Unemployment Insurance Fraud Detection in Iowa

Posted by Gary Bateman, CIO, Iowa Workforce Development

Editor's note: Today’s guest blogger is Gary Bateman, CIO for the Iowa Workforce Development. Be sure to join Innovation for the Nation, a virtual summit featuring government customers, streaming live on July 31st and August 1st. And see what other organizations that have gone Google have to say.

In Iowa, our mission at Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) is to provide a comprehensive statewide system of employment services, education and regulations to ensure the economic security of Iowa’s workers, businesses and communities. An important part of our effort is to identify and prevent unemployment insurance fraud. Our efforts have cut the rate of fraud to less than 6%, but we are not satisfied to stop there.

Detecting and preventing unemployment insurance fraud is challenging because of the high volume of claims we receive. Often times, we’re not able to detect the discrepancy until after multiple payments have been made. This lag means the bad actors can take the money and move on, making it difficult and expensive to recover the payment. We went looking for technologies to provide an even better rate of fraud detection, allowing us to act faster to prevent this criminal activity and save the state money.

After a competitive bid process, we selected Fraud Detection as a Service (FDaaS) by Pondera Solutions, a Google Enterprise Partner, to help us identify and prevent improper payments. FDaaS is a Google-powered solution that uses Google Prediction API, Google Maps, Google Street View and Google Earth.

With FDaaS, suspicious claims are proactively flagged by the system, which alerts IWD employees about potentially fraudulent claims. The claims are plotted on a heatmap built on Google Maps to identify areas with the highest fraud incidents and determine where to put more investigative resources. We also use Google Street View to check the validity of businesses that submit claims. All of these data points are compiled into a custom, configured dashboard that helps us quickly examine claimants and employers to validate whether these claims are valid. This dashboard will replace many of our manual processes of checking disparate databases. And because Google helps to integrate relevant market data into our validation processes, we can parse massive amounts of data quickly and efficiently, allowing us to identify advanced schemes and rapidly respond to potential issues. With all this information available at our fingertips, we can then examine claimants and employers to validate whether these claims are proper much more efficiently.

Using the new solution, IWD will improve accuracies in Unemployment Insurance, benefiting both the employers and citizens of Iowa. Our continuing efforts will help assure that the vast majority of unemployment insurance benefits are delivered to the citizens who need and deserve our assistance.

READ MORE - Unemployment Insurance Fraud Detection in Iowa

Macomb County protects the American Dream of homeownership

Posted by Crystal Brenner, Administrative Assistant, Macomb County Clerk / Register of Deeds

Editor's note: Today’s guest blogger is Crystal Brenner, Administrative Assistant for the Macomb County Clerk / Register of Deeds. See what other organizations that use the Google Search Appliance have to say.

Last year, Macomb County set out to improve public real estate search, to help property owners reduce the risk of real estate fraud, and make it easier for Macomb County property owners to protect their property rights. Along the way we may have created one of the nation's best and perhaps one of the first high-tech real estate records search and fraud detection tools. We were inspired to act by a CBS 60 Minutes exposé uncovering crucial ownership documents for real estate throughout the nation that are often bogus or even nonexistent.

In the past, Macomb County property records were available on paper or online in an electronic format that only allowed searching on a few, limited fields, such as owner name or property description, indexed differently throughout the years. Inconsistent indexing is an issue for registers of deeds throughout the nation, and it points to the need for a search solution that can find stored electronic deeds with ease.

In partnership with Xerox, we set out to do better and help owners detect potential fraud. We scanned every Macomb County real estate record - millions of public records, from dirt to present day. Because we wanted an intuitive, familiar search interface that would let us look quickly through millions of documents, we immediately chose the Google Search Appliance.

Called the “Super Index,” we launched a public prototype in September 2012. The Super Index currently includes millions of pages of public Macomb County real estate documents, going back all the way to 1818. And each year, we’ll add more than 180,000 new documents.

Users can search the Super Index at no charge. What makes it “super” is that searches may now include all recognized text on the documents, including witness and notary names. Once an individual finds the documents they’re looking for, and reviews a thumbnail to be sure it’s what they need, we either provide a link or send a PDF file of those public documents for $6 per document.

One user said, “This is great stuff! Once again, the Macomb County Clerk/Register of Deed’s office is providing the public with a useful tech-savvy resource to gain easy access to public information, with the convenience [of access] from one’s home or office.”

For many people, owning a home is a key part of the American Dream, and we wanted to give our citizens in Macomb the power to protect that dream. We took bold action to combat fraud and educate homeowners about their rights and property. With help from Xerox and the Google Search Appliance, Macomb County is making the search for the American Dream a little easier.

Join us for a Google Hangout On Air on April 24, 2013 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST to see for yourself how the Google Search Appliance is making a difference in our city.

READ MORE - Macomb County protects the American Dream of homeownership

U.S. Naval Academy goes mobile with Google Apps for Government

Posted by Lou Giannotti, Chief Information Officer, U.S. Naval Academy

Editor's note: Today’s guest blogger is Lou Giannotti, CIO at the United States Naval Academy, the undergraduate institution of the United States naval service.

The United States Naval Academy (USNA) has graduated more than 78,000 young men and women to serve in America’s naval service since being founded in 1845. The technological landscape of the country has changed dramatically over the past decade, and USNA has kept pace by providing its students, called midshipmen, with the educational resources required to be effective Navy and Marine Corps officers upon graduation.

Similar to other top educational institutions such as the Ivy League schools, Stanford and MIT, USNA is in constant flux and continuously trying to stay on the technological cutting edge. Thousands of midshipmen enter and depart each year, all requiring mandatory and standardized email addresses and account changes. This presents a significant challenge of ensuring old email accounts are properly deleted and new accounts created quickly. Faculty, staff, and midshipmen rely on a wide array of smartphones and tablets for communication and collaboration.

For years, USNA employed an appliance-based email solution that offered secure communications, but proved to be expensive and limiting over time. USNA paid a hefty license fee for every mobile device accessing email. With the exploding mobile component of the environment, we sought an alternative solution.

During an analytical review of alternatives, USNA discovered the bulk of the 4,400 midshipmen were using personal Gmail accounts. USNA embarked on a trial of Google Apps for Government, providing midshipmen Gmail while allowing USNA to protect school data from uncontrolled exposure to the public domain. It provided a full suite of communication and collaboration tools such as Docs and Calendar. Coincidently, Google Apps for Government also provided universal mobile access with no additional licensing costs.

USNA began with 100 users putting Google Apps through its paces, including testing much needed capabilities like using Calendar to schedule resources like rooms and equipment, and sharing documents for collaborative efforts. Following a successful trial, phase two included applying Google Apps to all faculty, staff, and midshipmen. Today, Google Apps supports approximately 7,200 users at USNA.

We use Gmail the most, with some faculty using its chat feature to communicate with midshipmen for official purposes. USNA maintains roughly four terabytes of mail without the burden of operating onsite storage and backup systems. More and more users are also taking advantage of Docs and Calendar. In fact, the midshipmen and faculty create an average of 5,000 Google Docs daily. Users enjoy the sharing capabilities, enabling greater collaboration. This is enhanced further as Google Apps allows access on any device users choose.

Google Apps provides USNA with flexibility and enables management of the constant change of midshipmen turnover at a lower cost than before. The mobile access alone makes Google Apps a worthwhile investment at $50 per person. It lets us make better use of the taxpayer’s dollars. The greatest value is the ease of creating and sharing information between midshipmen, faculty, and other institutions making Google Apps a core collaborative asset in the educational process.

READ MORE - U.S. Naval Academy goes mobile with Google Apps for Government

Chicago Public Schools get high marks by going Google

Posted by Lachlan Tidmarsh, CIO, Chicago Public Schools

Editor's note: Today’s guest blogger is Lachlan Tidmarsh, Chief Information Officer for the Chicago Public Schools, the third largest school district in the United States. Chicago is one of many districts that have moved to Google Apps for Education. Join the Google team at FETC and BETT this week to learn more.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is a diverse learning community that encompasses 681 schools, including 472 elementary schools, 106 high schools and 96 charter schools. With over 40,000 teachers, administrators and support staff across the city working to improve the education of Chicago children, communication and collaboration are essential.

Technology can play a vital role in making the teaching and learning experience as effective and rewarding as possible. For years CPS relied on two different communication systems—Microsoft Outlook used by administrators and principals, and OpenText FirstClass used by our teachers. Even after federal subsidies, our cost to run these systems exceeded $2 million per year. Having two different systems was frustrating for users and remote access was clunky.

After deciding to move to a single consolidated system, we vetted our two final options—Google and Microsoft— with our teachers and administrators. The decision was overwhelmingly to go with Google Apps for Education. For one thing, many of our schools were already using Google Apps and were enthusiastic about the collaboration capabilities. From an executive management viewpoint, Google Apps would save the district millions of dollars each year. Who could argue with that?

Of course, we had to ensure that the applications were secure, that they met our functional requirements, and that our people were productive on day one. We engaged Google Apps partner SADA Systems to help with the migration and training, and set a goal of finishing before the start of the 2012 school year. Between March 28, when we signed the contract, and August 20, we migrated 270,000 administrators, teachers and students to Google Apps. It was easily the fastest and smoothest migration of this scale I have ever seen.

We had staffed up our help desk but had very low call volumes and little drama. The real key to this was strong communication from the get-go and well-planned training. We established “Google Heroes” in each school to lead the charge. Our “Heroes” were critical to ensuring we had at least one trained user in each school from day one. As a result, many of our teachers and principals knew what was coming and when. We also offered a variety of additional training options for faculty and staff, including online tutorials, blogs, and classroom-based instruction. In follow-up surveys of trainees, we received satisfaction levels of 80% and higher for both the training and the tools.

When school started in fall, many teachers immediately began sharing assignments with students through Google Drive. As the year progresses, they continue to find new ways to enhance the educational experience inside and outside the classroom using Google Apps. For example, some teachers create daily quizzes in Google Forms to determine if students have understood key concepts and adapt the next day’s lesson plan accordingly. In the case of a major weather event such as a snowstorm, we can use Google Apps to efficiently coordinate school operations and make sure students know where they can go to for safety.

For Chicago Public Schools, Google Apps is fundamentally transforming both educational and administrative processes for the better – all while saving us millions of dollars each year.

READ MORE - Chicago Public Schools get high marks by going Google

Google Earth and Maps help save lives and protect property when disasters strike

Posted by Rick Hinrichs, Director of Disaster Emergency Services, Red Cross - San Diego/Imperial Counties Chapter.

Editors note:Today’s guest blogger is Rick Hinrichs from the Red Cross - San Diego/Imperial Counties Chapter. We recently sat down with him to discuss how his organization stays coordinated during disasters using Google Earth and Maps. To learn more, watch this video.

In the event of a natural disaster or unexpected emergency, a quick and effective response can mean the difference between life and death. We at the Red Cross can always be counted on to assist on the front lines of these disasters and emergencies.

When the 2007 wildfires struck Southern California, 500,000 people were told to evacuate their homes in 30 minutes, but our San Diego command center wasn't fully staffed until four hours later. We scrambled to collect information and plan a strategy over the phone and through email. It was clear we needed a more efficient solution for better situational awareness and a common operating picture for the Red Cross command center, our volunteers and the citizens we serve.

In response, our San Diego/Imperial Counties Chapter of the Red Cross implemented a new response system built on Google Earth and Maps. Our map has dozens of data layers that can be used in a disaster situation to display, in real-time, everything from the location of our volunteers to shelters, food trucks, and medical supplies. This map can also be easily shared with other emergency management agencies outside of Southern California.

Now, volunteers and the public can pull up the Red Cross’ web-based emergency response map on their smartphones or tablets while out in the field. They can see safe routes to travel, hospital locations and other places to access resources during a disaster. Google Earth and Maps require no additional training; our volunteers already know how to use them.

Our chapter responds to a disaster once every 28 hours or so, from house fires and SWAT incidents to search and rescue operations. By mapping these locations on Google Earth and Maps, we can see where our assets are, determine where the most incidents occur, and better target our outreach and effectiveness.

The bottom line: the Red Cross is committed to protecting property and lives, and Google Earth and Maps help us do a much better job.

READ MORE - Google Earth and Maps help save lives and protect property when disasters strike

The National Archives is going Google

Posted by Anne Billak, Federal Civilian Account Manager

The National Archives and Record Administration preserves a broad range of this country’s most important historical documents, ranging from the Emancipation Proclamation to maps of the Louisiana Purchase to Thomas Edison’s patent applications. Together with Google reseller Unisys, the Archives will move its 4,500 employees and contractors to Google Apps for Government in 2013.

Known as the nation’s record keeper, the Archives protects and provides public access to more than 10 billion pages of textual records, in addition to maps, photographs, videos and more than 133 terabytes of electronic records. The National Archives Building in Washington, DC gives visitors the opportunity to come face-to-face with significant documents in United States history, such as the Declaration of Independence. The Archives also manages Presidential libraries across the country for every president dating back to Herbert Hoover.

Memorandum of a fee paid by Thomas Edison for a patent on "Electric Lamps."
(image courtesy of the National Archives)

The Archives joins a growing list of federal agencies including the General Services Administration, NOAA and Idaho National Laboratory who have chosen Google and Unisys to provide their employees with cloud-based email and collaboration tools.

Google Apps will improve the ability of Archives employees in 44 locations nationwide to collaborate with one another, as well as with their customers and partners outside the agency. Archives employees across the nation will also get anytime, anywhere access to their data. What’s more, the FISMA-certified Google tools will keep the Archives’ data safe while also providing a reliable system with built-in failover and disaster recovery.

READ MORE - The National Archives is going Google

Idaho National Lab has Gone Google

Posted by Denise Stephens, CIO, Idaho National Laboratory

Editors note: Today’s guest blogger is Denise Stephens, CIO and Information Management director of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). INL joins a growing number of government agencies that have made the switch to Google Apps for Government.

Located in southeastern Idaho on nearly 900 square miles of desert, the Idaho National Laboratory is the lead lab for nuclear research for the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE). Employees at INL work on diverse projects that include making batteries used on United States space missions, developing new technologies for nuclear reactors, protecting critical infrastructure and operating the world’s 64th fastest supercomputer.

System integrator Unisys recently completed the migration of nearly 5,000 INL employees to Google Apps for Government from Lotus Notes. INL has not taken this transition lightly. We have spent the better part of a year developing requirements, engaging in internal pilots to mitigate risk and overcoming emerging challenges as a cross-organizational team to smooth our move to the cloud. Google Apps is the right investment to move the laboratory forward while meeting the lab’s important requirements.

Due to our remote location, having a reliable, redundant email system is paramount. Google Apps’ track record of 99.9% uptime gives INL employees’ confidence that their email will be there when they need it. Some INL employees work in facilities in the city of Idaho Falls, while many others work at our complex in the desert, some 30 miles away. In the past, this geographic separation made it harder for employees to share information. Google Apps is improving communications by allowing employees to work together in real-time with voice and video chat, calendar sharing and simultaneous document editing.

In this case, INL simply couldn’t afford not to go to the cloud. This move is less expensive, and allows the lab to take a flexible, nimble and cost effective approach to lab communications. Instead of managing infrastructure, INL has chosen to invest in capabilities that support the lab’s critical mission areas.

READ MORE - Idaho National Lab has Gone Google

When the economy gets tough, the tough get innovative

Posted by Carmella Sabaugh, Register of Deeds, Macomb County Clerk

Editors note: In March 2011, we announced the Macomb County Circuit Court and Clerk/Register of Deeds have gone Google. Almost a year later, we’re honored to recognize Macomb County Clerk / Register of Deeds Carmella Sabaugh as one of our Government Transformers.

Like others hit hard by the recession, the Macomb County Clerk’s office in Michigan was forced to make tough decisions. But when faced with setbacks, we respond boldly. To borrow Theodore Roosevelt’s words, “We refuse to be among those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.” Macomb County is now one of only 67 counties nationwide to earn a AAA bond rating from Standard & Poor’s. 'AAA' is the highest issuer credit rating assigned by Standard & Poor's, recognizing that a county has extremely strong capacity to meet its financial commitments.

One way we innovate is to use Google Apps for Government to improve service and save money. In the past it could be disruptive for court clerks to receive phone calls while court was in session since they’d be helping judges work through their dockets. But some matters require immediate attention. Google Chat makes it easy for court clerks to instantly get information without disrupting the docket flow, and it reduces incoming phone calls and walk-up requests. Clerks can work from any courtroom or back office without requiring a complicated workstation setup or changes.

The circuit court clerk also uses a Google spreadsheet to maintain a dashboard for the office. Everyday the attendance data of all job duties gets automatically populated and color coded with a progress chart. This allows the chief court clerk to allocate staff efficiently to keep the office running smoothly and efficiently. The clerk’s office uses Google Docs to create county commission meetings minutes which allows real-time collaboration among the commissioners. The public can watch it as it’s being created and learn about voting results right away.

Our staff is able to improve citizen services with the latest technology tools. We are a government of the people by the people and for the people. We are the Macomb County Clerk’s office. And we’ve gone Google.

READ MORE - When the economy gets tough, the tough get innovative

The City of North Las Vegas goes Google

Posted by Al Noyola, Director of Administrative Services for the City of North Las Vegas, Nevada

Editors note:The City of North Las Vegas recently made the move to Google Apps for Government, and today we welcome guest blogger, Alfonso “Al” Noyola, to discuss their transition.

Like many cities around the country, the City of North Las Vegas was hit hard by the recent economic downturn. With our resources slashed, we had to cut costs while maintaining service levels for our employees and residents. The challenge was daunting, but we were determined to find a solution. We decided to move all 1,300 North Las Vegas employees to Google Apps for Government because cloud applications are more affordable than server-based systems and meet our security needs.

We thoroughly researched Google’s security practices and discovered that Google’s FISMA-certified cloud technology not only met our security standards, but was even more secure than our legacy system. This is critical for our police and other departments. In addition, our old program was unreliable: in June 2010, our system went down, and the City couldn’t communicate via email for five days. We now share important information using Google Docs. Google’s security permissions allow us to control who has access to the information, and no one has to rely on email attachments to access important documents. With Google Apps’ 99.9% uptime guarantee with no scheduled downtime, we know our information is always available when we need it.

In addition to improved system security and reliability, moving to the cloud has resulted in tremendous cost savings. In the next five years, we’ll save an estimated $1.2 million by replacing the email system alone. That number rises exponentially when other potential savings are factored in from retiring our older productivity software.

The transition to Google Apps went smoothly with the help of Google Apps Premier Reseller SADA Systems. With a few weeks of cloud computing under our belt, we’re amazed at the positive feedback we’ve received from many employees. Moving to Google Apps has saved precious resources and improved security to ensure North Las Vegas continues to thrive through one of the toughest economic recessions in recent history.

READ MORE - The City of North Las Vegas goes Google

The City of Columbia is going Google

Posted by Mike Matthes, City Manager of Columbia, Missouri

Editors note:Earlier this week we announced the City of St.Louis is going Google. Today we welcome another guest blogger from Missouri, Mike Matthes, to tell us how he recently moved Columbia to Google Apps for Government. 

I grew up in Chillicothe, Missouri. Until last year, I worked for the City of Des Moines in Iowa for 15 years. When I got the opportunity to move back to my home state and became the City Manager of Columbia, Missouri, I jumped at the chance. Columbia is a boomtown with outstanding quality of life that emphasizes the value of public services for the citizens. I find great joy in serving the public, partnering with our city employees, and supporting them as they work with the community.

After I moved to Columbia, I realized the city was challenged by an antiquated email system that couldn’t keep up with the latest technology trends and our employees’ needs. When my iPad acted as nothing more than a paperweight, I knew we needed a change. 

Columbia is fortunate to have an open-minded City Council and IT Department, so we started looking for a new email solution last fall. When I worked for Des Moines, I became familiar with Google Apps for Government. We chose the Google email and communication platform for 2,000 Des Moines employees because it could help the city save budget while enabling our employees to be more productive. When I looked at Google Apps again, I was struck by the tremendous product enhancements made in just a year since I last reviewed its offering.

We quickly decided to move all 1,188 Columbia employees to Google Apps for Government after evaluating available email and communication solutions. With the help of Google Apps reseller Onix Networking, all city employees were flawlessly transitioned to Google Apps in April 2012.

The only comments I received were gratitude from our employees for finally being able to communicate and collaborate smoothly. Email and calendar just work, and other advanced collaboration features in Google Apps bring much more efficiency to our workplace. Eighty percent of our employees are mobile, such as police, fire and public works staff. They have been starving for mobile productivity for years. Now they can easily check email, documents, and sites from the field. 

Although most reasonable people dread an annual budget process, I’m actually looking forward to it this year because all 18 of our departments will be using a Google Site to collaborate and share information easily while preparing for the budget. This site also integrates a Google calendar that marks budget due dates with a countdown clock for all departments.

For Columbia, going Google is a force multiplier. With resources saved and productivity enhanced, our city employees are able to better focus on their core mission of serving citizens. Being a part of modernization efforts of both Columbia and Des Moines makes my job as a public servant meaningful.

READ MORE - The City of Columbia is going Google

The Gateway to the West is moving into the cloud

Posted by Francis G. Slay, Mayor of St. Louis, Missouri

Editors note: Today, we welcome Mayor Francis G. Slay of the City of St. Louis, the latest U.S. city to move to Google Apps for Government.

Email keeps City employees and departments connected, and it's how our residents and businesses get in touch with their City government. Our current email system – old and unreliable - hasn’t worked very well for a while. Employees have had trouble accessing email and attachments, and they experienced email outages and delays. When City employees aren’t at their desks, it’s been difficult for them to access the email server from mobile devices or from computers outside of the network. All of these challenges hampered our ability to collaborate among each other and respond to citizens efficiently – or to hear from them at all.

With an email system that held us back, we wanted to find a new system. After evaluating several competitive bids, the City of St. Louis selected cloud-based Google Apps for Government because it best suits our needs for a reliable, secure, and cost-effective email system. Our employees are not only able to access email reliably at their desks, but will be able to stay connected, anytime, anywhere. This will likely make them more productive; it will certainly make them happier. Because Google is a familiar and trusted brand (and many employees currently use Gmail for their personal email), I’m confident that this will be a smooth transition.

We look forward to working closely with Google and Daston Corporation, a Google Apps Premier Reseller, to complete the migration in the next few months. We are proud that the Gateway to the West is now moving to the cloud.

READ MORE - The Gateway to the West is moving into the cloud

Edmonton is the first major Canadian city to pick Google Apps

Posted by by Michael Lock, VP Google Enterprise

Earlier in 2012, I became a United States citizen, more than 14 years after moving to the U.S. from my native Canada. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll continue to root for Team Canada when it comes to hockey and Canada will always have a special place in my heart. That’s why I’m particularly proud that the City of Edmonton announced today its plans to move 9,000 city employees to Google Apps. In keeping with its reputation as a forward-thinking local government, Edmonton will become the first major Canadian city to go Google.

Edmonton, the capital city of the province of Alberta, is the northernmost North American city with a metropolitan population over one million. Its decision to move to Google Apps for email, calendar and other collaboration tools supports Edmonton’s strategic plan, which calls for “finding new ways to become even more collaborative, open, responsive and innovative.”

Google Apps will provide a unified communications platform for all municipal employees, bringing email to roughly 3,000 “deskless” city employees for the first time while providing additional tools to help all employees work together. As a result, the City of Edmonton’s employees will have a more inclusive, collaborative work environment while giving the city more value for its technology investments.

While Edmonton may be the first city in Canada to go Google, it’s in great company with other city governments in North America─like Pittsburgh, Orlando and Zapopan, Mexico─that have already made the move. And personally, I’m grateful to Edmonton for giving me a good reason to visit Canada later this year to check on their progress!

READ MORE - Edmonton is the first major Canadian city to pick Google Apps

Colorado is the newest state to go Google

Posted by Scott McIntyre, Director of State and Local Government, Google

What does the State of Colorado have in common with neighboring states Wyoming and Utah? For one, they are the only three states in the United States with no natural borders. Their boundaries are defined solely by lines of latitude and longitude. Now, these three states also share a common cloud. Colorado announced today it will migrate more than 26,000 Executive Branch state employees to Google Apps for Government, joining its neighbors as one of the first states to make the move.

Under the leadership of Secretary of Technology and State Chief Information Officer Kristin D. Russell, Colorado’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) has six priorities: customer success, innovation, information security, people, service excellence, and trusted partnership. The decision to migrate to Google Apps is closely aligned with these priorities. By bringing 15 siloed and disparate email systems together into one unified communications platform, the state will save approximately $2 million a year, cutting the cost of maintaining current email systems by nearly half. It will also allow employees across departments to find co-workers and communicate more effectively with one another. In addition, giving employees modern collaboration tools and better mobile access will help them deliver better citizen services. OIT completed thorough testing and analysis of multiple product solutions, including an independent third-party comparison,­­­ before selecting Google Apps. As part of this evaluation, the state reviewed the security controls used by Google Apps and found them to comply with or exceed state standards. OIT will work closely with Google Apps Premier Reseller Tempus Nova to bring Google Apps to Colorado employees.

The State Government of Colorado is not alone. Local agencies like Larimer County and Eagle County have already used Google Apps to help modernize their technology while realizing significant savings. Also in summer 2010, Colorado announced a statewide agreement to allow schools and districts to use Google Apps for Education. Some of Colorado’s largest education institutions have already switched to Google Apps, including Colorado State University, Metropolitan State College of Denver, Jeffco Public Schools, and Douglas County School District.

We welcome the State of Colorado to the Google Cloud.

READ MORE - Colorado is the newest state to go Google

Secretary Clinton Announces State Department Use of Chrome

Posted by Chris Bronk, Senior Advisor, IRM’s Office of eDiplomacy, U.S. Department of State

Editors note: We were excited to hear that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton herself announced to State employees that they would be getting the Chrome browser. Now that they have it, we invited Chris to share some more details.

The State Department gave our employees around the world a special Valentine’s Day gift as we made the Google Chrome browser available to all employees on February 14. This makes us the first U.S. cabinet department to make Chrome available department-wide.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the announcement to a town hall meeting of State Department employees, where it was greeted with rousing applause:

State’s historical approach to browsers is to test compatibility with all corporate, enterprise-level applications and remediate any issues prior to full release. We’ve taken a different approach with Chrome. Offering Chrome as a browser option allows us to take full advantage of Chrome’s speed -- from quick startup to rapid website loading -- plus the ability to access the full range of modern websites, and will allow our employees to be more productive in their work. When a new release of Chrome is made available with enhanced functionality or added security, we can release it into production immediately, bypassing cumbersome testing.

With Chrome for Business, our Information Resources Management (IRM) team was able to deploy Chrome quickly and securely. After two weeks, it has been installed on over 58,000 PCs around the world or around 60% of our enterprise. The administrative capabilities of Chrome for Business will allow IRM to manage the browser going forward, making sure that all employees are on the same version and can take advantage of new features that are regularly made available in new Chrome releases.

We’re enthusiastic to be leading the charge to bring an enhanced web browsing experience to State employees executing the critical U.S. diplomatic mission around the world!

READ MORE - Secretary Clinton Announces State Department Use of Chrome

Faster, More Accurate Data Collection

Posted by Sandra Giger, IT Specialist, Office of the Chief Information Officer, NOAA

Editors note: Today’s guest blogger is Sandra Giger from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Sandra and her colleagues are using Google Apps for Government to streamline the data collection process, resulting in better data accuracy and transparency across the agency. We are honored to recognize them as our Government Transformers.

Compiling data from a large number of people can be a daunting task. This is especially true at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), with 25,000 people in roughly 400 locations around the country.

At NOAA, these “data calls” typically fall to me and my colleagues in the IT Governance and Portfolio Division at NOAA. For example, in 2011 the Department of Commerce, our parent agency, began an initiative to lower printing costs throughout the department. To get started, NOAA first had to inventory the thousands of printers the agency was using.

In the past, a data call was usually conducted via email. We would email all the NOAA offices, and the replies would trickle in, often in different formats. It filled up our inboxes and required that we spend hours cleaning up the data. This manual process meant a higher chance of errors, and the entire process ended up taking several weeks.

Rather than continue with these old methods, we decided to use a Google Form to capture the printer inventory. The form could be emailed directly to people across NOAA, and forwarded on to others as needed. As soon as someone completes the form, each response is captured as a separate row of a spreadsheet, along with the name of the person submitting it and the date and time it was submitted. This streamlined collection process cuts in half the time spent collecting data. With all responses are consolidated in a single spreadsheet, it makes analyzing the data a snap.

What’s more, all the responses can be shared with everyone who completes the form, making it a more transparent data collection process. My colleagues and I are transforming data collection at NOAA by improving data quality and sharing the data more openly, while saving ourselves valuable time that can be spent on other projects.

READ MORE - Faster, More Accurate Data Collection

Meeting citizen demand in one of the nation’s busiest library networks

Posted by Gib Van Cleve, Information Technology Services Manager, St. Louis County Library

Editors note: Today’s guest blogger is Gib Van Cleve, information technology services manager at St. Louis County Library (SLCL). He and the staff at SLCL adopted Google Apps for Government, and have found many innovative uses for Google tools to help the library’s 20 branches run more efficiently and better serve citizens.

St. Louis County Library (SLCL), with 20 branches, represents Missouri’s largest and busiest library network. We serve a large community eager to consume digital and hard-copy content, from learning games to classic novels, and that requires behind-the-scenes technologies to manage circulations and ensure efficient citizen services. But, as we grew and our collections expanded, we needed tools that could enable our staff to collaborate more efficiently to bring more transparency to the library’s operations.

In the past, managing libraries required a lot of phone calls and spreadsheets emailed back and forth. Today, that’s no longer the case. We have a small yet nimble technology group of 12 people, and we’ve been able to increase efficiency and improve citizen services by adopting Google Apps for Government. We are honored that some of our employees have been recognized as Government Transformers for their creative usage of Google Apps.

For example, our system administration manager Stephanie Nordmann created a system that tracks circulation items in a Google spreadsheet. In an instant, we see key statistics and trends such as the number of library visits, circulation counts, and the demand for certain items. Last year, it showed us e-book circulation grew by 174%, while traditional books were only up 1%. So we knew we need to stock up on e-media, enabling us to meet the growing demand.

To allow citizens to check out an item at one location and return it at another, we started supporting floating collections. It’s not easy balancing collections across multiple facilities to ensure that items are available when and where the public needs them. Our community services administrator Eric Button created a Google spreadsheet to manage floating collections systematically, tagging facilities green if they have space, yellow if their items are balanced, and red if their shelves are full. This new tool eliminates emailing back and forth and allows us to see instantaneously where to send items to meet demand.

We have found many uses of Google Apps for a broad library network. Amy Gibbons and other members of our service desk staff manage an inventory of 900 PCs throughout our library network using Google Docs. Our libraries run better and more cost-effectively so we can meet citizen requirements for educational and entertainment content—and—trust us, we’re discovering more and more uses for Google Apps to become more efficient and effective!

READ MORE - Meeting citizen demand in one of the nation’s busiest library networks

Spotlighting Government Transformers

Posted by Wendy Wu, Google Apps for Government Team

Two months ago, we launched the Government Transformers initiative to find government employees who are improving the way government operates. They build more transparent systems, save costs and improve services to the citizens. We have received many nominations in just two months. In the next few days, we’d like to recognize a few of these government employees and share how Google Apps has helped transform the way their agencies work.

Group purchasing in government, made simple

Virginia cities and counties have a cooperative purchasing agreement. Once a vendor signs a contract referencing 'cooperative purchasing' with a Virginia government entity, other cities and counties can buy under the same terms. In the past, the information sat with each individual agency and was not visible to others. In order to benefit from this procurement policy, T.W. created a Google Group for area managers to share contract information and purchase support items and services cooperatively. “We now have about 30 members from 12 cities and counties,” said T.W., “and we simply send out an email to the group, and everyone gets the notice. Or people can go to our website to check out the discussion thread or history to find the contracting information they need, with complete transparency.”
(T.W.Sawyer, Purchasing Agent, York County, Virginia)

Responding to constituents faster

People in Wyoming have a constant goal of innovating and searching for ways to make their state a pioneer in technology and efficiency. Under Governor Matt Mead’s leadership, the IT department built an automated system to manage constituent inquiries with faster and more efficient responses. With Google Apps for Government, they used Google APIs along with traditional web development to build a robust solution in approximately four months. “Now, we see the status of every communication—whenever and wherever we are connected to the Internet,” said Bob, “and our staff assigns tasks, routes communication through Gmail, and places follow-up items on calendars so constituent requests are handled timely and efficiently.”
(Bob Mathews, Manager of Enterprise Application Development, Office of the CIO, State of Wyoming)

T.W. and Bob are two of many Government Transformers who are using Google Apps creatively to help their agencies run better. We look forward to sharing their success with you so make sure to check back this week for more transformer stories.

READ MORE - Spotlighting Government Transformers

Google Supports the European Cloud Partnership

Posted by Patrick Ryan, Policy Counsel, Open Internet

Last year, we were excited about the effort initiated by the U.S. government to promote cloud adoption through the Cloud First initiative. Through this initiative, the federal government declared that taxpayers' money should be used in a more productive way, and having the government run its own data centers (more than 2,000 of them) didn't make sense. They’ve targeted the shutdown of more than 1,000 in what they call their “year of change in federal IT,” saving more than $2 billion in taxpayer money. Through leading by example, the federal government went Google with several large agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Government Services Agency (GSA). They join other public entities like the states of Wyoming, and Utah, Washington DC, and the cities of Orlando and Pittsburgh. Also, quasi-public entities have embraced Google Apps, including more than 61 of the top 100 U.S. universities.

In 2012, we hope to see the same movement in Europe. On January 26th, the European Commission's Vice President Neelie Kroes announced at the World Economic Forum in Davos the European Cloud Partnership, and they're backing it with an investment of 10 million EUR to create "a strong common basis for cloud procurement by public authorities." Commissioner Kroes also addressed many of the concerns about local clouds in a decisive way:

“There is one thing that does not make sense and I want to be clear about it: The Cloud Partnership, and indeed our overall Cloud Computing strategy, is not about building a European super-cloud, neither outright nor by forcing the integration of existing public cloud infrastructures. Cloud business models, and the set-up of cloud suppliers' and publicly-run data centres, should be determined by efficiency considerations on the market.”

We believe that the European Cloud Partnership will be a positive thing for public authorities, not just in Europe, but around the world. According to recent studies, the Internet already accounts on average for 3.4% of GDP in a group of 13 emerging and developed economies, helps to spur economic growth and initiatives like this will help to promote its positive economic impact further.

READ MORE - Google Supports the European Cloud Partnership

From the mountains to the clouds: the State of Utah goes Google

Posted by Scott McIntyre, Director of State and Local Government, Google Enterprise

Nestled in the mountains and valleys, the State of Utah got its name from the Native American “Ute” tribe, which means people of the mountains. Utah’s peaks, on average, are the tallest in the country. Utah also has a vibrant business climate. The state was recently ranked No.1 for business and career by Forbes. It’s committed to building a strong economy for the future. To achieve that goal, the state government relies on cutting edge technologies and services to bring value and innovation to its constituents.

The State of Utah recently selected Google Apps for Government as its new email and collaboration platform for all 22,000 state employees. This makes Utah the second state to move all state employees to the Google cloud. The contract is available to all branches of state government and local government entities.

Information technology consolidation has long been a top priority for Utah to improve accountability, reduce costs, and increase services to taxpayers. Its legacy email system was unable to keep up with the increasing demand from staff to access information anytime and anywhere. The Department of Technology Services (DTS) started looking for a cloud solution that could address those challenges in 2010. Through a comprehensive and competitive bidding process, DTS received six proposals. Google Apps premier reseller and implementation partner Tempus Nova was selected to bring Google Apps to state employees.

Once the migration is complete later this year, all Utah state employees will use Google Apps, which includes new features and capabilities such as video chats, real-time team editing in Google Docs and mobile support. Moving to the cloud will also reduce employees’ requests for IT support. In addition, Google Apps will provide Utah with increased security to comply with all FISMA requirements and a more efficient way to comply with government eDiscovery requirements.

We welcome the State’s decision to move to the cloud and look forward to working with Utah and Tempus Nova to ensure a smooth transition.

READ MORE - From the mountains to the clouds: the State of Utah goes Google

The City of Lewisville has gone Google

Posted by Jason Kirkland, Technology Projects Manager, City of Lewisville

Editors note: Today our guest blogger is Jason Kirkland, Technology Projects Manager for the City of Lewisville, Texas. Jason is recognized by Google as a Government Transformer for his innovative usage of technology to improve information sharing among city staff.

As part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, the City of Lewisville in Texas offers a small community atmosphere with all of the urban amenities. We are always looking for ways to improve our community and the lives of the people who call Lewisville home.

The City is constantly evaluating its IT infrastructure and services to increase efficiency and effectiveness and reduce costs. One area of focus was email and calendar which were provided to our users via Lotus Notes along with a separate Blackberry server to sync mobile devices. After a thorough analysis of cloud-based solutions from various providers, we decided to migrate to Google Apps for Government. The migration not only reduced costs in software license and server maintenance, it also brought robust functionalities for our staff to collaborate better and be more productive. Employees automatically access the most current version of Google Apps, eliminating the need for software patching and upgrades. There is no more confusion caused by the various versions of software people are using. They are also able to gain mobile access to emails, calendars, and documents from virtually anywhere with Internet access.

Google Apps is also more reliable and customizable than the other cloud solutions we evaluated. It provides API access for our developers to harness and integrate with other internal systems. I created an online GIS Map using Google Spreadsheets, Google Maps, and Google Fusion Tables that allowed us to turn a static paper map into an electronic one that is interactive and easy to use. The City is even using Google Video to store and share footage of our water and sewer systems so that we can easily access and analyze this data. For less money than what we previously paid for system maintenance alone, we get much more than just an email and calendar replacement!

Google Apps implementation partner Cloud Sherpas made our migration a smooth process. During a two-week period, we migrated all of our 644 users from Lotus Notes to Google Apps.

The examples above are few of many, and surely more will come as our city continues to use Google’s products to simplify processes from project management to police dispatch. I am honored that Google recognized me as a Government Transformer. With the right tools, my colleagues and I can collaborate and communicate more effectively and efficiently than ever before.

READ MORE - The City of Lewisville has gone Google