Michigan Emulates Canada’s E-Government Ideas

Nestor E. Arellano of IT World Canada writes:

If you seek to create a consolidated e-government service network, coveting your neighbour’s IT assets may be a good way to begin, according to one high-profile American CIO.

Teresa Takai, CIO of the State of Michigan, said one way she keeps her network up to date is by “stealing [ideas] from others, especially the Canadians.”

During her keynote on Wednesday at the 2006 Showcase Ontario in Toronto, Takai said Canadian federal, provincial, and municipal governments are leaders in consolidating automated services.

Takai described challenges to e-services consolidation faced by the state of Michigan in a talk titled: The Road Less Traveled - How Centralized IT is Making the Difference.

“Canada is able to offer larger and broader access to its networks because officials [here] view services not as isolated offerings of separate governments, but as a consolidated asset that crosses boundaries,” she said.