The newly furnished space includes a $53,600 raised floor, chairs that cost nearly $400, and four large touch-screen wall monitors that cost about $10,000 each.
The costs will be offset by nearly $215,000 in savings from a canceled lease at 1 North Capitol and by part of a $500,000 grant from the Lilly Endowment, state budget director Chris Atkins said.
"Welcome to the future of state government," Pence said during a media tour of the new offices.
Pence said the new data hub is intended to put real-time data — on everything from traffic fatalities to meth busts to infant mortality — at the fingertips of policymakers.
In addition to the renovation costs, the state has paid $2.5 million to acquire software rights and will pay tech giant SAP an annual $550,000 maintenance fee.
Pence, who jokingly called the hub "the bridge of the Enterprise," said the project will make Indiana "the most transparent, the most efficient, and the most effective state government in America."
The hub features a blue, orange and gray color scheme and an open work space. It also includes a conference room and two private work areas separated by frosted glass sliding doors.
It will house 16 employees from the governor's office and the Office of Management and Budget's government efficiency and financial planning team.
The hub's top priority, Pence said, is to tackle the problem of infant mortality. Indiana's rate is one of the highest in the nation.
To that end, the state is paying KSM Consulting, an Indianapolis-based technology advising firm, $1.3 million.
KSM will work with state employees to sift through data from various state agencies in an effort to identify the causes of infant mortality. The state can then allocate resources to address those causes, Pence said.
The renovations come after the Indianapolis Star reported last month that state lawmakers have spent $338,000 as part of a two-year effort to refurbish portions of the Statehouse.
Those renovations included $760 leather chairs for the House chambers.
©2014 The Indianapolis Star
