Governor Schwarzenegger has signed AB 2408, by Assemblyman Cameron Smyth, to improve the state’s information technology (IT) infrastructure, increase government efficiency and save costs.

The measure codifies Governor’s Executive Order (EO) S-03-10 issued in February to define targets and timelines for IT consolidation across the executive branch. It also creates a permanent structure for IT governance as outlined in Governor’s Reorganization Plan 1 (GRP 1) which consolidated state IT functions under the Office of the State Chief Information Officer (OCIO).

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“I’m proud of AB 2408 and the cost savings that it achieves,” said Smyth. “It’s no secret that California is in the middle of an unprecedented fiscal crisis, and we need to be proactive in finding ways to save money and improve government efficiency. I thank Governor Schwarzenegger for signing the bill today, and look forward to working with the next administration on similar efforts to improve delivery of services and recognize cost savings.”

GRP 1 realigned IT resources, including the Department of Technology Services under the leadership of the OCIO, to enhance efficiency and bolster performance. The reorganization created more accountability and provided a framework to enhance the IT workforce that supports the computer systems, among other things. It is estimated to achieve a cost savings of $1.5 billion over 5 years.

“Since the beginning of my Administration, I have been a strong advocate for rebuilding the state’s technology systems to make them work better and more efficiently for the people of California,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “This legislation tops a list of strategic changes made to California’s IT program to further improve the state’s IT operations. This action will strengthen project oversight, increase transparency in spending, promote greater cost savings and define specific targets to reduce energy usage in our IT systems and further consolidate services.”

Originally called for in the Governor’s EO and included in the bill, California’s IT consolidation targets require state agencies to:

• Reduce the total amount of energy utilized by IT and telecommunications equipment by 20 percent by July 1, 2011 and by 30 percent by July 1, 2012.

• Reduce data center square footage by 50 percent by July 2011.

• Host all mission critical public facing applications and server refreshes in a Tier III data center and close all existing data centers and server rooms that house non-network equipment by June 2013.

• Begin migrating from their existing network services to the California Government Network no later than July 2011.

• Begin migrating to the state’s shared e-mail solution no later than 2011.

• Develop and maintain enterprise architecture plans in compliance with the statewide enterprise architecture policies and standards as established by the OCIO.

• Participate in activities coordinated by the Office of Information Security for response to security incidents and cyber security threats.

To more efficiently oversee IT in state government, the Governor signed SB 90 in August 2007 to establish the OCIO as a cabinet-level agency with statutory authority over IT policy. The OCIO establishes and enforces IT strategic plans, policies, standards and enterprise architecture, as well as approves IT projects for all state departments.