NASCIO honors eight states

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers honored eight states for outstanding technology projects that improve government. Selection criteria included submission of a project description detailing how long the project has been in operation, its significance to government operations, the benefits to recipients — including taxpayers or state agencies — and the return on investment.

The awards, presented during NASCIO's annual conference last week in Scottsdale, Ariz., went to:

* Michigan's Employer-Filed Claims application, which allows employers to electronically submit an unemployment claim for a laid-off worker.

* Michigan's Secure Michigan Initiative Project, which is a comprehensive model for assessing vulnerability and risks of systems and networks.

* Tennessee's Information Infrastructure, a managed services network that provides local, long, mobile and global access to emerging data, voice, video and Internet services.

* South Dakota's Statewide Radio System, available to public safety agencies free of charge.

* California's Public Employee Retirement System's secure portal for retirement, health and payroll information.

* Washington's INET Web-based application, which allows individuals interested in working for the government to apply for jobs online.

* North Carolina's Adaptive Architecture for Criminal Justice, which moved the justice system from a mainframe to a Java-based platform.

* Kentucky's Virtual Adult Education Portal, which gives undereducated adults improved access to basic reading, writing, math and related educational materials.

* Virginia's Information Technologies Agency, which replaced three state agencies and consolidated IT divisions within 94 executive branch offices.