Wisconsin will be able to continue work on its high-speed rail program thanks to a $46.5 million boost in stimulus grants from the Department of Transportation. Under the terms of the grant, Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation will complete preliminary engineering, design work, program and environmental management. The high speed rail line will extend from Milwaukee to Madison.

Construction on the rail line is expected to begin this year, continue over the next 2.5 years and employ nearly 5,500 people. New rail cars will also be constructed in the state. Several rail infrastructure improvements will also be completed during this period for passenger rail service between Milwaukee and Madison.

Overall, Wisconsin will receive $823 million in stimulus funding for the project which will connect all of Wisconsin’s major business areas and improve service to Chicago. The state will also look at creating a route between Wisconsin and the Twin Cities as part of a larger rail plan to connect Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison with the Twin Cities.

“Because of the vision and investment of President Obama and Secretary LaHood, Watertown, Madison, Milwaukee and all of Wisconsin will see the tremendous economic benefits of high speed passenger rail,” Governor Doyle said. “In the next two and a half years, over 5,500 construction workers, engineers, machine operators and others will be working hard to make track improvements, build train stations, and improve the roads around these tracks. You are going to start seeing a lot of hard hats and neon vests around here and that is good news for everyone in this state.”

Due to the lingering economic strain on state budgets, increased pressure has been added to the role of state chief information officers. Governors and legislatures have demanded that IT be used to streamline and save like never before, but according to a new survey of state CIOs, legislative changes are needed to enable CIOs to do these things effectively.

In a perfect world, state chief executives are also state chief information officers, or vise versa. In lieu of this fantasy, the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO), TechAmerica and Grant Thorton have outlined several candid strategies being advocated by CIOs in a new survey released this week. In it, CIOs suggest that business models and procurement processes need to be modernized, while the authority of CIOs over technology investments need to be strengthened.

64 percent of CIOs said they expected cuts to their budget between 2011 and 2013, despite three out of four CIOs indicating that they’ve received Recovery Act funds – or expect to – over this period. While many lament the prospect of spending more time and effort on aging IT systems, others took a decidedly optimistic tone.

“The budget situation has provided us with a crisis, but because of that we are breaking through barriers that we would have never even been able to approach,” said one CIO who responded with anonymity to the survey. Part of this new approach, many indicated, is taking another look at hosted and shared services models.

According to respondents, 76 percent said they expect to expand existing IT shared services over the next three years. Nearly half (49 percent) said they will expand existing managed services models over the same period. In addition to this predicted expansion, two-thirds of state CIOs expect to foster multijurisdictional shared/managed services arrangements with state and local public sector organizations like K-12 schools, community colleges, and other legislative branch agencies.

If the economic conditions of late and the forecasts of the future have necessitated a broad rethinking of how IT agencies deliver and share services to other government counterparts, state CIOs are also calling for more ambitious change.

The joint survey indicated that a majority of CIOs would like a more authoritative role in the construction and approval of their IT budgets and IT portfolio management. Along with these suggestions were calls for state legislatures to improve IT procurement processes.

Only 35 percent of the CIOs surveyed say that they approve the IT budgets of executive branch agencies, the report said, adding, “most [CIOs] say that their actual authority is limited, constrained by separation of powers and by legislation.” Another way to help give CIOs some control over their IT investments is by expanding their authority when it comes to procurement, survey respondents recommended.

According to a table in the report, CIOs suggested a handful of ways to improve IT procurement laws, beginning with the letter of law. “Be more flexible in source selection, contract development, and duration. Eliminate unlimited liability. Make procurement planning more proactive. Use more contract vehicles, including a state master contract(s). Use performance contracting. Use a statement of objectives instead of a prescriptive request for proposal (RFP) process,” read some of the comments.

Despite the many calls for change and the state of IT budgets, most comments contained hints of optimism.

“State governments will continue to endure tough fiscal conditions, which makes the state CIO’s job even more challenging. However, the results of the survey clearly indicate this situation presents opportunities for CIOs to execute on cost-saving strategies, innovative business models, and advance the use of emerging technologies,” Doug Robinson, Executive Director of NASCIO, said in a statement introducing the survey.

According to a request for proposal (RFP) issued earlier this month, the City of Memphis, Tennessee is looking to extend an outsourcing contract for its IT infrastructure and Application Maintenance and Support (AM&S) services. The deal could be worth more than $35 million over five years, with two one-year options.

The five-year base contract could be worth as much as $7 million per year for vendors who are able to satisfy a base set of services including data center operations, help desk support, application development, telecommunications, information security and monitoring tools. Memphis’ budget appropriations for FY 2011 have dictated the ceiling award for base services, but a ten-year history of IT outsourcing in the city and contractual room for “additional services” suggest the price tag could be higher.

In 2000, Memphis awarded a $42.1 million, seven-year contract to Systems and Computer Technology Corporation (SCT), over competing vendors Electronic Data Systems and Affiliated Computer Services (ACS). SCT was then acquired by ACS about six months later, leading industry observers to hail ACS’ entrance into the state/local outsourcing big leagues in 2001. By 2006, the city was paying more than double the current asking price on its outsourcing contract, sending $69.4 million for the job, an inter-office memo revealed.

The City of Memphis Information Services department (IS) provides service to over 4,500 city employees across fourteen divisions, the RFP explained. And with the exception of Radio Maintenance, GIS and six Information Technology Officers, all IS departments are currently outsourced.

In addition to the base services outlined by the RFP, additional city projects that would need support include VOIP and Wireless network expansion, Gigabit LAN upgrades, a Business Continuity/ Disaster Recovery plan for its data center and a library infrastructure upgrade. The City of Memphis is also seeking to improve Help Desk services and provide a single “Service Desk” for incident, problem and change management processes.

The contract winner would have to manage a host of legacy technologies ranging from IBM, Dell, HP, Sun, VMware, and Microsoft at its data centers and remote locations, while EMC and Hitachi encompass the city’s storage solutions. Application support is also required for an Oracle e-Business Suite, including an enterprise-wide human resource, finance, payroll, benefits and customer relationship management system, according to the RFP.

All proposals must be submitted no later than August 13. And a final award is expected between mid-September and December of this year.

For a full copy of the city’s RFP, click here.

Rhode Island and Massachusetts have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which says that the states will work together to coordinate the development of offshore wind projects in Rhode Island Sound. The development of this wind project will take place in federal waters in a 400 square mile area which starts 12 miles southwest of Martha’s Vineyard and extends 20 miles westward into Rhode Island Sound. The states will be leasing the project through the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE), formerly known as Minerals Management Service (MMS).

The project will be managed through a Special Area Mapping Plan (SAMP) which the states developed together. The SAMP will serve as a federally recognized coastal management and regulatory tool, and will help determine the ideal locations for offshore wind projects in state and federal waters. In addition, the two states will develop an economic development study to identify the costs and benefits of offshore wind development in the project area.

Rhode Island has largely had the lead on developing the project, but the MOU creates a formal stakeholder relationship for the Bay State. As the project lead, Rhode Island has chosen Deepwater Wind as it’s preferred developer. Deepwater Wind has proposed to construct a pilot installation in state waters near Block Island.

Both states are also working on separate plans to develop wind projects inside state waters, although those plans face hurdles from local groups. These projects will not be governed by or halted through the MOU.

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates wind energy potential off the Atlantic coast at approximately 620,000 megawatts – enough emissions-free energy to meet the total electricity needs of the East Coast.

For many state governments, the slight gains in economic recovery seen at the national level will not be shared down the municipal line for months to come, argues Deloitte’s Robert Campbell. But in his latest commentary from The Gallery, Mr. Campbell says that continued stress on budgets in 2011 may compel lagging states to enact fundamental changes to the way they use technology and structure business processes.

While we are starting to see signs of overall recovery in the U.S. economy, this is one of the longest and deepest recessions since the Great Depression.

Unfortunately, just as states lag the commercial sectors going into a downturn, states clearly lag in the recovery as well. The reason for this is fairly obvious; the states’ budgeting process is prospective in nature and state revenue collections follow actual economic improvement.

Fiscal Year 2011 could be the states’ most challenging in recent years. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities just reported that the states’ cumulative budget shortfall could reach $140 billion this year – and that’s after the various budget adjustments many states made over the last several years.

Why is this happening?

Unfortunately, a large number of states failed to use the economic downturn as an opportunity to fundamentally transform the operation of state government. In addition, funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) made it easy for many state legislatures to use ARRA funds to temporarily plug budget gaps, rather than to change expenditure patterns. When ARRA funding dries up, those states that failed to act aggressively will be looking at deep shortfalls.

The growing federal debt and the likelihood of significant federal action to address it could have further negative consequences on state deficits.

As we all know, fiscal responsibility and constraint in good times make it easier to deal with economic downturns. A recent Deloitte analysis of annual expenditure trends across the 50 states found that states that spent beyond their peers earlier in the decade faced the deepest financial holes after the recession began in 2007.

In contrast, states that have been willing to act aggressively with promising transformational initiatives have done better. These include:

• States like Minnesota that used a commercially-proven shared services approach to drive down administrative costs while driving best practices across state enterprises.
• States like Texas and Michigan that continued to invest in technology to improve the integration of human service programs and save costs.
• States like Florida that adopted enterprise technologies to drive a single technology approach to tax collection and enforcement across the state.
• States like Texas that used commercially-available technology honed in the private sector to improve online access to government services.

The imperative for states to transform their governments’ structure and business processes, adopt advanced technology and challenge long established policies is clear. The forecast for Fiscal Year 2011 shortfalls will likely create additional urgency for states, especially those that have been hesitant to enact fundamental enterprise change.

Mr. Robert N. Campbell III is Vice Chairman, Principal, Deloitte LLP and is the U.S. State Government Leader, based in Austin.

Google has made a 20-year energy services agreement with NextEra Energy Resources an Iowa based wind farm that is part of the Iowa Power Fund. The agreement will provide energy to power Google’s data centers. Iowa Governor Chet Culver launched the Iowa Power Fund to promote Iowa’s renewable energy resources and agreements like this. Governor Culver aims to make Iowa the national leader in wind energy production and create jobs through the fund.

Currently, 2,300 people are employed in wind energy positions throughout the state. Iowa leads the nation in wind generation as a percent of total power, spread over 200 supplying companies and representing more than $50 million in revenue.

Google is working to reduce it’s carbon footprint over the long-term and this purchase is one of the actions they are taking toward this goal. Bill Weihl, Google’s Green Energy Czar notes that they are also hoping to support NextEra and wind in Iowa, “by giving renewable energy developers long-term financial security with deals like this one – in Iowa and across the country – we believe we can foster true growth in the renewable energy sector.”

Colorado launched the “Colorado Industrial Energy Challenge,” yesterday. Companies that enter the challenge have made a voluntary commitment to reduce energy in their manufacturing facilities and are utilizing the challenge program to achieve that goal. 13 companies from a variety of industries represent the inaugural entrants.

The Challenge is open to businesses that have industrial facilities with more than $200,000 in annual energy costs. As a condition of the Challenge, entrants set a five year goal of energy reduction and consent to reporting their annual usage to program administrators. Companies that join the program can receive free technical assistance toward their goal.

The 13 charter members are: Amgen, Aspen Skiing Company, Avago Technologies, Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Encana, Frito-Lay, MillerCoors, New Belgium Brewing Co., Roche Colorado Corp., Rocky Mountain Bottle Company, Rocky Mountain Metal Container, Sandoz and Woodward.

The Governor’s Energy Office will be responsible for sponsoring and managing the program with the aid of a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Entrants will receive technical assistance from Colorado State University’s Industrial Assessment Center and the ETC Group an environmental engineering firm.

“These companies are strong partners in our work to make Colorado a world leader in energy efficiency and clean-tech innovations,” Gov. Ritter said. “Reducing energy consumption isn’t just good for the environment, it also will help these companies stay competitive, create jobs, increase America’s energy security and strengthen Colorado’s New Energy Economy.”

Last week, the City of Toronto added several datasets to its growing catalog of government data. Toronto CIO Dave Wallace spoke to CivSource about the newest release and his team’s efforts to make open data and transparent government a routine part of civil service in Toronto.

In November of 2009, Toronto unveiled the official city data catalog, Toronto.ca/open or OpenTO, and the city’s open community launched DataTO.org, which is a site for developers and interested parties to discuss and request datasets, at the same time. But Mr. Wallace said the push for city government to behave more like the World Wide Web began earlier than that. Nearly a year before the launch of DataTO and OpenTO, the city held Web 2.0 Summit where Toronto-native and Mozilla Foundation Executive Director Mark Surman gave a keynote which struck a chord with Mayor David Miller. In his speech, Mr. Surman encouraged the city to “think like the web”, that by enabling citizens to help the city, (as a community of developers supports open source software and a better Web experience) the city can be more effective, efficient and responsive to its citizens.

From this effort in November 2008, Mesh2009 (held in April) served as a springboard to announce that Toronto would have datasets available for use to the public later in the year.

“It became force du jour,” Mr. Wallace said, “We talked with other cities – San Francisco, Ottowa, Vancouver, Edmonton, Washington DC – about how best to get started.”

Mr. Wallace also said his team began working with the community to start identifying the demand-side of Toronto’s datasets.

“DataTO.org is the open community that pointed out demand areas and Mayor Miller pulled the big switch on the catalog,” Wallace said.

The beta launch of OpenTO and DataTO showed how quickly the city’s data could be put to use. On the first day of its release, Brian Gilham, creator of TTCupdates, had produced the first mashup, using data available through the city to superimpose Toronto’s wards onto Google maps. In May of this year, Toronto released data for its annual Doors Open Toronto event, where for one weekend 150 buildings of architectural, historic, cultural and social significance open their doors to the public.

Keith Mcdonald, Web Strategy Coordinator for the city, said they released XML data for the sites, and literally overnight an app was developed (also by Mr. Gilham) to see sites on maps and feature information through the iPhone.

It was a “multi-type, mobile application that was developed very quickly,” Mr. Mcdonald said.

“It shows the power of open data,” Mr. Wallace added.

In the newest release of data at OpenTO, the city released information on bike lanes, health food inspections, elections, road restrictions and other traffic-oriented data. It is part of an on-going effort by the Toronto CIO to help city government (and their private sector partners) ingrain open data protocols into their everyday workflow.

“One of the things we’ve learned, and are distilling to other cities, is that you have to work with protocols and with other entities to update their data,” Wallace argued. One of those entities is TTC, or the Toronto Transit Commission, which operates the city’s various modes of public transportation. TTC is top of mind for a lot of people, Wallace said, and the department is working to overcome data ownership and sourcing issues, but it takes time.

“One thing people have to remember is how much extra work goes into releasing open data. We are working to make it an extension of our routine disclosure process – to work through a data quality checklist.”

“But we have to make sure we’re not improperly sourcing or violating copyright,” which takes on a different form of concern for Canadian governments, compared to US cities and states, Wallace said. Privacy is another key issue, Mr. Mcdonald added, noting the importance of educating the public on what can be released, what cannot and why.

In working with partner cities to confront these and other data issues, Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver and Ottawa are collaborating through a WordPress environment, to share information, set up chat sessions and brainstorm about how to integrate open data into regular processes as a regular means of doing business. And the development group at DataTO.org continues to draw attention.

“We see continued faith and demand on this and that’s a good thing,” Wallace said, despite the decision not to hold an apps contest.

“We struggled with the idea of contests,” he said, “it can kick-start your efforts, but it’s not a sustainable strategy. Can you really keep things up to date? What keeps it going? There’ve been some unclear results longer-term.”

“[Open data] can’t be a one-time thing, or it starts to have a ‘legacy’ mindset. It isn’t like that, it’s an ongoing process…you have to build it in because the public now expects it.”

Looking into the future, Wallace says he’s excited to release more data sets. A planned release is targeted for November 2010 and the city is planning to make 311 data a major part of the next release. Mr. Wallace indicated it may include a portal view, to see how 311 is performing and to see how the city is managing requests.

“Open data shouldn’t be a giant make-work project, but part of what you do everyday. We’re excited to continue it forward.”

Iowa announced funding for eight new initiatives that will focus on green energy. The Office of Energy Independence will put $1.39 million toward the projects which will benefit a variety of organizations statewide, with the funding coming from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The projects are part of the state’s agenda of working toward an energy economy.

Funds will be spread through academic institutions, private businesses and state agencies. Awardees will provide cost share of nearly $1.5 million. The Project breakdown is listed below:

Eastern Iowa Community College, Davenport – $185,000 to develop displays for the Iowa Sustainable Energy Center that focus on wind, solar and hydrogen energy. The planned displays include experiments and information on how wind turbines work; solar powered hydrogen fueling station for a fuel cell powered forklift; solar thermal water heating system with three types of collectors; and electric car and solar powered recharging station.

Flex Fuel USA, Mason City – $47,332 to install 25 flex fuel conversion kits on vehicles owned and operated by the Iowa Department of Transportation, Cerro Gordo County Sheriff and Police Department from Clear Lake, Charles City and Mason City; and to train North Iowa Area Community College students in the installation of fuel conversion equipment.

Iowa State Fair Association, Des Moines – $250,000 to install renewable energy features at Expo Hill on the State Fairgrounds including: solar cooling benches, photovoltaic array on the visitor center roof, solar lighting, and a solar powered portable tent.

Iowa Utilities Board, Des Moines – $25,427 to install an integrated energy management system in 74 workstations at the new IUB building on the Capitol Complex. This system will control non-critical power usage when individual workstations are not occupied.

Kum & Go, Statewide – $249,150 to retrofit 151 convenience stores in 95 communities with Light Emitting Diode (LED) display cooler lighting.

Ovation Networks, Cedar Rapids – $81,033 to install an energy management system in six Iowa hotels. The system uses Wi-Fi architecture and carbon dioxide sensors to manage the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system based on occupancy.

Sun Prairie Apartments, West Des Moines – $354,000 to install Energy Star metal shingles over existing asphalt shingles on buildings and garages and install induction light fixtures throughout the apartment complex. Both projects will reduce energy costs and will be used to train contractors on product installation.

University of Iowa, Medical Research Facility, Iowa City – $205,000 to replace a standard air make-up ventilation air handling unit with a new system that incorporates energy recovery wheels to reduce energy consumption.

According to new legislation, Illinois will extend tax credits to wind farms. The legislation also gives new authority to local governments to finance green projects in unincorporated areas. The state hopes that the credits and financing will help grow its renewable energy sector.

The bill amends the state property tax code to provide credits for wind farms and provides for an extended sunset of the provision through 2016. Supporters of the legislation say that making the credits available through 2016 will give the wind industry sufficient time to understand and plan for operating costs uniformly across the state. Previously, property taxes for wind farms were assessed based on where they were located and assessments across the state were inconsistent.

Local governments will also be able to finance green projects under the state’s new Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program. PACE programs allow governments to finance green projects through adding an additional property tax where the project is taking place. Property holders then make incremental repayments as part of their property tax bill. The cost of the improvements are assessed to whomever holds the property at a given time rather than following a specific individual.

According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), Illinois ranks 6th in the nation in the amount of wind energy capacity with a total statewide generation capacity of 1848 megawatts. An additional 437 megawatts of power is currently under construction. Under state law, utilities must supply 25% of power from renewable resources by 2025 with at least 75% of that coming from wind power.

“Having a robust green industry is critical to strengthening Illinois’ economy,” said Governor Quinn. “The legislation provides the state with additional tools to create jobs and further enhance Illinois’ growing renewable energy sector.”