technology in catawba county report to the catawba county board of commissioners

TECHNOLOGY IN CATAWBA COUNTYREPORT TO THE CATAWBA COUNTY BOARD OF

COMMISSIONERS

PREPARED BY

THE TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

FEBRUARY 2009

Six Strategic Initiatives

• Strategic Initiative 1– Empower the Public: Enable the public to interact with local government by providing secure access to

information and the ability to efficiently conduct appropriate business 365/24/7.

• Strategic Initiative 2– Improve outcomes, efficiency, responsiveness, and agility of services by transforming the management

of information technology through best practices and shared resources.

• Strategic Initiative 3– Transform key business processes through the effective use of innovative technology and state-of-the-

art software.

• Strategic Initiative 4– Leverage innovative partnerships to offer better services.

• Strategic Initiative 5– Empower the Workforces: Enable personnel by increasing the efficiency and agility of the systems they

depend on.

• Strategic Initiative 6– Improve public safety by leveraging modern information systems and technology.

Empower the Public: Enable the public to interact with local government by providing secure access to information and the ability to efficiently conduct appropriate business 365/24/7.

STRATEGIC INITIATIVE 1

1Empower the Public…

…Web Site Redesign


…Web Site Redesign

BLOGS


• Apply for permits online– Track progress • Approval and Building Process• Automated Notification

• Comprehensive– Permitting, management, plan review,

inspections, scheduling and cashiering.

• Integrated– GIS, plan review and zoning, municipalities

…Permit Center Application Replacement


• Multiple forms of payments– Consistent

• Online, over the counter, phone

• Convenient for the public• Consolidated– Accounts: landfill and

building• Collected– $1,634,509.03 – 8033 transactions

…Unified Electronic Payment Processing

Improve outcomes, efficiency, responsiveness, and agility of services by transforming the management of information technology through best practices and shared resources.


Best Practices and Shared Resources…

2…Best Practices

• IT Governance Structure• Standards Based Decisions• Life Cycle Management Plan• Project Management Methodology• Encouraging and Tracking “Green IT”


2…Shared Resources

• Citrix• Document Imaging System• VoIP• Microsoft Office• SharePoint Services


2…Virtual Technology/SAN(Storage Area Network)

• March 2006 – 70 physical servers, 4.5 terabytes storage

• Today 128 servers – 108 virtual and 20 physical servers– 12 terabytes storage used– 27 terabytes of storage available.

• Full redundancy for disaster recovery• Approximately $400,000 in server

savings

Transform key business processes through the effective use of innovative technology and state-of-the-art software.


3Innovative Technology…

…Mobilize the workforce

• Mobile Field Inspection Tools for Food and Lodging and Well and Septic Inspectors:

• Mobile Field Tools for Home Health Services:

• Tracking for School Nurse Program• Maintenance Work Order System• Mobile Field Based Reporting for Law

Enforcement

Innovative Technology…

3…GIS Connected, Integrated

• GIS is the most visited site on our Web• Orthophotography• Oblique Photography (Pictometry)• Integrated with 911 Communications,

Permitting, Inspections, Planning, Tax, Emergency Services

• AVL and Response Mapping


3…Mobile and AVL Tools

• VisionMobile and AVL for Emergency Vehicles– Enhances our current investment by enabling the

flow of information to and from units in the field. – Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) tracking with

Automated Vehicle Locating (AVL). – Dispatch closest available unit as opposed to the

current base dispatched method. – Once dispatched, call information will be sent to the

unit's onboard computer with address and mapping directions for the incident.


3…Mobile and AVL Tools

• Benefits of this project include:– Increased officer safety using GPS and AVL

technologies– Improved response times by having visual maps in

the nearest public safety units– Improved response times by sending information of

dispatched calls to the public safety units– Delivering valuable information to public safety

laptops from existing databases (warrants, criminal history, hazmat,etc.)

– Entering reports and monitoring dispatch information directly in the field

Leverage innovative partnerships to offer better services


Innovative Partnerships…

4…Our Partners

• Hickory Sunrise Rotary Club Partnership• School Surveillance by Sheriff’s

Department• Mental Health Partners and CVBH• Internet Bandwidth Increase with

WPCOG


4…Moving Forward

• Research Broadband in Catawba County– Broadband Provided Mainly by Cable or

Telephone Companies– Broadband Speeds are Lagging Behind Other

High Tech Countries– No Major Backbone Infrastructure in

Catawba County

• Obama’s Technology Plan– Lead the World in Broadband Deployment


4…Moving Forward

United States5 Mbs /second

Japan60 Mbs /second$35 /month

$55 /month

Empower the Workforces: Enable personnel by increasing the efficiency and agility of the systems they depend on.


Empower the Workforce…

…Training

• Well Trained Technology Staff• Continuous Training

5

Empower the Workforce…

5…Tools

• Mobilization• Wireless Connectivity• Online – Applications– Expense Reporting– Benefit Enrollment– Time Reporting– Documents

Improve public safety by leveraging modern information systems and technology.


Improve Public Safety…

6…Security

• Firewall Upgrade• Redundancy• Infrastructure Upgrade• User Security / Data Security


6…Modern Systems

E911Telephone Replacement Project and 911 Center Upgrade


6…Interoperability

• 800 MHz VIPER System– Partnership with NCSHP– Land Transferred to State in July 2008– Tower Constructed (Not finished)– Full County Coverage– Homeland Security Grant– Equipment Ordered for 911 Center– EMS and Law Enforcement Moving Forward

• Both Systems will remain in place, VHF eventually to function as backup.

• Organizations can come on as they have funding– Grant Opportunities

TECHNOLOGY IN CATAWBA COUNTYREPORT TO THE CATAWBA COUNTY BOARD OF

COMMISSIONERS

PREPARED BY

THE TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

FEBRUARY 2009

technology in catawba county report to the catawba county board of commissioners

Documents

technology departmentfebruary

agility of services

public safety

appropriate business

key business processes

modern information systems

innovative technologymobilize

visited site