First of all, I am excited to re-announce that the GMIS Data Dive results have been released! Thank you to all who have participated and contributed to this new comprehensive GMIS public sector IT Benchmarking and Metrics tool that will help GMIS members justify new staff or budget, review new initiatives your peers are planning in the next three years or learn what the majority of agencies are using. Kudos to the leadership and efforts of 1st Vice President Justin Heyman, Data Dive Committee Members, CMP Management, and our IAC Partners as well to get us to this point with Data Dive!

By Marc Thorson

I am excited to introduce you to a new initiative in GMIS, which has been designed to help our industry and our organizations. The information technology industry in the public sector is young compared to its colleagues in finance, community development, public works, public safety and others. As these other industries matured, standards and metrics were developed to help standardize best practices so they no longer varied from organization to organization.

Collectively, we have built public-sector IT to be an integral part of government organizations. We have established ourselves as solution providers and process analyzers. However, this evolution is not equal across all organizations. A framework is needed to help those working in IT to help make decisions on solutions the organization needs, but in a way that meets industry standards. This framework must be flexible to be useful to a variety of proficiency levels and organization sizes.

This framework is the foundation of the GMIS Accreditation program. In developing this framework, GMIS intends to provide a path for organizations to evaluate their current level of information technology, plan and budget for needed improvements, execute this plan, and submit the results for an audit to be completed by an authorized third-party auditing firm.

GMIS member since 1996
Number of IT staff: 11
Population: 110,000
IT budget: $1,387,424.00 (includes personnel)

It was a pleasure to represent GMIS International, along with GMIS International President Brian Kelley, at this year’s LOLA conference on November 17-21 in Antwerp, Belgium. All countries were represented with the exception of Australia; however, an overview was provided by proxy. Each organization gave an overview of activities from home countries. GMIS was excited to report about our Data Dive project, successful conference activity, and upcoming Accreditation program among other activities.

Here’s a look at our most popular news stories of 2015. (GovTech)

Security and risk management was cited as the top IT priority by state government CIOs, followed by cloud services and systems consolidation, according to a survey by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers. (Wall Street Journal)

Cities looking to invest in cutting-edge technology can raise the capital by encouraging their workers to use resources, like energy and water, more efficiently, said the head of a consortium designed to support smart cities. (State Scoop)

Local governments are providing streamlined processes and government information digitally to their citizens 24-7, on-demand. (American City & County)

The city’s IT and telecommunications department has come up with a solution to a problem plaguing many. (StateTech)

Here are some guidelines to help you empower the people within your agency — without risking over-exposure. (GovTech Social)

Predictions from research firm IDC revealed three particularly interesting trends emerging around the smart cities movement. (GovTech)

Industry leaders are designing programs that can verify users based on the way they type. (FedScoop)

Can't decide what to buy a tech-loving boss, client, colleague or favorite 'brogrammer' this holiday season? These great gift cards and subscriptions are sure to please even the pickiest techie. (CIO)