Report: New state governors likely to align IT agenda with the federal government

The new governors elected nationwide in November are likely to closely link their information technology agenda with that of the federal government's, according to a report from a technology research firm.

Reston, Va.-based INPUT noted many gubernatorial candidates expanded on IT-related priorities during the campaign season. "Technology agenda items were more prominent and widespread during this election cycle than we have seen before," Chris Dixon, INPUT's manager of industry analysis, said in a news release. "Several governors . . . featured large numbers of IT-specific agenda items in their campaign platforms," straddling all parties and regions.

"It would be a great idea, and follow trends that we've already broadly seen," said Andrew Hoppin, chief information officer of the New York state Senate. "[I'm] hearing from agency CIOs that they very much want that close [coordination] with their peers at the federal government."

It also makes financial sense at a time when states are hurting for money, Hoppin added. The federal government essentially can print money when it wants to fund an IT item, but for a state, it's a "much more dire situation . . . if we don't find a way to fund that, government literally shuts down," he said.

Hoppin said New York Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo's Open NY agenda "draws a lot of parallels with the federal open government directive." Open NY, according to the Cuomo campaign website seeks to increase transparency and to improve government performance through a central clearinghouse of information that is accessible to taxpayers.

Other examples of IT projects featured in the platforms of successful gubernatorial candidates this year include:

--District of Columbia Mayor-elect Vincent Gray's plan to create a business one-stop online Web portal to provide information on how to start and grow a company.

--Ohio Gov.-elect John Kasich's initiative to consolidate agencies' new business applications and registrations into a single online tool.

-- Maine Gov.-elect Paul LePage's proposal to require all spending from every state agency and office be posted online in user-friendly formats.

--Pennsylvania Gov.-elect Tom Corbett's plan to focus on an integrated broadband strategy, using both public and private investment to make best use of the commonwealth's assets.