Report: State Could Save Millions By Embracing New Technology

John Gregory -- Illinois Radio Network

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 says, “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 thirteen dollars. 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 says information officers at a recent conference complained young IT whizzes won't want to come work for them if their computers are twenty or thirty years old.

The full report can be found here.