Digital Government

Idaho's rules get in step with its technology

In some states, technology has wrought permanent changes in the legislation that governs interactions with vendors

Acquisition

Desktop standardization adds up to savings

Government buyers are taking an optimistic look at onesizefitsall software buys

Acquisition

Power in numbers

Contracting alliance brings discounts to big states and small municipal buyers

People

The infancy of e-taxes

There's no doubt online tax returns are taking off, but where are they headed?

Acquisition

Massachusetts shines IT spotlight on capital assets management

Information technology can have an impact on the management and planning stages of procurement

Acquisition

A setup for savings

Michigan designs a program to gauge whether e-procurement can save money

Acquisition

Purchasing in Internet time

Of all the influences transforming the information technology buying process for state and local government officials, a key yet frequently overlooked factor is the sharply increased speed at which most IT service vendors are now accustomed to doing business.

People

Cold feet on e-commerce

State and local IT shops have come a long way with electronic commerce.

Digital Government

Shopping network boosts local government clout

It's conventional wisdom that technology that is complicated and expensive for large government organizations is almost always prohibitively so for small and midsize state and local IT shops

Acquisition

Pennsylvania seeking a bigger bang for its IT buck

With publicsector information technology purchasing, having a multitude of good ideas is often more of a problem than having a lack of them.

Acquisition

Service agreements smooth San Diego outsourcing effort

If there's one lesson that stands out in San Diego County's $644 million, seven-year outsourcing agreement with the Pennant Alliance, the consortium of IT vendors led by Computer Sciences Corp., it may well be a twist on the old adage,

Digital Government

Chicago targets minority-owned businesses with Web site

Merging the aims of public policy with the mechanisms of information technology, Chicago's Department of Purchases, Contracts and Supplies has embraced the Internet for the city's Minority- and Woman-owned Business Procurement Program.

Digital Government

ANSWER roles

Designing the ANSWER program required the expertise of state agencies and outside vendors.

Acquisition

Conn. simplifies tech buying

Whether they're dealing with the most tech-savvy buyers or an uninitiated first-time vendor seeking to learn how the IT procurement process works, the recurring theme of new programs launched by Connecticut's Department of Information Technology (DOIT) is to make IT buying easier.

People

Treasury system ushers Maine online

With all that's typically at stake in the design and implementation of a new e-commerce infrastructure, there's a natural temptation to build small, limiting risks by doing piecemeal projects on a per-agency or per-function basis.

Digital Government

Consensus Key to Oregon E-Commerce Pilots

When the Oregon Center for Electronic Commerce and Government set out to design its first 'proof of concept' e-commerce pilot projects last year, few of the state's agencies were eager to participate.

Acquisition

Evening the Odds

The combination of increasingly complex technologies and increases in IT spending poses a dilemma for state and local buyers as they try to maintain the right mix of technical expertise and business management skills throughout the IT procurement process.

Acquisition

Kentucky Derby

The rapidly evolving world of information technology has wrought changes in virtually every area of state and local government, but its most immediate impact may be on the procurement process.

People

Utah Bridges Budget, IT Planning

As technology evolves and people's expectations change, state and local government information technology managers are faced with a widening gap between their budgets and the systems, equipment and services they want to buy.

Digital Government

Arizona Takes Control Over Leases

It's a question privatesector businesses face every day: Why spend big money on new information technology equipment that will depreciate and be outdated in a few years when you can lease it instead? For state and local government IT shops handling taxpayer dollars, the question is even more press