Managing Data More Effectively: MA HHS and San Diego Co

Enterprise Content Management for Transforming Government

Achieving Service Delivery Improvements at Lower Cost, Time and Risk

What is Enterprise Content Management?

If one had to choose the single most powerful word in state and local government today, it would be data. There is not one operation an agency can undergo or decision a leader can make without it. But what was once a collection problem of “Where do we get it?” has now evolved into the conundrum of “How do we find it — and quickly?”

Massive amounts of information are available to assist in doing the public’s business, but often it sits in siloed systems, or worse, in a box on a shelf. How do we cost effectively handle enormous amounts of data? How do we organize that data and put it together in a way that is readily useable?

Enterprise content management — collecting, storing, sharing and retrieving information electronically — is a pragmatic solution in helping government leaders lower the cost of government service delivery and reduce risk while improving service delivery. Read on to learn how the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the county of San Diego are using it.

Why is it important?

As revenues fall, the demand for public services continues to increase. Government leaders must solve more problems — with greater complexity — than ever before, but with less money.

National polls reflect these concerns. The National Association of State Chief Information Officer’s (NASCIO) annual Top 10 list of priorities of state CIOs cited budget control as top of mind for leaders as state and local governments grapple with crippling budget deficits in the wake of the recession. Not surprisingly, number two on the list is the consolidation of services, operations, resources, infrastructure and data centers, and number three is shared services.

Budget control is one impetus for consolidation and the sharing of services; effective content management is the first step in reaching these two goals.

Why now?

The financial crisis changed government in more ways than causing it to tighten its purse strings. If data is one of the most powerful words in state and local government, transparency and accountability are surely two of the hottest — instigated by a Blackberry - toting president armed with the Open Government Directive aimed at changing the relationship between government and its citizens. The proliferation of Apps contests suggests that surfacing and mashing up public data has captured the public’s imagination. It has also ratcheted expectations about the universe of available data and how it is used.

Efficient management of digital content provides information to citizens who are hungry for results in real time. It also lays the groundwork for increased citizen involvement and self-service — and the potential of additional cost savings down the road.

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