Nearly every government entity relies on computers, from the police departments that check speeders' driving records to the offices that process laid-off workers' unemployment benefits. But it can be hard for information technology professionals in government to learn how they can improve their operations. Private companies are afraid of inadvertently running afoul of ethics rules when they communicate with government agencies, and IT leaders at different levels of government don't usually talk to each other.
“We have state government, county government and local government, and they often operate in a completely autonomous way,” says Charlie Gerhards, a consultant who was the state's chief information officer under Govs. Tom Ridge and Mark Schweiker.
He and Barb Shelton, a consultant who last worked for the U.S. General Services Administration, thought IT leaders in Pennsylvania government needed more opportunities to learn from private industry and from each other. So they, along with Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, created the Government Technology Institute to create these opportunities.
Five months ago the first 25 students started classes with the institute's Certified Government Chief Information Officer Program, which teaches IT managers skills such as budgeting and leadership. Students are from various levels of government.
Another institute program invites representatives from private firms to give presentations to government IT officials about how government agencies can apply lessons from the private sector to their own work. “It's an educational experience for the people that come,” Gerhards says. “It isn't intended to generate business.”
Sources: Charlie Gerhards and Barb Shelton, Government Technology Institute
Writer: Rebecca VanderMeulen