The Story Behind Connecticut’s Dramatic IT Improvement

Connecticut was named one of two “most improved” states in our Digital States Survey released in September. Connecticut’s Digital States grade jumped from a C in 2012 to an A-minus this year, powered by big investments in shared services and statewide transformation of business processes. In this video, Connecticut CIO Mark Raymond talks about his state’s impressive IT improvement over the past several years.

An IT investment fund created in 2011 is pumping money into new systems, replacing technology that had become dangerously outdated. Nearly 30 projects are underway now, and another 24 are under consideration, Raymond said. Funding decisions are made by a committee of state agency directors, and priority is given to shared services projects.

“Gov. [Dan] Malloy came in and wanted to do more with technology, and he combined that with agency commissioners who shared that view,” Raymond said. “On top of that, we couldn’t be an agency that tells people no. Instead we needed to find ways to help them be successful, and we knew that we needed funding to be able to do that.”