Governor Announces Innovation Center

Press Release

Governor Pat McCrory is focused on fixing the operations of state government and that includes Information Technology Systems. He announced Thursday morning the development of an "Innovation Center" on the first floor of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

"This collaborative approach allows us to share facilities, test the latest technology and it does not require any more taxpayer dollars," said Governor McCrory. "This new IT lab will allow us to try before we buy and make sure the technology works."

The Innovation Center will be a gathering place for state agency chief information officers, public schools, universities, vendors and eventually citizens to create and test new solutions.

"The Innovation Center is about connecting people to help us provide better customer service for our citizens as we develop a more uniform environment to help agencies deliver more projects on time and within budget," said Chris Estes, North Carolina's State Chief Information Officer.

State auditors recently found shortcomings in how the government builds or manages computer systems. According to the analysis of 84 projects, estimates were twice as high as originally anticipated and completion time took 389 days longer than initially estimated.

The center will be fully operational and ready for visitors in several months.

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