During INPUT's State and Local MarketView conference on June 4, 2008, Dr. Alan Shark, Director of the Public Technology Institute, moderated a session discussing programs and initiatives taking place in state and local IT offices. Gene Doody, CIO and Director of IT for the City of Richmond, VA; and Vivek Kundra, Chief Technology Officer for the District of Columbia Government; provided insight into some of the initiatives these two agencies have or are in the process undertaking. Some of these initiatives include better access to government purchasing and IT projects. In essence, both speakers expressed the desire to make their agencies more transparent. In order to achieve transparency, the District of Columbia has incorporated wiki and other web 2.0 technology that allows the public to access information similar to the commercial market.

However, implementing new technology or business practices never sails as smooth as one would like. Doody and Kundra both expressed frustrations in the area of budgets and departmental acceptance of the new technology. Doody stated that working with a flat budget can be a huge barrier when implementing new technology because something will need to be cut in order to free up money for a new initiative. This can be seen across all government agencies as the economy weakens and priorities need to be established as far as what stays and what gets cut.

Another frustration seen at the state and local IT level is departmental acceptance of new technology. It can be very difficult to gain the support necessary to implement new and innovative technology because it can be a challenge to change the mindset and business processes many legacy employees have and adhere to. However, both agreed that there needs to be more engagement and buy-in from the leadership within the state or locality. The focus of IT should be a holistic approach and not an agency-by-agency approach.

INPUT believes that much of what is being done in DC and Richmond will translate and catch on throughout state and local IT departments. Agencies will begin to look towards new technology that not only solves problems, but enables them to incorporate private sector business models into public sector operations.