In a recent Wall Street Journal article there was a survey in which an overwhelming number of voters desired state government reform. Additionally, I thought it was interesting that 78 percent of those polled felt that the states were in crisis. So I felt that it would be quite timely for me to share myRead… Read more »
Two cloud computing groups are coming together to create industry standards for managing cloud computing environments. The Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA) and the Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF) are joining forces to focus on interoperability and simplified cloud management. The partnership is working to create interoperable management of virtual machines spread across several dataRead… Read more »
Maryland has chosen Tyler Technologies to integrate its court management system using the Odyssey(R) solution. The Odyssey court management system will integrate managing and reporting court information in order to help the state meet its Maryland Electronic Court (MDEC) goals. The state court system is working to upgrade and streamline many of its legacy systems.Read… Read more »
California has released a new business plan for its high-speed rail project. The plan calls for creating a high-speed rail line between San Francisco and Los Angeles but will cost $98.5 billion – more than twice the previous estimate. The plan will also take several more years to complete than previously estimated, work isn’t expectedRead… Read more »
Six clinics in Montana will be the subject of a new, federal coordinated care pilot. The clinics are located in Helena, Missoula, Bozeman, Livingston, Great Falls and Libby and will get extra money for every Medicare patient they see. The money will go to create coordinated care programs for these patients. The coordinated care programRead… Read more »
California plans to start cutting Medi-Cal payments. The state sought federal permission to reduce the amount of money it gives out to cover health care for the state’s low income residents. Under the terms of the plan the state will make a 10% cut in the amount of reimbursements it pays out, a move whichRead… Read more »
Louisiana has lost an $80 million rural broadband grant for failing to keep their broadband expansion project on track. The Commerce Department rescinded the grant stating that the project administrators were repeatedly unresponsive to requests for information and updates on where the project stood. Senator Mary Landrieu has said that her state missed an opportunity,Read… Read more »
The Federal Communications Commission is staking out a rough position on broadband. The commission is considering capping broadband funds while simultaneously promoting broadband expansion nationwide. The vote would cap funds for rural broadband available through the Universal Service Fund. The Universal Service Fund is a surcharge every American pays on their telephone bills in orderRead… Read more »
Chillicothe, Ohio is gaining national recognition for it’s regional broadband expansion plan. The plan is managed by local company Horizon Telcom and gained two awards for it’s innovation. The project is the Connecting Appalachia Middle-Mile Fiber Optic Network. The 2011 Innovation Award from the National Association of Development Organizations Research Foundation was presented to theRead… Read more »
Florida Governor Rick Scott has reversed his position on federal funds and is allowing the state’s application for Race to the Top education funding to go through. Previously, Scott rejected federal funding on a variety of projects including some children’s healthcare funding which made the state ineligible for Race to the Top. Scott will haveRead… Read more »