Pennsylvania Recognized as Laureate by the Computerworld Honors Program

Global Foundation Honors PA for the Societal Benefits of its IT Shared
Services Initiative

HARRISBURG, Pa., June 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania has been
recognized as a laureate by the Computerworld Honors Program for its highly
successful shared services initiative, which is designed to improve government
efficiency and reduce costs to taxpayers.

Honorees were praised today during the 21st Annual Laureates Medal Ceremony in
Washington, D.C. For two decades, Computerworld Honors has acknowledged
individuals and organizations that use information technology to benefit
society.

"The basic premise of our shared services initiative is that careful
transitions from legacy systems to properly structured and broadly applied new
technologies can capture synergies, save money, increase efficiencies and
free-up resources that state agencies can redeploy toward direct citizen
services," said Brenda Orth, the commonwealth's chief information officer.

Shared services -- an innovative project managed by the Office of
Administration's Office for Information Technology -- identifies IT tasks,
systems and operations required by every state agency to function on a
day-to-day basis. Examples include mainframe administration, server support,
e-mail and Web platforms as well as transactional processes such as finance,
budget, procurement, supplier relationship, plant maintenance, payroll, travel
and more. Once identified, the goal is to find ways to reduce the overall
cost of administering government services.

"Today, more than ever, it's critical that IT solutions drive down the cost of
government since there's simply not enough money to duplicate effort and
infrastructure across multiple agencies," Orth said. "Pennsylvania's Office
for Information Technology is a crucial part of delivering human services to
vulnerable citizens, coordinating government response to disasters and
ensuring the safety of the law enforcement community."

The Computerworld Honors Program unites executives of the world's foremost
information technology companies to recognize the most outstanding
achievements in technology each year. Achievements honored by this program are
preserved in national archives, and more than 350 universities, museums and
research institutions throughout the world.

"Each laureate selected for this honor understands the importance of using
one's resources and technical prowess to benefit one's fellow man," said Bob
Carrigan, Chairman of the Computerworld Honors Program Chairmen's Committee
and President, IDG Communications.

To learn more about Pennsylvania and Governor Rendell's initiatives, visit
www.pa.gov. For information about Pennsylvania's technology initiatives,
visit www.oa.state.pa.us and click on "Information Technology" at the top of
the page.
CONTACT: Nancy Beckwith
(717) 346-2194

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of Administration

Nancy Beckwith of the Pennsylvania Office of Administration, +1-717-346-2194