answer product related questions; paper, labor, postage, and printing, as the demand for a paper catalog decreases; and data storage and access charges cost avoidance of about $48,000 per year. It also reduces time to order items, saving valuable employee time. Because customers can magnify product images on the screen by 200 percent, there is a lower potential for returns.
aaaa The Internet ordering trend is private and public, and therefore transferable to other agencies and organization. Additional benefits include: customers can order 24 hours per day; order confirmations are immediate, and there is an electronic record for checking on an order's status; and quick searches can be done through using keywords, or entering a product code number.
aaaa For more information, contact Clark Dodd, MMC Manager & Pat Kohler Assistant Director at 306-902-7400 or at cdodd@ga.wa.gov.