Author (#4)February 2009 Archives

California is making big strides on the Geospatial/GIS front. Just launched in January by California Natural Resources Secretary Chrisman and State Chief Information Officer Teri Takai the Cal-Atlas Geospatial Clearinghouse will allow the general public to access maps, data and information that has not previously been accessible on a single site or from a single source. The Cal-Atlas site, featured at the GIS Leadership Summit in May 2009, is a portal to help organizations work together on GIS data and share the costs of acquiring imagery and other kinds of geospastial data. 

At our GIS Summit Steering Committee this last week, it was announced that Michael Byrne, GIS Architect with the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, will be named California's first Chief Geographic Information Officer in early March.

The leaders to attend the GIS Leadership Summit during the Conference on California's Future will explore how GIS allows users to navigate mapping resources layered with data, in an environment where they can visualize scenarios in unlimited new ways to solve a multitude of challenges. Michael Byrne will serve as the host for this historic summit that is being planned by members of the California GIS Task Force and industry leaders ESRI and Google.

 "The Governor recognizes the value of GIS to better serve our people and give policy makers and the public enhanced decision-making tools." --Teri Takai, State CIO

The summit audience will be comprised of agency secretaries, undersecretaries, department directors, elected officials and senior IT leaders. We look forward to seeing you there!

IT Reorganization Tops Efficiency Roadmap

IT tops the list of Governor Schwarzenegger's 18 ways to consolidate, eliminate and reorganize government that will streamline responsibilities, improve efficiency and save billions of dollars in his Roadmap for More Efficient Government released in January.

The reorganization will establish the Office of the State CIO as the central IT organization for increased coordination, efficiency, reduced costs and improved energy efficiency through state-wide IT shared services resulting in a savings of approximately $1.5 billion over five years. 

Conference on California's Future Advisory Board Chair and State CIO Teri Takai will be addressing the largest gathering of state and local IT professionals at this event regarding the rollout of this reorganization plan to integrate four agencies and consolidate software contracts, office automation tools, data centers, storage and networks.

State CIO's California IT Strategic Plan and State-wide Five Year IT Capital Plan dovetail with the Governor's Reorganization Plan

"The Strategic Plan is both a white paper and a blueprint for state officials to pursue as California enters into the next generation of computers and technology."

-- Teri Takai, California State CIO 

Projects included in the recently released Capital Plan were chosen for their business value and their alignment with the six strategic concepts laid out in the IT Strategic Plan: IT as reliable as electricity; fulfilling technology's potential to transform lives; self-governance in the digital age; information as an asset; economic and sustainable; and facilitating collaboration.

The Conference on California's Future may very well be a critical forum for movement and decisions regarding the Strategic Plan. We look forward to seeing you there.

California High-Speed Rail featured at the Conference on California's Future

With the passage of Proposition 1A in November, Californians have approved funding for the first-in-the-nation high-speed train system. The 220 mph trains will be available to 90 percent of California's population and will span from San Diego in the south, through the Central Valley and north to San Francisco and Sacramento.

California High-Speed Rail Authority Chairman Judge Quentin Kopp is a featured speaker at the Sustainable Infrastructure Summit held during the Conference.

Judge Kopp was recently named as one of the world's most significant infrastructure leaders at the 2008 Global Infrastructure Forum in Washington DC. 

America's first high-speed train system will honor the spirit and build upon the hard work of those who createed California's pioneering transportation system decades ago. Now our task is to meet the transportation and economic needs of the next generation. Our vision is to reduce traffic congestion, protect our environment and jumpstart our economy to the tune of half a million new jobs.

Judge Quentin Kopp

 

Visit the innovative California High-Speed Rail Authority website www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov filled with visual simulations and tools that allow viewers to plan a trip using high-speed trains and to "see" the potential sites along the way. Learn how high-speed trains will be a vital part of California's future.