Homeland Security Czar Sees IT As Key Enabler

There's little doubt among people who know Tom Ridge that technology will play a key role in the newly formed Office of Homeland Security. IT was a keystone of nearly every program Ridge tackled during his six years as Pennsylvania governor. "He's one of the first governors-if not the first-to really get IT," says Tom Shirk, president of SAP's public-services division.

As the cabinet-level homeland security director, Ridge heads the new Homeland Security Council, made up of the attorney general, the defense secretary, the CIA and FBI directors, and other security-related agency heads. He's known as a consensus builder, whose background includes 12 years in Congress and serving as a platoon leader in Vietnam. "He understands that he can't dictate," says Larry Olson, Pennsylvania's first CIO and now a partner at consulting firm Aligne Inc. "He sees his job as a facilitator."

Ridge's record in Pennsylvania shows that he can get sometimes-antagonistic parties to collaborate. "As governor," he once said, "my job and my responsibility is to cajole, to convince, and do everything I possibly can to make sure that we viewed technology as an enabling tool, both inside of government and outside of government."

In championing the state's Justice Network, which links various state-agency databases over the Web, Ridge "crafted a vision of what he wanted," says Martin Horn, former secretary of corrections and now secretary of administration. "Once he was satisfied with how we interpreted his charge, he got the funding and let us create an organizational structure to allow us to succeed."

Under Ridge, Pennsylvania was the first state to hire a CIO; the first to outsource data centers, saving $125 million over five years; and the first to purchase goods through an online auction, which saved $12 million in two years. Next year, Pennsylvania will begin a statewide launch of mySAP.com, the biggest enterprise resource planning system rollout by a state.

Such initiatives show Ridge is a visionary who understands how IT can eliminate silos that separate people and agencies, says James Thomas, dean of Penn State University's School of Information Sciences and Technology. It's a vision that should serve him well in Washington. "If I had to craft a vita of somebody to take this job," he says, "I don't care how many people you put in a room-by the end of the day, it would look like Tom Ridge's."

close this window