Innovation means finding efficiencies fast

Warm beaches are not the only reason Florida is known as the Sunshine State.

Jason Allison, the chief information officer of Florida, told StateScoop last month that the states transparency efforts stand out as a national leader in making government more open. From a “right to know” portal to a budget site focused exclusively on transparency, Allison emphasized how the states Agency for State Technology bolsters Gov. Rick Scotts commitment to transparency.

The way were structured the Agency for State Technology we do a lot of the back office stuff, Allison said. Florida is very well known for transparency, for being the Sunshine State everythings open in the sunshine.

In addition to supporting the states transparency efforts, Allisonsaid the agency is looking into how to use data analytics to combat fraud in unemployment, compensation and reemployment cases. These aren’t pipe dreams. Last week, Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner announced that the state saved more than $20 million in fiscal year 2016 thanks to data analysis on healthcare fraud cases.

Its not like were out there creating new technologies or anything like that, Allison said. I think innovation means taking what is out there and bringing it into state government. To me, thats completely innovating because its usually been an area thats quite a bit of a laggard.

The idea is to use technologies like analytics and mobile platforms to make government more efficient, Allison said.

We serve the public. So, from an innovation standpoint, its about how best to take those technologies and implement them quickly, Allison said. Making sure that were able to deliver quickly and efficiently to me, thats innovating in state government.