Ellen Perlman

The Texas Ten-Step
When a state tries to merge data centers from all its agencies, it's in for a bumpy ride—and a long one.

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Technology Deals

With a rollout in Cuyahoga County, Dynamics Research has completed deployment of Ohio's statewide automated child welfare information system across all 88 of Ohio counties. Implementation of the system began in August 2006.

Fort Bend County, Texas, has selected Perceptive Software's enterprise document management, imaging and workflow software for a project in the sheriff's office. The purchase will be via the Cooperative Purchasing Network, a national purchasing cooperative.

CDW Government and F4W have completed the deployment of satellite-communications and remote-communications systems to provide the Houston Emergency Operations Center's 911 center with additional communications redundancy for natural-disaster power outages.

Cameron County, Texas, has contracted with Tyler Technologies to implement the company's integrated courts and justice software system under an agreement with the Texas Conference of Urban Counties. The Cameron County contract is valued at $3.7 million.

Cleveland has selected CGI Group to upgrade the city's financial-management system under a $6.7 million contract. The company will deploy its AMS Advantage enterprise resource-planning tool as well as its content-management module.

Interface ...
Have you made a deal? Tell us all about it. Contact the Managing Technology Letter at techletter@governing.com.

New York City

Wi-Fi Project for Parks Collapses

New York Times

The long-troubled arrangement to install wireless Internet networks in the city's parks has collapsed after the contractor, Wi-Fi Salon, ran out of money. The networks were quietly shut down in October and Wi-Fi Salon is removing the equipment from the park locations. In 2004, Wi-Fi Salon agreed to pay the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation $90,000 over three years for the right to wire 10 parks in four boroughs.

The Nation

Report: Data Breaches Surged in ’08

Washington Post

Businesses, governments and educational institutions reported nearly 50 percent more data breaches last year than in 2007, exposing the personal records of at least 35.7 million Americans, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center. The nonprofit group said 656 breaches were reported in 2008, up from 446 in the previous year. Schools accounted for roughly 20 percent of the reported incidents.

DHS to Collect Millions of New Records USA Today

The Department of Homeland Security will collect millions of new electronic records about private planes, imported cargo, foreign visitors and federal contractors as part of an array of last-minute security policies imposed by the Bush administration.

New York State

Claims Crush Crashes Jobless-Insurance System

New York Times

Swamped by a post-holiday surge of claims from laid-off workers, the state’s computerized unemployment-insurance system shut down briefly Monday afternoon and then again for several hours on Tuesday. As many as 10,000 people an hour tried to log into the system to file new unemployment claims or to check on existing claims, a state Department of Labor spokesman said.

Chicago

Federal Court Backs Red-Light Cameras

Chicago Sun-Times

A federal appeals court has given the green light to red-light cameras that have pumped out more than a million Chicago tickets and generated $100 million in revenue since 2003. The ruling by the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, rejecting the so-called "innocent owner's defense," clears the way for a major expansion that will install cameras at more than 330 accident-prone Chicago intersections by 2012.

Minneapolis/Hennepin County

Merged Libraries Move to Single Web Site

Minneapolis Star Tribune

One of the last remnants of the Minneapolis public library system disappeared as that system's Web site went offline and users were directed to a single site operated by the Hennepin County library system. The two systems merged about a year ago to create a network of 41 libraries in Minneapolis and the suburbs, but each system's Web site remained operational as a way to ease the transition.

Maryland

E-ZPass Charges, Truck Toll Hikes Pushed

Washington Post

Maryland's 530,000 E-ZPass users will be paying monthly service charges to use the electronic toll-collection technology and tolls on big trucks will rise if a package of fee increases proposed by the state's Transportation Authority is approved this month. The authority's "cost recovery effort" is expected to generate $60 million a year and is meant to offset a 6 percent drop in revenue from July to November.

New Jersey | Pennsylvania

Federal Probe Targets School Technology Consultant

Philadelphia Inquirer

A consultant who helps schools obtain discounts on technology for the federal "E-Rate" program is under federal investigation for allegedly steering contracts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to select vendors in exchange for kickbacks. An attorney for Alemar Consulting of Broomall, Pa., said the company "flatly denies any wrongdoing."

California

Energy Efficiency Rules Planned for Flat-Screen TVs

Los Angeles Times

That 52-inch, flat-screen television may have a terrific picture, but it's an energy hog. California regulators are getting ready to curb the growing power gluttony of TV sets by drafting the nation's first rules requiring retailers to sell only the most energy-efficient models starting in 2011, a move opposed by the consumer electronics industry.

The Nation

On Real ID, Obama’s Stance Unknown

Computerworld

As President-elect Barack Obama prepares to take office, it's unclear how his administration will proceed on the Real ID program. But what is all too clear is that the three-year-old effort to impose national identification-card standards remains a bone of contention between the Department of Homeland Security and state governments that see it as an attempt to force unwanted standards and costs down their throats.

Michigan

State Shedding Thousands of Tech Jobs

Detroit News

Michigan's deepening economic troubles are casting a shadow over the state's technology industry, hampering the growth of high-tech startups and prompting established companies to trim workers. Within the past year, the state has lost 6,100 technical and scientific jobs, including engineers, computer programmers and researchers, according to Michigan Department of Labor and Growth data.