MaSSSoftech

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) has been powering the Pacific Northwest for over 70 years. Today BPA is regarded as a world leader, operating one of the nation's largest high voltage transmission systems with more than 15,000 miles of line that provides half the electricity used in the Northwest. In addition to transmission, BPA helps fund and manage the largest fish and wildlife program in the world; invests in new renewable generating resources for the Northwest such as wind and geothermal projects; and is a leading partner in promoting energy conservation and efficiency programs.



Not only is BPA recognized as a world leader in transmission but BPA has received numerous awards including Oregon State's "Families in Good Company". How did we become a world leader? The answer is simple -- our people. And the best part of all, our employees get to work, live, and play in the great Pacific Northwest! You can learn more about BPA at www.bpa.gov.



POSITION SUMMARY



Join BPA's System Operations, Technical Operations team as an Information Technologist Specialist. You will be a key team member:

Applications Design and Maintenance: Assesses customer requests for software applications support for business services and processes. Analyzes work requirements, processes, and procedures and designs interactive applications utilizing Microsoft technology in a clustered server environment.



Website Design: Designs and maintains internal websites for BPA users. Uses HTML coupled with server-side web technologies to design sophisticated interactive web pages that allow project managers and SMEs across the agency to retrieve information in a variety of formats from BPA data acquisition systems.



Data Analysis: Performs ad-hoc data mining on SQL and PI to provide power systems data to a variety of users, such as load forecasting, power usage, etc.



Data Integrity: Leads or supports designated lead for business monitoring, modeling and analysis for OpInfo data tools and processes. Designs and updates monitoring tools for SQL and PI archives to ensure integrity of historical archive remains high.



Technical Resource: Participates as a team member to develop policies regarding the critical infrastructure and protection (CIP) of BPA computer systems. Develops and recommends adoption of implementation plans to accomplish system patches, coding changes, etc. Supports TOT on a variety of committees or task forces as assigned, representing Technical Operations' priorities and perspectives.



Systems Administration: Responds to IT-related questions from business users in Transmission Services (TS), Power Services (PS), and Control Center Dispatchers using a wide variety of applications on the web server and BPA business systems and networks supported by the OpInfo group. Troubleshoots and cures problems experienced by customers who use systems data in different ways for different purposes. Stays current on new Information Technologies and shares information with IT group. Responds to after-hours callouts when 24-hour staff experience issues with OpInfo systems.



Technical Training and Briefings: Develops and delivers technical training to dispatchers and other systems users. Prepares course content, training materials, and other user guidelines to ensure that that systems operations, changes or enhancements are fully understood.



Qualifications:



You must have one year of specialized experience at a level close to the work of this job that has given you the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities required to successfully perform. Typically we would find this experience in work within this field or a field that is closely related. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: One year's experience at the next lower grade designing and implementing software applications using SQL and Microsoft NET Framework (C# or Visual Basic). In addition, candidate must have experience with two or more of the following programming languages: PI-SDK, EXCEL VBA, a Windows-supported scripting languages, HTML.



BENEFITS

BPA was selected as one of the top companies and agencies in Oregon to receive the "Families in Good Company" award for demonstrating community leadership in assisting employees in balancing work and family responsibilities. Here are a few examples of how we do it:



* Up to 13 days of vacation time to start
* 10 paid holidays per year
* unlimited sick leave accrual
* affordable and health insurance
* life insurance provided
* secure retirement program
* long-term care Insurance
* tax deferred, agency matching investment plan
* family friendly leave
* federal credit union
* on-site fitness facility
* public transportation subsidy
* on-site daycare



HOW TO APPLY

For specific application instructions and detailed information please visit www.jobs.bpa.gov/job_search and click on Information Technology Specialist, Announcement #6654-09-DE.

You will initially be evaluated based solely on the written material you provide in your application. Only complete applications will be accepted and considered. At a minimum, a complete application requires your:

* Resume,
* Knowledge, Skill, and Ability (KSAs) evaluation statement responses

Applications will be accepted through September 8, 2009 from U.S. citizens only.



If you have any questions, please contact Chris, at 503-230-3302.

There are many ways that information technology can assist us in saving the planet. One of the best ways is with the internet. More shopping than ever before is being done on the internet. Instead of consumers getting in cars and driving from store to store to shop for what they need, they are letting the internet do the driving and going from web site to web site to shop.

But shopping is only the start of this. Many purchases are being delivered electronically. Music is increasingly sold over the internet. Companies like Apple with iTunes, sell you a single song or a CD and allow you to download it. Various artists are selling their music direct as well. This eliminates the need to drive to a store to purchase the music. It also eliminates the packaging and the distribution costs.

Books are being downloaded as e-books today. Amazon and Sony have readers where you can download hundreds of books, many of them classics, at no charge. These devices are very reader friendly, with a book-like feel and good lighting. They even allow you to increase the font size of the text, making them ideal for older readers.

Several colleges such as Princeton, University of Virginia, and Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) are pioneering the use of the Kindle for their freshman classes. Princeton has said this is a sustainability project designed to reduce the amount of paper used. University of Virginia has stated that it is one step in helping them reach their goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2020. CWRU indicated that paper saving was one advantage; however, their goal in using the Kindle was student success.

Software used to be a bulky issue. In the past, companies had to wait for the software to be delivered and then figure out where to store all the boxes and manuals. Now, you can order most software on-line and download it within minutes.


News is now available on line. The days of the newspaper being delivered to your door is soon headed the direction of milk delivery and bread delivery. Companies, like Examiner, are filling the niche of local newspapers on-line. One analyst has indicated that printing the New York Times costs twice as much as sending every subscriber a free Kindle. With this kind of cost, expect the New York Times and other major print publications to switch to virtual delivery solutions.

NASHVILLE, TN -- (Marketwire) -- 08/25/09 -- Healthcare reform, a current hot button headline, is not a new issue. In fact, the concept has been kicking around the Hill since Teddy Roosevelt, who started the discussion of a national health insurance program in the early 1900s.

The goals seem simple enough -- to make healthcare and health insurance more affordable, to provide every American with coverage and to deliver high quality, cost-effective care.

Yet, nearly a century later there is still confusion as the public and private sectors try to figure out how to turn the concept to practical reality. In the meantime, however, the American population continues to age, the need for healthcare across the board persists and each day brings more questions than answers.

Specifically to Tennessee

For Tennesseans, who saw a 7.2 percent increase in personal healthcare spending (between 1991-2004) and collectively spend more than $32 million on personal healthcare annually*, the issue of healthcare reform hits close to home. Even with the promise of two ambitious public insurance programs, TennCare and CoverTN, a fair amount of the population remains uninsured (according to Kaiser, an estimated 14.1 percent).

Nursing homes and elder care are the fastest growing segments of healthcare, often the most expensive, and the changes in healthcare will certainly have far reaching affects among this population. According to the National Association of Rural Health Clinics (NARHC), of the 127 hospitals in Tennessee, 55 are located in rural areas and it is becoming increasingly difficult for community hospitals to make ends meet. Community hospitals also could need more human and capital resources to make changes that certain aspects of healthcare reform would require.

A Step Towards a Solution

According to Maggie O'Hara, Vice President, IVANS, a healthcare information technology services company, "The number one priority of healthcare providers is to provide excellent patient care. The main benefit of technology, in terms of health and medical practices, is that it frees up clinicians and the staff so they can focus more time on the patient than on time-consuming administrative tasks."

A recent survey of more than 500 healthcare providers conducted by the company on the issue of healthcare reform indicated that all is not cut and dry. While respondents, specifically the more than 300 home healthcare and nursing home organizations, believe in the importance of healthcare policy, they are concerned about the toll it will have on patients and providers. "Many of these facilities are already in a tough position with the massive cuts proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. These cuts, which include an estimated $1 billion proposed cuts in Tennessee alone, could certainly have a huge impact on the long term care workforce working with the patients and behind the scenes and threaten care quality," O'Hara continued. To that end, she recommends providers, patients and their families arm themselves with as much information as possible, from available services to how much staff time a facility provides to each patient, and so on so they can make informed decisions.

*Figures per Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

The survey, which focused on healthcare reform and technology, showed providers are overwhelmingly hopeful that changes to health information technology could have a far-reaching impact -- lowering the cost and improving efficiency of care.

Among the findings:

-- Nearly 70 percent of home healthcare and nursing home organizations
say that electronic health records (EHRs) will have a positive impact on
their day-to-day business (a fact echoed by the National Coordinator for
Health Information Technology, which estimates that the healthcare system
will save an estimated $140 billion/year if this technology is adopted) and
-- 56 percent of respondents have begun to or plan to implement EHRs
within the next year
-- More than half (52 percent) of providers doubt that stimulus money
will successfully encourage adoption of healthcare information technology;
-- Providers support the use of Health Information Technology to increase
quality of care and improve efficiencies
-- Almost three quarters (72 percent) believe a pay-for-performance model
could lead to improved patient outcomes.


According to Cici Strait, Business Office Manager at Belcourt Terrace Nursing Home, a 49-bed facility in Nashville, TN, "We have learned to be flexible in order to adapt to changes and incorporate common sense to keep costs down but maintaining the level of care. Our priority is ensuring the health and well-being of our patients; so, wherever we can reduce the burden on our staff, including the administrative, and find alternatives to everything from managing hours to processing payments, we will."

For more information, including local facts and figures, more detailed survey results or to schedule an interview with any of the professionals quoted, please contact Ellen Werther @ ellen@ellenink.com /212 980 4499

Contact
Ellen R. Werther
Email Contact
212 980 4499

Students continue to embrace technologies for personal use, including, more than ever, in the classroom. Well-versed before entering college, university students use a variety of new technologies to help them with their coursework.

These findings are part of the 2009 Student Computing Survey, conducted last spring by the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Division of Information Technology. The purpose of the annual survey is to monitor trends in information technology, gauge usage of UW-Madison's technology products and services, and to gather feedback on ways to improve those products and services.

Laptop ownership continues to grow among students to 93 percent, while desktop ownership declined to 26 percent. Ownership of handheld Web devices (smart phone, iPhone, Blackberry, Treo, iPod Touch) is also on the rise, at 24 percent.

Seventy-three percent of students use the Windows (Vista or earlier version) operating system. Thirty-three percent reported using Mac OS (X or earlier version), an increase from 28 percent in 2008.

Regarding the technology UW-Madison provides its students, 91 percent are satisfied or very satisfied. Students are most satisfied with the campus wireless network in public locations, campus computer kiosks, general access computer labs, My UW-Madison Web portal and WiscMail e-mail.

Students rely on the latest technologies for schoolwork and everyday use.

For schoolwork, they use wikis (45 percent), Gmail (42 percent), Google Docs tools such as Writely and spreadsheets (39 percent), and YouTube (31 percent). Most students use text-messaging (83 percent), mp3 players (81 percent), social networks (80 percent), flash drives (78 percent) and digital cameras (73 percent) on a daily basis.

Students report a desire to receive training that either enhances existing skills or widens their knowledge. They particularly seek classes in graphics and animation (53 percent), spreadsheets (48 percent), Web design (44 percent), hardware (36 percent) and e-portfolio development (32 percent).

Regarding the safekeeping of personal data and other sensitive data, 52 percent rarely or never back up important data, 65 percent update or patch their computer software regularly, 51 percent install UW-Madison's Security Starter Software, and 67 percent know how to identify safe Web sites.

Other findings from the 2009 Student Computing Survey:

* Eighty-three percent of students report being aware of the issue of illegally downloading music and movies (copyright infringement) on campus, and 74 percent are aware of the penalties for downloading material illegally. Sixty-one percent are aware that music files may be shared inadvertently by the installation of file-sharing programs such as LimeWire.
* Eighty-nine percent of respondents have taken a course that used Learn@UW, UW-Madison's course-management software. Seventy-nine percent of those who have used Learn@UW describe their experience as positive or very positive.
* When asked "What new or improved information technology service or resource would you like at UW-Madison?" top responses included better computer labs, more kiosks and faster wireless; more student discounts/free services, such as classes, printing, training, hardware, audio books and online textbooks; and more disc space/file storage on WiscMail and My WebSpace.

In February, a random sample of 1,200 UW-Madison students was selected from all undergraduate, graduate, professional and special students. The students were contacted via e-mail and invited to participate in this Web survey. Of those invited to participate, 374 responded, resulting in a response rate of 31 percent.

Quick, if your life depended on it, which health care information system would you rather your hospital used:

* A proprietary system developed by software engineers based on marketing input, bug reports and customer requests?
* An open source system developed by thousands of health care practitioners including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, techs and developers, tested and refined in hundred of hospitals?

Well?

A Vista that works.
Known as VistA (Veterans health Information Systems and Technology Architecture), it consists of over 20,000 programs that share an Electronic Health Record (EHR). While it was initially developed at the Veterans Administration Hospitals - America’s single largest health care system - the open source product is freely available.

What does the VA know?
The government can’t do anything right - except for the finest military in the world, the National Labs, the very popular Medicare program, DARPA, aviation safety, GPS, the original Internet and hundreds of other excellent agencies and programs - so how good can VA care be? Is “best” good enough?

According to a Fox News BusinessWeek magazine article:

The 154 hospitals and 875 clinics run by the Veterans Affairs Dept. have been ranked best-in-class by a number of independent groups on a broad range of measures, from chronic care to heart disease treatment to percentage of members who receive flu shots. It offers all the same services, and sometimes more, than private sector providers.

According to a Rand Corp. study, the VA system provides two-thirds of the care recommended by such standards bodies as the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality. Far from perfect, granted — but the nation’s private-sector hospitals provide only 50%.

And while studies show that 3% to 8% of the nation’s prescriptions are filled erroneously, the VA’s prescription accuracy rate is greater than 99.997%, a level most hospitals only dream about. That’s largely because the VA has by far the most advanced computerized medical-records system in the U.S.

And for the past six years the VA has outranked private-sector hospitals on patient satisfaction in an annual consumer survey conducted by the National Quality Research Center at the University of Michigan. This keeps happening despite the fact that the VA spends an average of $5,000 per patient, vs. the national average of $6,300.

[bolding added]

One more kicker: vets are older and sicker than the general population, making this performance even more impressive. It wasn’t always so - my late father, a WWII vet and a doctor, wasn’t impressed in the ’80s - but during the Clinton administration the VA launched a successful effort to improve care using technology and common sense.

Spend less? Get more? No wonder health reform is controversial!

Errors can be hazardous to your health
Almost 200,000 people a year die of preventable hospital mistakes according to a recent report. That’s 4x the deaths of traffic accidents - too bad hospitals don’t have seat belts.

We don’t know the exact number because the American Medical Association and American Hospital Association spent $81 million lobbying against a national medical error reporting system. They said the system would drive medical errors underground: doctors “burying” their mistakes?

Shocking. I so-o-o trust the medical establishment.

The bigger picture
With the complexity of diagnosis and treatment, the many drug interactions, and the scarcity of good information on what works and what doesn’t, it is obvious that information technology can - and in the VA and some other countries has - lowered costs and improved care as the President says.

But in today’s system, the insurance companies make more money when they don’t pay for care. And it is the sickest among us who suffer the payment denials, since they need the most care.

Today insurance companies make their money cherry-picking the healthiest and denying the sickest. So centralized electronic health records are a weapon that can be turned against us at any time as proof of a “pre-existing condition” to deny reimbursement.

Requiring that insurance companies offer insurance to everyone who applies and eliminating the “pre-existing condition” excuse are crucial reforms. After all, “life” is a pre-existing condition that inevitably leads to death.

Given the results the VA has shown, a “public option” is a great way to push the insurance companies and for-profit hospital chains to improve care, reduce errors AND drive down costs.

The Storage Bits take
In a field as complex and fast-changing as health care a proprietary system would be hard-pressed to keep up with the needs of thousands of hospitals. Open source won’t be perfect either, but putting the resources close to the people using them just makes more sense.

We are rapidly approaching a day when there is enough storage capacity for each of us to store detailed health-related records. Not just doctor’s visits, but exercise details, diet, drinking and more.

When all Americans have access to non-emergency health care and aren’t penalized for pre-existing conditions that information will help all who care to live stronger, longer and healthier lives. At lower cost to society.

(UMCI News Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Morocco's public sector is increasingly wired with information and communications technology (ICT) but faces challenges in equipping and supporting employees, a recent survey showed.

The comprehensive survey, the first of its type ever carried out on ICT in the public sector, was conducted by the Ministry for Public Sector Modernisation by mailing questionnaires to 256 bodies, including ministries, high commissions and public agencies.


Although the survey showed a strong presence of ICT in 86% of the government bodies that responded, it also revealed that a relatively small number of ministerial departments have high-quality infrastructure, and few have significant levels of IT support staff.

"While the Moroccan government has an annual budget of 600 million dirhams for operations and investment, this survey nonetheless shows that there is a small number of IT staff," said Karim Jazouan, a manager at the internet, mobile and content service provider Casanet. "IT specialists make up just 1% of the staff of the various government authorities." Support issues aside, several positive trends appeared in the survey, which was conducted between October 2008 and June 2009.

First, the ministry found that local area networks are becoming more common within government agencies. The survey report, released in July, showed that more than 90% of the respondents, including those within ministerial departments, have these networks.

A second positive sign of IT integration is the percentage of government bodies possessing domain names. More than 79% of the respondents reported having this crucial intellectual property. Yet only 287 of the public-sector agencies surveyed actually used their domain name to put up a website.

"Besides the limited number of government websites, even those that are online do not provide up-to-date or locally relevant information," said the director of the development company ADK Media, Driss Lebbat, underlining another deficiency in the government use of ICT.

Bolstering IT security is another priority of the Moroccan government, according to the survey. Of the government bodies surveyed, 47% reported having an integrated IT framework or IT plan, and an equal percentage said they have an IT security plan. Nearly 70% of the public-sector bodies surveyed reported having an IT system security officer.

Despite these technological advances, challenges face Morocco's ICT efforts. The survey showed that on average, just one workstation (desktop computer or laptop) is available for every four public-sector employees. Just half of all computers are connected to the internet, the clunky 256kbps being the most common access speed. Perhaps as a consequence of this low connectivity, only 12% of public-sector employees have a work email address.

Morocco is also working to get the bugs out of its e-governance, the survey revealed. The kingdom has 286 remote services that operate via various distribution channels such as the internet, call centres and interactive terminals, the survey found, all of which must be protected from computer and network glitches.

"The challenge currently facing authorities is to successfully adopt a form of governance for its e-gov strategy and also to encourage resource-sharing and subcontracting to make successes of the projects under way," said the general secretary of the Department of Postal Services, Telecommunications and Information Technology Tayeb Debbagh.

In the face of all these challenges, Moroccan public-sector employees are showing resourcefulness. The survey showed that more than one in three agencies uses free software, and the use of freeware jumped to 39.25% among those with a database management system (DBMS).

NAPERVILLE, Ill., Aug 24, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- For the third consecutive year, financial executives have overwhelmingly rated Information Integrity as their most critical technology issue, revealed in an annual survey commissioned by the Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF), the research arm of FEI, and produced independently by research and advisory firm Gartner, Inc.

Released today, the joint study, entitled "Technology Issues for Financial Executives," surveyed more than 250 senior financial executives over the past seven months to identify high-priority information technology concerns. More than 84 percent of the financial executives surveyed rated Information Integrity as important or critical to meeting their business objectives. An overwhelming majority of respondents (three quarters) describe their present level of Information Integrity as "hampering current business objectives." Despite this fact, more than half (59%) of respondents indicated that they did not have a formal program planned to improve Information Integrity.

"Given the importance of Information Integrity and the broadly-shared belief that the lack of Information Integrity is negatively impacting business performance, it is very alarming that more organizations do not already have improvement programs and plans in place," said FEI President and CEO Marie N. Hollein. "We recognize that this is a significant void among finance professionals, and one that can potentially have an impact on companies globally. FEI is addressing this concern through a strategic partnership with software provider Infogix, which will help to further educate our members of the opportunities that independent information controls provide in improving Information Integrity."

Additional key findings from the survey include:

-- More than half (51.9%) of financial managers view measuring product and customer profitability as the top constraint.

-- A third (37.5%) of respondents perceive integrating the financial function with the overall enterprise as a high priority.

-- Corporate Performance Management is seen as a high priority investment.

-- With the current level of IT spending averaging 3.65% of revenue, 39.9% of respondents saw IT spending at the same level from 2006 and 2009.

-- Firms are still willing to make investments in technology despite the recession, whereas 86.3% of firms are willing to make IT investments in areas that can demonstrate competitive advantage, efficiency and enterprise transformation capabilities.

Through the strategic partnership, FEI's 15,000 members have access to the Information Integrity(R) experts at Infogix and are equipped with helpful solutions to assure the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of critical business information and processes.

"The increasing escalation of information errors turning into embarrassing news headlines is one more indication of the growing Information Integrity imperative," said Infogix company leader, Madhavan Nayar. "We are pleased and proud to share our expertise and customer successes to educate FEI's members on best practices in implementing information integrity solutions."

Three-fourths of FEI member survey participants are at the senior executive level or higher, and represent companies of all types, sizes and industries, including financial services, high tech, consumer goods, retail, manufacturing and others. FERF and Gartner executed the survey and resulting research independent of Infogix. To learn more about the survey and to view the full report, visit www.infogix.com/financial_executives.

About Financial Executives International (FEI)

Financial Executives International is the leading advocate for the views of corporate financial management. Its 15,000 members hold policy-making positions as chief financial officers, treasurers and controllers at companies from every major industry. FEI enhances member professional development through peer networking, career management services, conferences, teleconferences and publications. Members participate in the activities of 85 chapters, 74 in the U.S. and 11 in Canada. FEI is headquartered in Florham Park, NJ, with additional offices in Washington, DC, and Toronto. Visit http://www.financialexecutives.org/ for more information.

About Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF)

Since 1944, FERF has been an independent source of practical information, service and expertise for senior financial executives. FERF is primarily supported by voluntary, tax-deductible contributions from corporations, FEI chapters and individuals. FERF's mission is to meet the needs of the financial management professional by identifying, developing and distributing timely research in a variety of ways. FERF provides a wide range of research-driven content through published research studies, articles in Financial Executive magazine, electronic newsletters and the FEI Web site, among other formats.

About Infogix, Inc.

Many of the world's largest enterprises depend on Infogix Controls to eliminate information errors. Infogix Controls are independent, automated and continuous. They can be deployed enterprise-wide across applications, platforms, and business processes. Infogix offers a powerful portfolio of software products and services (Infogix Controls Solutions) to monitor, detect, and prevent information errors. Since 1982, Infogix has been providing Infogix Controls Solutions to Global 2000 enterprises. Millions of Infogix Controls continuously monitor and assure the integrity of information in hundreds of enterprises every day. For more information visit www.infogix.com.

SOURCE: Infogix, Inc.