Government has many different ways of financing expenditures and this practice has caused unintended consequences. Often systems are bought as single department solutions with no understanding of the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) or even a budget for implementation services, on-going support, or technology life cycle management. As a result of these myopic strategies, many system decisions have caused long lasting negative consequences.
Leveraging the resources of several departments or even adjacent political subdivisions, have been done rarely in the past. This is due to departmental budget concerns and "turf" battles. With burgeoning service requirements and customer expectations, government IT departments have to be more responsive and creative to satisfy the needs of their clients. Many events have created these situations such as tightening budgets, expanding public information requests, increasing reporting requirements (Sarbox and HIPAA) and Homeland Security concerns.
Lucas County Information Services department has changed their historical method of funding IT projects and embraced an enterprise strategy. This strategy allows for standardization of infrastructure, desktop PCs, servers, disk storage, backup systems, applications, database platforms and data repositories. The process is certainly a challenge to implement. To accomplish this goal, several elements must be available. These elements include coordinated strategic and tactical planning, inter-governmental cooperation, and strong leadership both
politically and technically.
The presentation will demonstrate the methodology used to establish the Lucas County Information Technology Enterprise Strategy. Furthermore, it will illustrate the many cooperative projects that have been funded across departmental and jurisdictional boundaries, provide insights, and lessons learned.
Presenter:
Keith Fournier
CIO and Director
Lucas County Information Services Department
Keith Fournier, BS, MA, MBA, PMP, CMS, GISP, Network+, CCNA, CCDA, CDIA, is the CIO (Chief Information Officer) and Director of the Lucas County Information Services Department. Mr. Fournier has successfully managed the implementation of PeopleSoft HR/Payroll modules with the complete reengineering of all county business process. The implementation strategy for this process was presented at the 2002 PeopleSoft Connect Conference in New Orleans. Additional successful initiatives for the county have included the development of an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system, redesigned and replaced entire county-wide data network, introduced and implemented desktop standardization and life cycle management methodologies, designing and implementing hot backup computer center, created new procurement standards for computer systems and related infrastructure, reorganized the entire management human resource, program support and project management structure of the Information Services department, and negotiated numerous service, labor, equipment and system contracts. Additionally, he serves as the County's Geographic Information Officer (GIO) and the vice-chair of the Joint Regional Terrorism Task Force (JRTTF) GIS and Technology Subcommittee. He is the director of the Lucas County AREIS (Auditor's Real Estate Information System) GIS Project.
While attending undergraduate school, Keith was a dean's list student and has obtained Bachelor of Science in Economics and Business and a Master's degree in Geography and Planning from the University of Toledo. Keith is a member Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, and Gamma Theta Epsilon International Geography Honor Society. Mr. Fournier completed his Master of Business Administration program at Heidelberg College in August 2004. He received the 2004 Outstanding MBA Student Award for exemplary scholarship in the pursuit of his degree. Heidelberg College is a 155-year old, private liberal arts school
located in Tiffin, Ohio. Mr. Fournier has achieved the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institute. He is an active member of the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO). Additionally, he has obtained the Cadastral Mapping Specialist (CMS) professional designation from the IAAO. Mr. Fournier has received his Geographic Information Systems Professional (GISP) Designation from the Geographic Information Systems Certification Institute (GISCI). Keith has also earned an Oracle Master Certificate in Designer/ Developer 2000. He has obtained networking and document
imaging certifications including Network+, Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA), and Certified Document Imaging Architech (CDIA). Keith is a long-time member a member of Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) and was the 1998 Chairman of the Ohio Chapter. He has presented numerous technical and managerial papers and participated in panel discussions at numerous state, regional and international conferences. Mr. Fournier has been recently reappointed the State Liaison and serves on the Governance Board for the Ohio County Information Technology Association (OCITA). In addition to GIS courses, Keith teaches Global Positioning System (GPS) classes for the University of Toledo. He is also a URISA Certified Workshop instructor in GIS, GPS, and Procurement and Contract Management. As an adjunct professor, he teaches graduate level Management Information Systems (MIS), project management, and managerial economic classes in the Heidelberg College MBA program. Keith is also a licensed private pilot (ASEL) and is certified by the FAA as an Advanced Ground School Instructor (AGI).
Keith has been presented the "1999 Bernard L. Barnard Outstanding Technical Essay Award" from the IAAO. The essay was published in the IAAO Assessment Journal and focused on the use of AutoCAD subdivision drawings to update a GIS cadastral database. Additional awards received by the Lucas County Auditor's GIS include the 1999 International Special Achievements in GIS award from Environmental Systems Research Institute and the 1998 International Exemplary Systems in Government (ESIG) award in Operations Automation Systems form URISA. Additionally, after Lucas County received the ESIG award, he has served on the Exemplary Systems in Government (ESIG) Committee for URISA as the 2001 Committee Chair. Lucas County GIS Team has also received the 1998 and 2002 Ohio Geographic Referenced Information Program (OGRIP) "Best Practices in GIS" Award presented at the Ohio GIS Conferences for their data sharing and cooperative project philosophy. The 2002 3CMA (City-County Communications and Marketing Association) National Savvy Award was received for our AREIS CD Viewer. The Digital Counties Survey 2003, facilitated by the Center for Digital Government and the National Association for Counties (NACO), identified Lucas County and presented their "Best of Breed" award as one of the 10 Best County Internet sites in the United States. Mr. Fournier is a member of the URISA National GIS University accreditation, program certification, and professional designation committee. Keith has served on the Executive Board of Directors for the Ohio Geographically Referenced Program (OGRIP).
