TECHNOLOGY AND THE STATE OF HAWAII

In Hawaii, the State Government has recognized the value of investment in its technology infrastructure as an important aspect of economic development and diversification. The State has created the High Technology Development Corporation to spur economic development in high technology, the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research to foster research activities, the Hawaii Information Network Corporation to encourage the development of an information industry, and a Software Support Center to support commercial software development in the state. Through the High Technology Development Corporation the state has invested in several technology parks and incubators to provide physical facilities for technology-related businesses. A public and private sector partnership created a Telework Center in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of telecommuting through information technology as an alternative solution to transportation congestion.

The Governor of Hawaii declared 1988 as the Year of Telecommunications in Hawaii. The State had already begun construction of an interactive interisland television system for distance education, and in 1988 began building its own interisland digital microwave telecommunications network.

Members of the University community have been key participants in many of these projects and initiatives.

The State has moved toward organizational consolidation in order to effectively manage the converging technologies of computing and telecommunications. In 1989, the State's Telecommunications and Electronic Data Processing Divisions were merged to form the new Information and Communication Services Division in the Department of Budget and Finance. In 1990, Hawaii's Judiciary established and filled a new Chief Information Officer position. And in 1991, the Department of Education filled a new Assistant Superintendent position for Information and Technology Services, pulling together various computing and telecommunications programs from different parts of the department.

A number of key state planning documents chart the course of technology and telecommunications for State agencies, including the Master Plan for Distributed Information Processing and Information Resource Management (DIPIRM) and the Strategic Program Initiative for Telecommunications (SPI).