Government & Public Sector

A federal whistleblower lawsuit has been filed against the evoting industry, alleging that one company sold electronic voting devices that did not perform as promised.

A U.S. Court of Appeals upheld Bernard Ebbers' fraud conviction and 25-year sentence. Ebbers was convicted of nine counts of conspiracy and fraud in March, 2005 and sentenced in July of last year. He filed an appeal in September and has been free since. The court has yet to set a date as to when Ebbers will report to prison.

Canada leads the U.K. and other countries in its efforts to track and investigate Internet fraud, according to a new report from the Britain's Attorney General's office.

A trilingual Web tool recently launched in the community of Kanesatake, Quebec hopes to revitalize the nearly extinct Mohawk language.

Health care experts agree: Canada-wide electronic health records (EHR) are critical to improving health care, and a recent conference in Quebec may have brought senior policy makers onside.

Lac Carling's "secret formula" is all about connecting diverse people and ideas to shape and deliver a vision for the future of government in Canada. This year, the formula was applied to the Congress itself at a panel session designed to envision what Lac Carling might become over the next decade. One of Lac Carling's strengths has always been its ability to evolve and grow, the panelists told participants, but success in the past does not guarantee future success. While Lac Carling has become the place to come for ideas about service transformation, it must continue to provide leadership to stay at the forefront of change. Therefore, they said, it is important to take a hard look at what works about Lac Carling, what doesn't and what will be important to keep it relevant over the next decade. n

Albertans are to have a new and improved electronic health record (EHR) system soon as the result of a partnership with IBM Canada Ltd.

Since Teri Takai became CIO for the state of Michigan in 2003, the office has enjoyed significant results, including savings of $100 million (U.S.) Bringing to the table years of experience in senior roles at Ford Motor Co. and EDS Corp., Takai is a large part of why Michigan is highly ranked within the government technology field. She was saluted herself when Crain's Detroit Magazine named her as one of its 100 Most Influential Women. Takai spoke with senior writer Lisa Williams at the Lac Carling Congress, where among other issues they discussed the challenges of her job and why more women aren't in senior public sector positions. Excerpts from their conversation follow: