By Dave Dahl/Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD – Illinois’ savings could be $425 million over five years if it maximized its use of computers, according to a new report from the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
The group’s president, Rob Atkinson, praises Illinois’ taxpayer information portal as a good start, but more can be done. He points to Utah as an example.
“They have more than 1100 government services online,” Atkinson said, “And every time a citizen uses those kinds of services as opposed to going into an office or making a call or sending something through the mail, they save an average of $13. For every one of those transactions, if they can move it over to the Internet, they save $13.”
It takes what Atkinson calls a “big bang” – a commitment to junk old equipment and embrace new technologies. He said information officers at a recent conference complained young IT whizzes won’t want to come work for them if their computers are 20 or 30 years old.
