Five years ago, if hundreds of dead fish washed up on the banks of a river in Pennsylvania, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) had a lot more than an environmental emergency on its hands. It had a logistical nightmare. Inspectors had to make a flurry of telephone calls to offices that monitor different aspects of the environment?air quality, drinking water, waste management, mining and the like?to figure out what caused the problem. Meanwhile, as they wasted time and money trying to pull together the critical information from disparate systems, more fish were dying.

No longer. "Now, if we see a segment of a stream that’s impaired, we can pull up a GIS application and say, ’Show me all the facilities that we regulate that are upstream or downstream within five miles of this point,’" says CIO Karen Bassett. What’s more, the data integration system that makes this efficiency possible is also helping prevent some problems from happening in the first place, as the department undergoes a radical change of mind-set, from one of merely conducting inspections and levying fines to proactively monitoring and caring for the environment.

The change in thinking hasn’t been easy, but the technology is starting to pay off, with more informed employees, more focused outreach programs, better citizen participation and a software licensing agreement that could save the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.

CIO’s panel of judges agreed that the system deserved a 2002 Enterprise Value Award, and the rest of the country has also made note of its significance: Kimberly Nelson, the department’s former CIO, has been confirmed as CIO of the Environmental Protection Agency.

"It’s part of a whole revolution in government, particularly in the environmental realm, away from being punitive and trying to catch people after the fact, to more of a partnership model," says Enterprise Value Awards judge Doug Barker, vice president and CIO of The Nature Conservancy in Arlington, Va. "They’re working with the community to make Pennsylvania a more livable state. It’s really a win-win. The bottom line is this system will help prevent pollution, and that’s in the best interest economically and in all ways for citizens, industry and government."

An Uphill Battle

The story begins in 1995, when former Gov. Tom Ridge?another Pennsylvanian tapped by the Bush administration, now serving as director of the Office of Homeland Security?took office and discovered that no one knew how many companies and governmental agencies were complying with environmental rules and regulations. "There was no measuring stick, there was nothing," says DEP Secretary David Hess, talking on his cell phone as he travels through the green hills of Pennsylvania, known as much for their beauty as for the harsh mining and manufacturing that the state’s economy relies on. "You can’t manage a program without information as basic as who is complying with the laws."