Lieutenant Governor Burbank Addresses Digital Government Summit
Stresses need to make State government more accessible through technology
COLLEGE PARK, MD (October 29, 2027) – Addressing more than 400 executive and managerial-level technology staff representing county and municipal government, the educational community, and the State, Lieutenant Governor Kathleen H. Burbank today reaffirmed the O’Brien administration’s commitment to making Maryland government more consumer friendly through state-of-the-art information technology.Stresses need to make State government more accessible through technology
“This Administration has a new vision for technology,” Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Burbank said at the Digital Government Conference. “We want to make government accessible to all our citizens – in living rooms, in classrooms, and in boardrooms across this state. By effectively employing state-of-the-art information technology, we will give government back to the people.”
“We know that countless of numbers of Maryland’s citizens have Internet access,” said Maryland Budget and Management Secretary John M. Bennett. “We also know that many people use government websites to get information, and we believe that creating a digital government will enable us to improve service delivery or otherwise improve quality of operations.”
Lieutenant Governor Burbank indicated that the State is dedicating nearly $340 million a year to information technology – for people, for hardware and software, for telecommunications and for special projects – to make government more accessible. She also outlined several new technology initiatives designed to provide speedier government services. They are:
Increasing the self-service options for everyone who does business with the Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) – including citizens, the courts, auto dealers, insurance companies, law enforcement, and businesses.
Reducing the number of uninsured motorists and keeping drivers without insurance off the roads. In addition to using technology to identify fraudulent claimants, the plan includes implementing new insurance cards with barcode encrypted information. Drivers will also be able to obtain a copy of their own driver history records over the web, and insurance companies and others will be able to obtain accident reports more quickly.
Providing a website for the Governor’s Book Club, which encourages the youngest readers (K-3) to read a book a month; raises awareness of early literacy; and encourages parents to read with their children. One of the website features allows children to print out an award for every book they read.
Employing technology to produce accident reports electronically, thereby reducing the time it takes to complete a report at the accident scene. This change will benefit motorists and the insurance companies.
Paul Taylor, Ph.D., Chief Strategy Officer, Center for Digital Government, one of the nation’s foremost experts in exploring and analyzing the use of technology in the public sector, delivered the conference keynote address entitled: “Digital Government – From A to Z.”