Calif. exec order focuses on green IT and consolidation roadmap

Yesterday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order to standardize IT governance across the state by defining timelines for IT consolidation and shared services of data centers, e-mail and security measures. The order also calls for a 30 percent reduction in energy usage from IT by 2012.

Gov. Schwarzenegger received an update on the state’s information technology roadmap, outlining improvements to the state’s IT infrastructure and operations. He also signed executive order S-03-10 which will lay the framework for further improvements, according to a release from his office.

“With today’s action we are acknowledging the progress that has been made, while laying the framework to make further improvements in the state’s IT operations,” the Gov. said in a statement.

The formal creation of Agency CIOs and Information Security Officers (ISOs) at cabinet and sub-cabinet levels were among the order’s chief organizational mandates.

All Cabinet level and other agencies, departments, boards, bureaus and offices in the executive branch must appoint CIOs, responsible for overseeing the IT portfolio and IT services within their jurisdictions and report back to OCIO on a quarterly basis, starting in April 2010.

Likewise, all agencies, departments, boards, bureaus and offices in the executive branch must appoint ISOs, to investigate, resolve and report security incidents. The ISOs must also conduct disaster recovery planning, agency-wide risk assessments, along with information security training for all employees on an annual basis.

If agencies fail to comply with these measures, the executive order says that OCIO is authorized to reduce the agencies’ delegated IT project development authority and the Department of General Services may reduce or eliminate the IT purchasing authority of the agency.

As part of the order’s consolidation and shared services efforts, Gov. Schwarzenegger called for a decrease in state-owned data center square footage by half in July 2010 and by 50 percent before July 2011. Agencies must also migrate from their existing network to the California Government Network (CGN) by July 2010. And transition to state’s shared e-mail security and encryption solution no later than June 2010 and be fully migrated to the shared e-mail solution a year later.

The executive order builds upon a bill signed in August of 2007 to establish the Office of the State Chief Information Officer (OCIO) as a cabinet-level agency. And in January of 2009 Gov. Schwarzenegger announced the Governor’s Reorganization Plan, which set in motion a statewide effort to consolidate IT functions under OCIO to increase efficiency while saving $1.5 billion in cost savings and avoidance.

“This action will increase transparency in spending, promote greater cost savings and define specific targets to reduce energy usage in our IT systems and further consolidate services,” Gov. Schwarzenegger said.