The State Of TechnologyThe State Of Technology

The college bowl games aren't the only place you'll find fierce state rivalry. State CIOs battle for top ranking, too, as evidenced by the Center for Digital Government's 2001 Digital State survey, which covered eight categories including E-commerce, taxation, social services, law enforcement and education, and geographic information system/transportation. Washington state's three-year winning streak came to an end in 2001 when it was ousted by Illinois and Kansas, which tied for the top spot.

"When I met Washington's CIO last year, I told him we were going to beat them," says Mary Reynolds, Illinois' chief technology officer. The two winners were followed by Washington, Maryland, Arizona, and Maine.

The top ranking is a great send-off for retiring Kansas CIO Don Heiman--and another step toward dispelling notions about a patently rural Kansas. "If you've ever sat in the cockpit of a John Deere combine, you'd understand technology in Kansas," says Heiman. "We left the days of Massey-Harris Pony tractors a long time ago." The state's accomplishments include an online GIS tool that manages water supplies--crossing agency boundaries and including local governments. Still, Heiman does schedule mainframe upgrades around the harvest because some employees have to lend a helping hand.

Virginia, which offers customized license plates boasting that it's the "Internet C@pital," was conspicuously absent from the survey's top 25 ranking. How will this affect the state's claim? Cathilea Robinett, executive director for the Center for Digital Government, says she doesn't know. "But trust me," she says, laughing, "I'm going to hear about this."