Louisiana's
move from a federated IT environment to a central IT office three years ago brought needed savings and efficiencies to the state. At the time, CIO Dickie Howze admitted that change management was a significant piece of the undertaking.
At the
NASCIO conference earlier this week, Howze told
Government Technology that there's been progress in getting state employees on board with the change. "Our agency customers are accepting it more and more on a day-to-day basis," he said.
Post-consolidation, one major area of focus for Howze is on modernizing applications. As a starting point, the state is conducting an inventory of all of applications in need of an update. Referring to those efforts as well as the development of an enterprise architecture platform between two large state agencies, he underscored a commitment to a more modern technology environment in Louisiana.
"We just can't continue to operate like we've been operating for all of these decades. ... We definitely have to look at doing things together."
Noelle Knell is the executive editor for e.Republic, responsible for setting the overall direction for e.Republic’s editorial platforms, including Government Technology, Governing, Industry Insider, Emergency Management and the Center for Digital Education. She has been with e.Republic since 2011, and has decades of writing, editing and leadership experience. A California native, Noelle has worked in both state and local government, and is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, with majors in political science and American history.
