Press Release

Oakland County Showcases Egov Success at Digital Government Summit

Pontiac, MI, October 18, 2004 -- Oakland County's award-winning eGovernment programs were on display at the recent Michigan Digital Government Summit in Lansing. Among representatives of all levels of government in Michigan, Oakland County was the only governmental body to exhibit and demo program successes in the Summit's Government Solutions Center. The County shared success stories and lessons learned on the frontier of eGovernment in Michigan.

During a roundtable discussion on the challenges of delivering government services in today's economy, Director of Information Technology Phil Bertolini spoke about Oakland County's successful collaborative projects. "By working with elected officials on the County level, and with the 61 cities, villages and townships in the County, we're able to produce enterprise technology applications that make the best use of resources, which in turn saves Oakland County taxpayers money," said Mr. Bertolini.

"The technology that we have shared with our local communities gives them the flexibility to use their strained financial resources for such essential local services as putting cops on the street, snow removal, trash pick-up, and ensuring adequate fire protection," said Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson.

"Our philosophy is 'Build it once, pay for it once, and everybody benefits.' This is the basis of our success with integrating eGovernment technology horizontally throughout the County as well as vertically with all of our local communities," said Mr. Bertolini, who was named Automation Alley's 2004 CIO of the Year.

This enterprise approach to government technology recently earned Oakland County national recognition as one of CIO Magazine's 2004 Agile 100, an honor given to public and private sector organizations that are able to "move quickly, adapt intelligently and create advantage in a rapidly changing world." CIO Magazine praised Oakland County's Department of Information Technology for its exceptional performance.

Oakland County's Vital Records online service, eHealth online well and septic permitting application, and the Department of Information Technology's Thin Client program all received 2004 Achievement Awards from the National Association of Counties.

The numerous Web-based services that Oakland County provides to its local communities include the ability to:
Order certified copies of birth, death, and marriage certificates
Pay tickets issued by the 52nd District Court
Pay property taxes
Order permits and licenses
Order maps and aerial photographs of property in Oakland County

Oakland County's eGovernment Initiative also provides local governments and law enforcement agencies with access to shared resources such as:

CLEMIS crime information network shared by more than 150 law enforcement agencies, online at www.clemis.org
Community-oriented policing Web sites for local police departments, such as www.pontiacpolice.com
Geographic Information System (GIS) data and applications
Video arraignment capability for courts and law enforcement agencies
400-mile fiber optic secure Metropolitan Area Network

Find more information about the Oakland County eGovernment Initiative at http://www.oakgov.com/egov/.

Find out more about Oakland County online resources at http://www.oakgov.com. For media inquiries only, please contact Bob Dustman, Oakland County Media and Communications Officer, at 248-858-1048.