The State of Maine continues to use technology to enhance business processes and procedures. One tremendous efficiency gain we are introducing is Business Process Management. Over the past several years, the software industry has developed tools to improve workflow processes, transparency into processes, and to give more power to change workflow to the end user. Industry software now allows us to “see” a process – data comes in, is processed, and is output as information. According to a Gartner survey, BPM was the number one efficiency gain (ahead of technology) for American businesses the last five years. BPM lets business users change, modify, and have views into business process. It replaces the manual, paper intensive government processes that exist today with automated workflows that business resources can modify. It automates the government processes of gathering data from citizens, processing, and outputting valuable information. BPM Partnerships A great example of collaboration is both the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environmental Protection which will be interfacing with the Statewide geographic information systems (GIS). They are going to collaboratively define common functionality for their services that will reduce deployment time as well as share cost. The Department of Environmental Protection will be able to reuse most of the public facing portal created by the Department of Marine Resources. By completely documenting and then reusing rules created in the BPM system, we can more intelligently interact with citizens. Specifically, a user account at one agency can be used across the State and the State has a citizen-centric view of users. Cloud First Technologies: The State of Maine, like the U.S. Federal Government, is developing a “cloud first” strategy. The U.S. Federal Government cloud policy (Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP): “The Administration’s Federal Cloud Computing Strategy requires agencies to default to cloud-based solutions whenever a secure, reliable and cost-effective cloud option exists – however, the move to the cloud requires a dramatic shift in the way Federal agencies buy IT – from capital expenditures to operating expenditures. A fundamental shift: Agencies get state of the art products and services when they need them, at lower, commodity-based prices. Government can redirect scarce resources to mission-critical efforts as opposed to managing IT.”
The Chief Information Officer (CIO) directs, coordinates, and oversees information technology (IT) policymaking, planning, architecture, and standardization throughout State government. The CIO, as head of OIT, provides the central leadership and vision in the use of information and telecommunications technology on a statewide basis; sets policies and standards for the implementation and use of information and telecommunications technologies; develops and supports IT-related legislation; identifies and implements information technology best business and project management practices; and facilitates research and development activities to identify and establish effective information technology service delivery. The CIO is also statutorily directed to sit as a board member on the InforME Board, the Maine Geolibrary Board, and the ConnectME Authority Board. See details of the CIO and OIT’s role in the Maine statute at: and following sections. AGENCY SUPPORT AND COORDINATION The Office of Information Technology provides IT support for all Executive Branch Agencies. This includes computer equipment and software, network support, e-mail, and application systems development and maintenance. OIT also provides network and selected other services outside the Executive Branch Agencies including the Judicial Branch and Constitutional Offices (Secretary of State’s Office and the Attorney General’s Office). Agency Application Systems: OIT staff and contractors develop and manage computer programs and databases for all Executive Branch agencies. These computer programs are referred to as application systems. The seven largest application systems, in terms of annual cost, are: Maine Integrated Health Management Solution (MIHMS) – for Medicaid claims processing. Advantage – the State’s key accounting system that supports all Executive Branch agencies for accounts receivables, accounts payables, general ledger, and procurement functions. Automated Client Eligibility System (ACES) – for determining eligibility and keeping data on those receiving benefits under 26 programs (including Medicaid), as administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Labor Benefits – for tracking and managing those receiving unemployment compensation. Human Resources / Payroll System – for State employee personnel data. Agency License Management System (ALMS) – used by 50 regulatory programs to manage more than 600 types of licenses and permits, spread across three departments. Maine Revenue Integrated Tax System (MERITS) – the central “tax engine” system for Maine Revenue Services. Architecture-Security-Policy