October 23, 2006

Lansing - The State of Michigan was honored with multiple awards for excellence in information technology at the annual awards ceremony for the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) this week.  Michigan received the national recognition for five programs, which included:   

1. Michigan Business Portal:  A one-stop shop for business services that allows new businesses to register more quickly, reducing the time needed to begin operating a business in Michigan by six to ten weeks.   
2. E-mail Consolidation Project:  A project that consolidated over 40 statewide e-mail systems down to just two, reducing e-mail support staff by half and hardware requirements by nearly 90%.
3. Michigan's Human Resource (HR) Optimization Project:  An effort that increased the effectiveness and efficiency of statewide HR services delivery by enhancing a self-service Internet application and redesigning human resource processes, saving $2 million in the first year with a projected five-year savings of $28 million. 
4. Using Decision Support and Advanced Analytics for Innovative Fraud Detection:  A project that utilized enhanced technology to detect fraud in the state's child day care, food assistance, and cash assistance programs.
5. Michigan's Project Management and Governance Model:  An effort that improved project management of all of the state's technology projects, helping erase the typical problems experienced by many state technology projects. 

"We are using technology to cut red tape and wait time to help bring new investment and new jobs to Michigan," said Governor Jennifer M. Granholm.  "Businesses move at the speed of the internet and they expect government to do the same."

Twelve award-winning entries were chosen from a record 139 submissions by 33 states.  A complete description of the five award-winning Michigan programs, as well as the award winners from other states, can be found on the NASCIO web site at http://www.nascio.org/awards . 

"This has been a terrific year for us," commented Teri Takai, CIO for the State of Michigan and Director of the Michigan Department of Information Technology.  "We have received a lot of national attention for our technology initiatives, which is fantastic, but the most important thing is that we have been able to work with our partners in all the state departments to use technology to make Michigan a better place to live for our citizens and a better place for our corporations and businesses to do their work." 

This year's awards program marks the 18th consecutive year that NASCIO has presented the awards.  NASCIO represents state chief information officers and information resource executives and managers from the 50 states, six U. S. territories, and the District of Columbia.  NASCIO is the premiere network and resource for state Chief Information Officers (CIO) and members include cabinet and senior level state officials responsible for information resource management.