|
HEADLINES
scroll
down to find summaries and links to the articles
AUGUST
3 - AUGUST 9
*
Livingston County: Local law enforcement to
join high-tech system
*
Grand Rapids: Laptops
coming to GR's sixth- graders
*
St. Joseph County: St.
Joseph County Adopts New Public Records Management System
*
Macomb Township: Macomb
Township goes public
*
Garden City: City info
is a click away at computer kiosks
*
Ottawa County: New high-speed network
expands students' learning options
* West Bloomfield Township:
Township to communicate through fiber optics
*
Troy: Community Education debuts new Web
registration system
AUGUST
10 - AUGUSt 16
*
Metro Detroit: Web
crime climbs in Metro area
*
Otsego County: Fiber
optics network, wireless 'hotspots' making county
technological leader
*
Birmingham: New BPS
Web site up and running
*
Battle Creek: BCHS
using CAD system
*
Saginaw County:
Updating Web sites not simple
*
Niles: High-tech
heaven for sixth graders here
*
Livingston County: County
looks at faster Internet access
|
cyber-state.org
3520
Green Court, Suite 300
Ann
Arbor, MI 48105-1579
phone:
(734) 302-4755
fax:
(734) 302-4996
Cyber-state.org,
a member of the Altarum family, is a non-profit, nonpartisan
organization that is committed to ensuring that all Michigan
residents are able to benefit from information technology
(IT). One of our priorities is to assist state and local
policymakers as a resource for their creation and
deliberation of IT policy. With these email news briefings,
we hope to increase the awareness of the importance of
information technology for Michigan's local
governments, schools, health care, nonprofits, and the
economy as a whole.
OTHER
IT NEWS SOURCES
*
Detroit
Free Press / tech
*
Detroit
Tech News
*
Michigan CrainTech
*
Great
Lakes IT Report
*
Michigan
Technology News
*
Federal
Computer Week
*
Government
Computer News
*
Government
Technology
*
New York Times: Technology
*
Washtech.com
(Washington Post)
*
eGovernment
Resource Centre
|
|
AUGUST
3 2004
* Livingston County: Local law
enforcement to join high-tech system
Local law enforcement departments are preparing to
become a part of Oakland County's CLEMIS, or Courts and Law
Enforcement Management System, which will help officers to
be "light-years ahead" in fighting crime, local
police chiefs agree. Livingston County Central Dispatch is
already a CLEMIS participant and the Howell Police
Department hopes to be online this month with Brighton and
Green Oak Township police following. CLEMIS, a unit of
Oakland County's Department of Information Technology, is
state-of-the-art computer technology used by criminal
justice and public safety agencies. It links multiple
agencies in an effort to share and communicate criminal
justice information.
Source: Daily Press and Argus, http://www.hometownlife.net/berkley/NewsSearch.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=44404
*
Grand Rapids: Laptops coming to GR's sixth- graders
Grand Rapids Public Schools will save more than
$100,000 by buying laptop computers through the state rather
than leasing them. Board of Education members agreed to
spend $2.2 million for computers for sixth-graders, with
nearly the entire amount coming from a state grant. The
district also will use $67,640 in federal grants and $17,120
from its general fund in the first year of the four-year
deal. Administrators have said the computers would be used
to boost reading and writing skills, part of the district's
emphasis on literacy. The computers would be kept in the
schools, though they could be taken home later as students
become comfortable with them.
Source: Grand Rapids Press, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-16/1091544367282220.xml?grpress?NEG
AUGUST
4 2004
* St. Joseph County: St. Joseph
County Adopts New Public Records Management System
St. Joseph County adopted Hart InterCivic's Anthem
System for integrated public records management and
automated indexing of documents. The Anthem System
will enable St. Joseph County to fully automate the indexing
of documents and allow convenient public access, which will
enhance productivity and accuracy while protecting data
integrity and accessibility to documents.
Source: Government Technology, http://www.govtech.net/news/news.php?id=91057
AUGUST
5 2004
* Macomb Township: Macomb
Township goes public - Residents urge board to create Web
site, broadcast meetings
This year, residents have urged the Board of
Trustees to post a Web site -- which several local
communities, like Clinton Township, Shelby Township and
Utica, offer. A campaign pressing township officials
to post a Web site has been spearheaded by Kevin Karwowicz,
who ran for clerk against incumbent Michael Koehs. Karwowicz
started www.macombtruth.com,
an alternative site for township news, in April as he waited
for an official site to appear. In June, the township's www.macomb-mi.gov
went up, but now is undergoing redevelopment because of
complaints from residents that it lacks thorough
information.
Source: Detroit Free Press, http://www.freep.com/news/cfp/6/uknow5_20040805.htm
*
Garden City: City info is a click away at computer
kiosks
A home computer is no longer needed to access
information from the city Web site. New public use computers
are now available. The public use computer kiosks, including
printers, are now available at City Hall, the Maplewood
Center and the Police Department - the latter being
available 24 hours, seven days a week. The public use
computers can't be used to browse other sites on the
Internet, however.
Source: Garden City Observer, http://www.hometownlife.net/berkley/NewsSearch.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=44682
AUGUST
7 2004
* Ottawa County: New high-speed
network expands students' learning options
Four Allendale High School students will take Advanced
Placement calculus this fall from Hamilton High School
teacher Blaine Lugten, as he teaches 45 students of his own.
This distance learning feat is possible through the marvels
of the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District's new Wide
Area Network, which is on schedule to be complete by Sept.
1. The network links all K-12 school districts in the OAISD
together through fiber optics. Most systems already had
their own buildings linked. The fiber-optic Wide Area
Network will be an improvement on the dial-up system,
providing instantaneous audio, better video and the capacity
for carrying many times the amount of information. Partners
in the OAISD's $2 million Wide Area Network are Grand Valley
State University and the Holland Board of Public Works,
which is linking the technology to Holland Christian Schools
and, later, Black River Public School.
Source: Grand Rapids Press, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1091873828269210.xml?grpress?NELK
AUGUST
8 2004
* West Bloomfield Township:
Township to communicate through fiber optics
After an initial investment in new technology, West
Bloomfield officials will be poised to save money in the
long run, and improve communication between township
buildings. On July 26, the Board of Trustees unanimously
approved spending $12,000 for a control center that will
allow already existing fiber optic cables to connect
township buildings. The control center and use of fiber
optics will effectively upgrade the township’s Wide Area
Network system, which currently uses T-1 lines to connect
township buildings. “Many corporations use WANs, but not a
lot of people are aware of them,” said Mark Osinski, West
Bloomfield’s director of Information Technology. “It’s
basically the term we use when we talk about connecting to
the information in another physical location.”
Source: West Bloomfield Beacon, http://www.candgnews.com/editorial/2004/august/8/westbloomfieldbeacon/wan.html
*
Troy: Community Education debuts new Web registration
system
A new online registration system for the Troy School
District’s Community Education program is available.
The new online registration system lets prospective students
browse for classes, register online, confirm registrations,
confirm class schedules for an entire family, set up payment
accounts and view a Troy Continuing Education staff list.
Online registration receives a priority before mail-in, fax,
walk-in, or telephone registration, and instantly reserves a
class seat. Registration may be done online at any time
during the day or night. Class payment is available online
with a credit card.
Source: Troy Times, http://www.candgnews.com/editorial/2004/august/8/troytimes/continued%20ed.html
AUGUST
10 2004
* Metro Detroit: Web crime
climbs in Metro area
Computer crimes are the fastest-growing offense locally,
police say, growing more quickly than police resources to
investigate them. That puts an increased burden on
businesses and individuals to protect themselves. In Macomb
County, complaints have risen 42 percent since 2002. In
Oakland, reports were up 46 percent between 2001 and 2002.
In Wayne, police say the number of computers seized for
investigation has nearly doubled from last year. They are
asking the state for more money so they can concentrate on
Internet thieves as well as predators.
Source: Detroit News, http://www.detnews.com/2004/technology/0408/10/a01-237792.htm
AUGUST
11 2004
* Otsego County: Fiber optics
network, wireless 'hotspots' making county technological
leader
Through the leadership of the University Center, a
partnership has been formed among the University Center at
Gaylord, Otsego County and the Gaylord Community Schools
(GCS). The result of that partnership is the
University Center Metropolitan Area Network - UC MAN for
short. They have set in motion Phase I of a multiphase,
countywide fiber optic network which they say will make
Otsego County a technological leader. Within the last two
weeks the schools all have been linked to a fiber optic
network which also links the University Center, court
offices and county offices. In addition to the network
ring around the county, UC MAN will allow for the
development of "hotspots" throughout the county
allowing for high-speed wireless Internet connection in key
public spots, for instance just outside of the County-City
building and township halls.
Source: Gaylord Herald Times, http://www.heraldtimes.com/articles/2004/08/11/news/top_stories/top_stories02.txt
*
Birmingham: New BPS Web site up and running
The Birmingham Public Schools District has created
a new Web site that parents, staff and community members can
visit to find out more about the district.
“(Teachers) will be able to include homework assignments,
items students will need to bring for field trips and things
like that,” said Carol Marsh, community information
specialist for the district. The district made sure that it
would be easy for teachers to create their own Web site
links. Lisa Martinico, executive director of
Technology Services for the BPS district, said there will
also be a link to each building page for parents to
subscribe to various e-mail lists.
Source: Birmingham Eagle, http://www.candgnews.com/editorial/2004/august/11/eagle/new%20web%20site.html
AUGUST
12 2004
* Battle Creek: BCHS using CAD
system
Radiologists at Battle Creek Health System now are
reading mammograms twice: Once in the conventional way,
using expert human vision, then again through a digitized
computer-aided detection system. The Mary Coleman
Mammography Center at BCHS is the latest provider in western
Michigan to use computer-aided detection. In Kalamazoo,
Borgess Health Alliance is planning it for the new addition
under construction, and Bronson Methodist Hospital officials
are evaluating it.
Source: Business Direct Weekly, http://www.mlive.com/businessdirect/west/index.ssf?/businessdirect/west/stories/20040812cad.html
AUGUST
15 2004
* Saginaw County: Updating Web
sites not simple
It's vital to keep Web sites updated so parents and
students can keep abreast of district developments, said
Saginaw Township Superintendent Jerry L. Seese. "This
is another way of getting information, and it's fast,"
he said. "A lot of out-of-towners make use of it."
But Seese said he also realizes that it's difficult for
smaller (school) districts to employ someone during the
summer to update the sites.
Source: Saginaw News, http://www.mlive.com/search/index.ssf?/base/news-12/109257269459990.xml?sanews?NECN
AUGUST
16 2004
* Niles: High-tech heaven for
sixth graders here
11 students recently got the chance to test out
some of the 298 laptops that will be issued to sixth-graders
in the Niles Community Schools this year. Dave Del Muro,
director of technology and media services for Niles schools,
wanted to make sure the machines were ready for the school
year. The Intermediate School District of Berrien County
will train the teachers on how to use the computers. After
the initial classes, "lead teachers" from each
school will take ongoing classes to learn new techniques and
teach them to other teachers at their respective schools,
Del Muro said. Del Muro will also arrange internet safety
classes with the Michigan State Police to educate children
how to use the web safely.
Source: Niles Daily Star, http://www.leaderpub.com/articles/2004/08/16/news/niles_star/ndnews2.txt
*
Livingston County: County looks at faster Internet
access
The county should take action and spend the
necessary money to make sure more local people can get
high-speed Internet access, according to a consultant's
report issued last year. Now, the Livingston County Board of
Commissioners has to decide whether it agrees, and it will
seek input at a public hearing at its next meeting Aug. 23.
The report, called Link-Livingston, was done by an Ann Arbor
firm called Merit Network as part of a grant from the
Michigan Economic Development Corp.
Source: Daily Press and Argus, http://www.hometownlife.net/berkley/NewsSearch.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=47102
|
