Counties Sharing Limited IT Wealth

After getting fed up with wishing for applications they could never afford, in 2002 a group of IT directors and elected leaders from 15 counties in Texas began developing a system for sharing technology.

In May of 2004, it was formally established as TechShare, which is run in conjunction with the Texas Conference of Urban Counties (TCUC), a nonprofit organization advocating county issues at the state level.

Participating localities meet monthly to discuss IT applications that could benefit their agencies. When a project is agreed upon, the TCUC’s board of directors assigns a group of IT experts from TechShare’s membership to develop it, and then commission a vendor to build it. Each county pitches in on the cost in exchange for use of the application. After completion they pay a small fee for maintaining and updating it.

The participating counties represent roughly half of Texas’ population, and after more than two years of planning, TechShare is poised to actualize its first project.

By Andy Opsahl

Full Story: http://www.govtech.net/magazine/sup_story.php?id=97982&magid=32&issue=1:2006