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 ITFLORIDA.COM IS ADVANCING FLORIDA'S
TECHNOLOGY FUTURE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 18,
2000 CONTACT: Stacey M. McMillian TALLAHASSEE -- On June 11, 1999, with the
signing of House Bill 2123 by Governor Jeb Bush ("Governor"), the
Florida Legislature created the Information Service Technology Development Task
Force ("Task Force"). The Task Force was established for the purpose
of developing policies that will benefit residents of this state by fostering
the free market development and beneficial use of advanced communications
networks and information technologies within this state. This directive
included the following requirements: 1. The
Task Force shall develop overarching principles to guide state policy decisions
with respect to the free market development and beneficial use of advanced
communications networks and information technologies, identify factors that
will affect whether these technologies will flourish in Florida, and develop
policy recommendations for each factor. 2. The
Task Force shall, by February 14 of the calendar years 2000 and 2001, submit a
report to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
House of Representatives outlining principles, policy recommendations, and any
suggested legislation. The Task Force has held several
Cyber Town/ IT Town Meetings throughout Florida since its inception in 1999. At
its initial meeting on October 15, 1999 in Orlando, Florida, Florida's
high-tech community was introduced to the Task Force, and the philosophy of
"itflorida.com" was presented. The Task Force's second meeting was
held on October 30, 1999 in Miami, Florida. At this meeting, subcommittees
began their work on establishing objectives and action plans for their policy
recommendations. On December 17, 1999, Florida's first Cyber Town Meeting was
held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The Governor shared his vision for the state
to transition from an industrial economy to an information economy. The Cyber
Town Meeting was shown live via web casting over the Internet. Floridians from
throughout the state were able to directly interact with the Governor and the
Task Force via the Internet. On January 19, 2000, the Governor unveiled the
first eBudget in Florida's history. The fourth meeting of the Task Force was
held on February 1, 2000, in Tallahassee, Florida. At this meeting, the Task
Force members voted on the final policy recommendations included in this
report. On February 14, 2000, the Task Force submitted its first annual report
outlining its policy recommendations for Florida's technology future to the
Legislature. The Task Force has accomplished
several of its recommendations including: launch of the single portal Myflorida.com;
the implementation of Florida's Power-Up Initiative to combat the digital
divide and provide greater access to computers and the Internet for all; and
the creation of the Network Access Points (NAP) of Americas in South Florida to
strengthen the state's backbone infrastructure. Members of the Task Force will meet
on an ongoing basis in the coming months to continue the dialogue about
Florida's digital future, to discuss the numerous political, technical and
economic issues surrounding the state's ongoing technological advancement, and
to develop and implement its 2001 legislative recommendations. The Task Force has established nine
subcommittees to address the Task Force issues, including a new adhoc
subcommittee that will focus exclusively on eEntertainment issues. The other
eight subcommittees are: eBusiness Development, Retention and Recruitment,
eEducation, eWorkforce, eAccess and Awareness, eGovernment, eLaws
Administrative and Regulatory, eLaws Civil and Criminal and eInfrastructure and
Technology Development. "Today we will continue
developing the strategies and framework to ensure that Florida remains a
national leader in the development and recruitment of successful IT companies
and workers," said Julia Johnson, chair of the commission. "By
working to foster technological and knowledge-based innovations, we will
encourage entrepreneurship, investment and a skilled work force."
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