One On One with Kentucky's Commissioner of Technology

August 3, 2004

Since his appointment in May as the new Commissioner of Kentucky's Commonwealth Office of Technology, Mike Inman has been busy.
He has spent hours each day working with state agencies and internal staff to understand the Commonwealth's business needs, to identify areas where changes need to be made, to improve efficiencies, strengthen current processes and develop new services. Techlines sat down with Mr. Inman for a brief Q and A on how to approach information technology across Kentucky state government.

A Common Vision Mike Inman, Commissioner of Technology (left) and Robbie Rudolph, Secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet, discuss their vision for IT in the Commonwealth.

Techlines: What's your impression so far on how the state has managed IT in the past?

Inman: I couldn't have picked a more exciting and challenging time to come back to my home state of Kentucky to help shape a new direction for information technology. The Commonwealth has made great strides in its application of technology to business problems in recent years. A lot of hard work has been accomplished to get us to the point where we are today. The recently released survey from the Center for Digital Government showing Kentucky moving up from 24th to 12th in national ranking for delivery of online services is reflective of this work. The impact of this progress can be felt across state government. It includes our new Web site, Kentucky.gov, and can be seen in our approach to enterprise architecture and standards, our new cellular contract, and our IT security program, to name a few areas. We have an exceptionally talented and dedicated workforce that is totally committed to improving the level of service we provide.

Building on this past progress, I believe there are a number of areas we can focus on to improve the effectiveness of technology services and to better utilize our resources. We are busy reshaping our organizational and operational structure to expand and improve our service delivery, and to focus more clearly on supporting the business of state government. Our goal is to improve technology support services while reducing costs by reducing redundancy and implementing automated processes with centralized management across all agencies. What really makes this exciting and rewarding is the level of executive support I have from Governor Fletcher and Secretary of Finance and Administration, Robbie Rudolph.

Techlines: What is your vision for the Commonwealth Office of Technology?

Inman: I have a five point vision for transforming how we deliver IT services to state government. We are currently developing a new strategic plan that will develop the individual initiatives to support this vision. Our vision is to:

• take an enterprise approach to IT
• offer IT as a service to other agencies of state government, including centralized management of our IT infrastructure
• implement enterprise standards and architecture in our systems to promote interoperability, reliability and efficiencies
• promote technology in Kentucky's educational systems to ensure we have the workforce to support our programs and initiatives in the future
• promote Kentucky as great place to build or locate high-tech companies

My team has identified a number of areas where we can improve how we deliver services and how we add to the enterprise approach to IT. For instance, we are looking at how we might centrally manage computer desktops in the Commonwealth. We're looking to improve our management of IT standards and architecture to ensure we have common data standards, and to improve our oversight of projects to reduce costs and risks in application development. We're focusing in areas of IT where we can effectively provide service and support, and we're reevaluating those areas where we don't find a clear business need.

The objective of information technology is to support the cabinets in their lines of business. E-government is the business of the cabinets. But we are the major supporter of these cabinet initiatives. As we look to the future, I do not see a decline in IT funding. But there is a lot more on the agenda than there are resources to support. If we are to deliver the services citizens and employees of the Commonwealth are expecting, we must achieve efficiencies in our infrastructure operations.

Techlines: Do you see the Commonwealth Office of Technology changing to reflect your new goals?

Inman: With the recent announcement of the Governor's reorganization plan, we have outlined an entirely new organizational structure to support our vision. Our offices are being reorganized around our goals and are focusing on adding value and building efficiency in IT Services. In the long run I don't see a change in the number of people devoted to IT across state government. But we are looking at how we can redirect or better utilize some resources to support our goals.

We're excited about what we see for the future of IT for the state. We fully understand the challenges we face, but we also know that this is a unique time in the Commonwealth's history. The time is right to make these changes. Our staff is exceptionally prepared and ready, and we are confident as we face these challenges.

For more information visit the Commonwealth Office of Technology
online at: http://cot.ky.gov

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