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State of Arizona Information Technology 

Governor Janet Napoltiano’s Vision for IT in Arizona:

The State of Arizona leads the nation in information technology.  As one of the first states to create a state chief information officer, Arizona set the gold standard for best practices in government information technology planning.  These practices have become a model of efficiency and accountability adopted throughout the country.  The benefits of the state’s efforts have been felt throughout the state in the form of improved customer service, increased accessibility to state government, and greater access to information technology throughout Arizona.

Today’s challenges will be met with the same innovation and resolve that have defined Arizona, and information technology will be the key to enabling this determination.  We will build on the foundation of planning and oversight that have made Arizona a leader in government information technology to streamline and improve government efficiency through e-government initiatives.  IT planning and coordination will serve as the cornerstone of Arizona’s homeland security and business continuity efforts.  In facing our budget crisis, IT planning will help the state meet its immediate needs through innovative public-private partnerships and meet its long-term needs by fostering economic development across Arizona.

Government Information Technology Agency

The Government Information Technology Agency (GITA) is the State CIO’s Office and is responsible for Arizona’s IT planning, oversight, coordinating and consulting.

Information Technology Authorization Committee

The Information Technology Authorization Committee (ITAC) has jurisdiction to approve or reject IT projects with development costs exceeding $1 million for all three branches of government.  ITAC also provides important advice on IT issues in the State of Arizona.

Chief Information Officer Council

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) Council is a working technical advisory committee that serves as a communication vehicle on statewide IT subjects and provides opportunities to share information that has common or universal interest for State agencies.
 

Arizona IT Awards 

• Arizona ranked #1 in the 2002 Digital State Award

• The Telecommunications Open Partnerships for Arizona (TOPAZ) won a 2002 NASCIO Award and a 2001 Governor's Recognition Award "SPIRIT OF EXCELLENCE"

• The Arizona Telemedicine Program received the American Telemedicine Association Top Honor (#1) in Telemedicine for 2001

• Arizona ranked “most improved” nationally in Information Technology by the Government Performance Project (GPP) for 2000

• Arizona’s Project Investment Justification Process (PIJ) won Best Practices recognition from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO/NASIRE) in 1999

Best Practices

1.       Develop public/private partnerships to meet strategic objectives.

2.       Coordinate resources and information among agencies.

3.       Continually improve planning and oversight processes to make the State’s IT program more customer-oriented, flexible and accountable.

4.       Emphasize life-cycle analysis in project justifications.

5.       Implement technical, coordination and security policies and standards based on commonly accepted best practices and industry standards.

6.       Recruit, retain and train the most qualified professional staff.

7.       Study emergent technologies and evaluate their impact on State systems.

8.       Ensure quality assurance processes are built into agencies’ IT plans and Project Investment Justifications (PIJs).

9.       Leverage State buying power to enhance economic development.

10.   Ensure that government will continue to function, through coordinated disaster recovery plans, after natural or man made disasters.

AZ IT Strategic Plan

Strategic Initiatives

1.  Enterprise Architecture as a technology building code - Advancing a common IT framework for deploying, managing and using technology to serve citizens.

2.  Homeland Security -Taking a proactive approach in protecting Arizona’s citizens and securing the State's IT assets and data.  Also, ensuring Government will continue after a natural or man made disaster.

3.  Oversight - Approving large-scale projects and monitoring their progress to ensure that business succeeds.  Also, analyzing technology plans to ensure they support business goals and statewide IT direction.

4.  E-Government - Saving money by letting customers serve themselves, increasing accessibility to government and enabling more efficiency.

Goal 1.  Improve statewide planning and oversight processes to increase agencies’ abilities to deliver quality products and services. 

Strategies:

• Integrate the IT and business planning processes to ensure better alignment of IT with business mission

• Improve agency efficiencies by providing software through enterprise agreements

• Ensure IT project success by providing increased project oversight for high-risk projects

• Improve PIJ process by including Enterprise Architecture compliance review

Benefits:

• IT driven by business needs

• Projects completed on time and within budget

• IT programs consistent with agencies’ mission and goals

Goal 2.  Coordinate information technology resources to support State business processes.   

Strategies:

• Standardize and consolidate hardware, software, associated infrastructure and organizations, where justified

• Ensure all IT organizations support Enterprise Architecture

Benefits:

• Leverage IT resources

• Enable interagency deployment of customer services

• Agency IT projects contribute to statewide infrastructure of open standards

• All hardware and software purchases fit statewide environment

Goal 3.  Support the Homeland Security initiative and securing the State’s IT infrastructure. 

Strategies:

• Develop security standards related to architecture that align with Homeland Security initiatives

• Encourage partnerships among many different entities to ensure secure coverage in a broad range of areas

Benefits:

• Secured, statewide IT infrastructure to protect privacy and data integrity

• Secured critical infrastructure to protect a variety of citizen interests, such as, water, food supplies, etc.

Goal 4.  Provide the public with enhanced access to State government. 

Strategies:

• Provide online service delivery when cost-efficient and strategically effective

• Encourage agency use of the State Web Portal and provide a sound business model for online service delivery

• Improve look and feel, navigation, search capabilities and add new business transactions

 

Benefits:

• Enable intra-governmental delivery of services

• Provide service 24 hours/day, 365 days/year for citizens

• Provide a common entry point for a positive experience with online services for citizens

• Improve access for citizens to government

Goal 5.  Improve rural standard of living and economic development. 

Strategies:

• Share telecommunication networks

• Partner with vendors to leverage State of Arizona buying power

• Aggregate cross-jurisdictional government needs for broadband services

• Solicit demand through community activism to speed broadband deployment

• Foster competition to encourage better services at lower prices to underserved areas of Arizona

Benefits:

• Leverage State spending on network build-out to underserved areas to enable economic development to rural areas

• Citizens, government entities and the private sector in rural areas can leverage their buying power to obtain broadband access

• Reduce disparities between underserved areas across the State for access to the Internet and other online services

Strategic Objectives