New York State Launches Empire 2.0

The New York State Chief Information Officer/Office for Technology announced today the launch of Empire 2.0 - a New York State social media networking initiative designed to promote government participation, increase collaboration and expand the state's ability to share information with social media users. Empire 2.0 will be a new and innovative way for New York State to Create, Connect, and Collaborate!

The Empire 2.0 strategy is a roadmap for New York Executive Branch agencies to use Web 2.0, new media, and social collaborative tools and technologies to improve intergovernmental communications and encourage citizen involvement by initiating conversations to strengthen our communities and government. The Empire 2.0 strategy encourages New York State agencies to embrace these engaging technologies to interact with citizens, businesses, and employees with increased efficiency, collaboration, transparency, and openness.

While a number of state agencies have been piloting Web 2.0 tools, CIO/OFT began its social media effort in May by launching a Facebook page, and a Twitter feed to tweet real-time updates about the agency. CIO/OFT has since furthered its strategy by launching a Wiki to initiate dialogues on IT policy and strategy development, and is utilizing a crowd-sourcing application to generate ideas and discussions on technology initiatives and strategies from state employees and citizens.

"We believe the interactivity and personalization associated with next generation technology like social media networking and Web 2.0 tools will enable state agencies to bring communications to a new level," said Dr. Melodie Mayberry-Stewart, NYS Chief Information Officer and Director of the Office For Technology. "We must meet the needs of millions of people who spend their time on social media sites with personalized, interactive tools they have come to expect to get instantaneous information and to engage in our democracy."

"The launch of Empire 2.0 to expand the use of new media and Web 2.0 technologies holds exciting promise," said State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines, M.D. "Various means of social media networking has enabled our department to relay important health messages, such as smoking cessation and obesity prevention to tens of thousands of New Yorkers. Through this new strategy, we look forward to expanding our efforts to include even more personalized and interactive means of reaching as many of our citizens as possible.""Exploiting Web 2.0 social networking tools is critical for improving outcomes for children and families in New York State," said Office of Children and Family Services Commissioner Gladys Carrion, Esq. "If children's principal methods for communications are texting, instant messaging, Myspace, and Facebook, we need to use these services so that we can provide them with the critical services that they need to become healthy and happy young adults."

"There is a lot of room for government to use technology for better transparency, better participation, and to empower legislatures to do a better job. Communicating openly about what you are doing is relevant for government transparency, government efficiency and to get people aware of what you are doing, so they can get involved," said Andrew Hoppin, New York State Senate Chief Information Officer.

"If we have the platforms, if we have the technology, marry it to a process that allows people to contribute their ideas or expertise, and marry that to laws that say it is OK. The hope is we can lead to and create a more open government," Beth Noveck, Deputy CTO of the open government initiative at the Office of Science and Technology.

To kick-off the New York State Empire 2.0 initiative, the New York State Office of the Chief Information Officer/Office for Technology and the New York Senate Office of the Chief Information Officer are cohosting the first New York State Government Capitol Camp on June 5, 2009, in Albany, New York. Citizens and New York State employees are convening at the inaugural Capitol Camp to share ideas about how technology can make government work better for the citizens of the Empire State. The focus is the use technology to increase transparency and participation in New York State government.

This first Capitol Camp is organized into tracks highlighting Web 2.0 and social networking strategies within the legislature and state agencies. The Camp provides hands-on training on how to use social networking websites more effectively for increased productivity and communication.

For additional information on the first Capitol Camp, visit http://barcamp.org/CapitolCamp. Follow@CapitolCamp on Twitter for real-time updates on the inaugural event.

To become a fan of the CIO/OFT on Facebook, visit http://companies.to/nystatecio, and follow us on Twitter at @NYStateCIO. To collaborate on IT strategy and policy development, visit http://wiki.cio.ny.gov/, and to engage in collaborative discussions and brainstorming at http://techtalk.cio.ny.govand http://ideas.cio.ny.gov.

About CIO/OFT

The State Chief Information Officer and Office for Technology (CIO/OFT) provide statewide IT strategic direction, IT policy and centralized IT services to the state and its governmental entities. CIO/OFT provides IT enterprise services to support the missions of state agencies by operating four mainframe data centers 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, including more than 90,000 telecom users, 50 statewide mission-critical applications, a secure network of over 1,600 miles of fiber, including IT operations, telecommunications, Internet and Intranet services, enterprise email systems and support, IT training, networking, data storage and processing. In addition, the agency has a world renowned project management practice, develops and supports web applications and assists with application development. For more information, visit http://www.cio.state.ny.us/.