IPMA News : October 2004

Edited By Mary Ellen Bradley and Dennis Jones

Report from the 2004 IPMA Executive Seminar

News from Other Sources

News from the Past

Note: The IPMA Board did not meet in September.

"Sponsor's Corner"

(Editor's Note: No contributions were provided for the Sponsor's Corner this month.)

Report from the 2004 IPMA Executive Seminar

-- by Mary Ellen Bradley, IPMA Communications Committee Co-Chair

The top state agency technology managers attended the 2004 IPMA Executive Seminar held at Lake Chelan September 20-22, 2004. The theme for the seminar was Redefining the Enterprise during Transition. The theme and the speakers were timely since Washington is facing a number of changes in the next few years. The IPMA would like to share a recap of the seminar and make the slides from the speakers available.

Dr. Chang Mook Sohn

Dr. Chang Mook Sohn, Executive Director, Office of the Forecast Council
"Washington's Current Economic and Revenue Conditions"

Dr. Sohn stated that Washington's economy is moving at a modest pace and predicted growth for the next biennium. Although the revenue forecast is $132 million higher, the state will still be facing a one billion dollar deficit next biennium. This is because while the economy is growing slowly, expenses such as health care and state services are going up. Job growth is also slow. Dr. Sohn also stated that the Washington recession was all in the Seattle area and that the rest of the state saw slow economic growth.

Also see Dr. Sohn's presentation (Microsoft PowerPoint 0.7 MB).

Dr. Paul Taylor

Dr. Paul Taylor, Chief Strategy Officer, Center for Digital Government
"The Future of the Nation's Digital State"

Dr. Taylor reminded the group that Washington State has been a leader in digital government, winning the Digital Government Award three times in a row and that we are currently in second place. He feels that digital government will become what people make it. He made the following points about what is influencing digital government:

Critical Mass – We have two generations re-shaping government – the Baby Boomers who are getting ready to retire and the Millennials who were born between '79-94.
Providing for the Commonwealth – A new season of public sector consolidation.
The Tripping Points – Avoid the temptation to punt on hard choices.
The People's Business – Taking the government to the citizens.
Manage or Lead – Lead in place, manage the rest – don't confuse the two.

He suggested the following books for more information – "The Price of Government: Getting the Results We Need in an Age of Permanent Fiscal Crisis" by David Osborne and Peter Hutchinson and "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference" by Malcolm Gladwell.

Also see Dr. Taylor's presentation (PDF 1.9 MB).

Jay Witherbee, Mayor of Chelan

Jay Witherbee welcomed attendees to the city of Chelan.

Kevin Anderson

Kevin Anderson, Director, Deloitte Consulting
"Beyond HRMS"

Mr. Anderson stated that Phase I of the HRMS system is not the end of the journey. There will be opportunities to maximize the potential of the new system. One next step is the State of Washington Financial and Administrative Roadmap Initiative which will identify the ways of leveraging HRMS. Attendees were divided into four teams to discuss the possible next steps and then report back to the entire group. Information that was gathered will be given to the Roadmap Committee.

Also see Mr. Anderson's presentation (Microsoft PowerPoint 1.0 MB).

Diane Leigh, Labor Negotiator, Office of Labor Relations
"Collective Bargaining"

Diane Leigh

The state has been involved in collective bargaining over the first labor agreements to be reached under the Personnel System Reform Act of 2002. Diane explained that eight of the Unions had reached a master agreement with the state. State employees will be voting on ratifying these agreements the week of September 20th. If the agreements are ratified, they will go to the Governor's office to be included in the budget for next biennium. (Update: The unions have ratified the agreements.) Tentative agreements include a 3.2% wage increase on July 2005 with 1.6% increase July 2006. There was no increase in the amount that employees will pay for health care.

Also see Ms. Leigh's presentation (Microsoft PowerPoint 0.8 MB).

Mike McVicker, Director Department of Information Services (DIS)
Susan Hettinger, Management and Oversight of Strategic Technologies (DIS)
Becci Riley, Computer Services Division, Assistant Director (DIS)
Laura Parma, Interactive Technologies Assistant Director (DIS)
Bob DeShay, Telephony Services Manager (DIS)
Greg Brant, Chief Enterprise Architect (DIS)
"DIS Perspective on Redefining the Enterprise During Transition"

Mike McVicker introduced the role that DIS plays in the enterprise via video tape. Greg Brant discussed enterprise architecture. His definition of enterprise architecture was "A logical, consistent set of principles, practices, polices, models, standards and guidelines that are derived from business requirements and guide decision making and engineering." Greg explained that they have completed the following products: an Enterprise Architecture Vision and Mission; Bylaws; Charter; and a first draft of over-arching principles. The next steps will be to collaborate with other groups and establish ISB policies and standards for statewide implementation and compliance.

Laura Palma talked about the changes to "SecureAccess Washington" and "Access Washington." "SecureAccess Washington" allows Internet access to multiple online government services with the use of a unique single self-generated User-ID and password. Once signed in, users have the ability to change their password and register for access to various online government services. "Access Washington" has been redesigned based on usability testing.

The presentation was followed by a question and answer session.

Also see DIS' presentation (Microsoft PowerPoint 1.1 MB).

Brian Malarky, Executive Director, Washington State Ethics Board
"Ethics"

Brian discussed the current perspectives of the Washington State Executive Ethics Board as they pertain to State of Washington employees and Information Technology.

For more information , the board's web site is located at http://ethics.wa.gov/.

Also see Mr. Malarky's presentation (Microsoft PowerPoint 0.3 MB) and the State Ethics Manual (Microsoft Word 0.6 MB).

Dave Van De Voort, Information Technology Workforce Effectiveness Consultant, Mercer Human Resources Consulting
"IT Performance Metrics"

Dave spoke on how IT can function to succeed. He explained the fallacy of benchmarking since organization structure can influence how that organization performs. He noted that 23% of the cost of IT is its people costs.

Six factors influence workforce effectiveness:

People;
Organization of work;
Managerial control;
Information and knowledge flows;
Decision making; and
Rewards.

Commitment comes from:

Fit and belonging – clarity of who we are and what we stand for;
Trust Reciprocity – straight talk and fair play;
Rewards; and
Emotional connection.

Dave also told the attendees that there is an employer brand that will allow us to treat the workforce as a customer. The employer must answer three questions – "How am I doing?", "Where am I going?" and "What am I a part of?" This will enable employees to discover what they get out of working here that they wouldn't get somewhere else.

Finally, he gave us the ABC's of a more productive workforce. These are:

A – Align each human capital to the business model;
B – Balance the six factors – people, organization of work, managerial control, information and knowledge flows, decision making and rewards;
C – Congruent with the business environment, business strategy design, organization architecture and the employee brand.

Also see Mr. Van De Voort's presentation (Microsoft PowerPoint 0.7 MB).

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News from Other Sources

Gov. Locke unveils DOL's new online driver license/identification card renewal system and a revamped Access Washington

In an October 6 news release, Gov. Locke announced that Washington citizens will be able to renew their driver licenses online beginning Nov. 1. Locke also unveiled Access Washington's new look and proclaimed October as Cyber Security Awareness Month. A related story was published in The Olympian on October 7.

NASCIO names 2004 Recognition Award winners

In late September the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) announced the winners of its 2004 Recognition Awards. Washington's Small Agency Program was nominated in the Government-to-Government category. The executive summaries of all nominations in the eight categories have been published as best practices. See the complete story including the best practices document.

Washington named No. 2 Digital State

In August the Center for Digital Government announced the results of the 2004 Digital State Survey. Washington placed second behind Michigan. See the complete story.

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