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We draw a sharp distinction between the word "information" and the word "data." Information is data which exists at a time and in a form and in a place that allows it to be used effectively as a basis for action. It is not more mail in an overcrowded mail basket. It is exception reporting. It is processed data that can serve as a basis for action.

This chart shows in summary form the way information would be used, see figure 2. Here on the left are some of the basic data, as we visualize them, which will be required by the information system. First of all come the "people" data-information about people themselves location, identification, descriptive data, and the like. Then in order are listed the data concerning parks, water use, urban renewal; data associated with vocational skills, industrial requirements

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for plant location and labor force; those in the area of public transportation-highway locations and timing; and finally the physical facilities of the State-hospitals, prisons, and the like.

Shown in the upper center of the chart are the actual working elements of the information system-collection, storage, retrieval, and exchange of information. Also shown are the participants in these activities: the State, cities, counties, and districts. Here it is apparent that in the future the Federal Government must be included as a participant in this information-handling process.

Once such an information system is in existence, what are some of the things we can expect to be accomplished by it? We have listed

a number of these on the right in this chart. We might start with the decsionmaking process, a process which to be effective demands hard facts as a point of departure. I am sure that all of you are well aware that intuitive judgment is no longer enough in solving these large problems. We believe a massive system, such as described here, would indeed provide hard facts and make it possible to render judgments and decisions on a much more effective and accurate basis. Take, for example, the medicare legislation recently enacted in the State. It was a concern of the State what the impact on our State hospitals would be as a result of that legislation. It is generally felt that it will produce hospital crowding, but it is difficult to project this quantitatively. We believe such a projection is one of the things that could come out of the information system we are describing.

Research needs are very evident. One specific need, to get down to simple matters, is the concern in the State of California with an accurate projection of the rate of traffic accidents and traffic arrests in a county or in the State as a function of the number of law enforcement officers employed. We believe we can get a quantative feel for the problem and put a real basis for the judgment behind decisions. A program of operation evaluation is another need of the State. Planning accurate projections of financial reviews of the State could be done in a more effective manner, if we had the total data bank available.

I feel that this generally summarizes the basis for our study. During the course of our work we were constantly aware of the opportunity within California's grasp to apply modern computer technology, in a massive and effective sense, to the broad problems facing the State today. The computer industry has in a complete sense come of age. It remains only for California to take advantage of its technology.

At this point I would like to introduce Mr. Lauler, project leader for this program, who will describe briefly the findings of our study. Mr. LAULER. Senator Nelson, gentlemen.

I would like to begin this portion of our presentation by sketching for you the broad information growth patterns, as we found them to occur in the State of California during the course of study.

Shown on this chart, figure 3, are three examples of organizations in the State government which demonstrate the different ways in which information reaches them and the methods by which this information is exchanged among them at the State level.

The first organization is a type which administers and operates through local offices. The example shown is the division of motor vehicles, which operates by means of local offices-Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and obtains information by means of these offices from people and private enterprise. The information passes vertically through the local offices to the Sacramento level.

The second type of organization is exemplified by the State welfare organization, which in California operates and administers welfare through local government-in this case, counties. In this instance, the information, which originates at the people-private enterprise level, reaches the State level in welfare by means of local government.

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The third example of organization is a business and commercial agency or the franchise tax board, which deals directly with individuals and private enterprise.

We found, in describing the broad flow patterns, that a great mass of information flows in the vertical direction in these pyramids, and when it reaches the Sacramento level many items of information are redistributed, parceled out, or exchanged among the various organizations of the State government.

One of the most significant things we discovered early in the study is that local government is one of the most important sources of information for State government, and that any information system designed for the State of California must concern itself with local government. It must serve local government as well as work with it. To give you an idea of the nature of the information exchanged, we have presented two examples in this chart, figure 4. I won't go into detail on the first one, because our colleagues from Space-General Corp. will discuss this system and will make known information needs in that area.

Governor Brown this morning mentioned the public assistance programs; it happens we feel there is a great need for an information system to serve these programs. Our example here shows the pattern of distributed operations, involving many organizations, which must exchange information, required information, with each other in order to make decisions at all steps of the welfare process.

I think the inadequacy of the present welfare information dissemination pattern can be exemplified by a conversation we had with one county welfare director. He told us he instructs his caseworkers to read the daily newspaper in order to discover which of their charges were arrested, put in jail, had a driving accident, had died, or otherwise been involved in the public eye. Although this is a very efficient use of the public press, it may be haphazard as far as deriving information for caseworkers on their charges.

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We have, throughout the State, a great deal of information of a multi-interdisciplinary nature, which gives rise to information exchange, and, therefore, to an information system. This information, if I may be a little facetious for a minute, is now handled in a papermill, and if you look at the projections of the paper storage requirements, you find that by 1990 you could pave a highway from Sacramento to Los Angeles with filing cabinets holding the active files of the State government, see figure 5.

Senator NELSON. Just the State?

Mr. LAULER. Just the State. If we consider local government, and these numbers were not available, the filing cabinet highway would be extended fantastically. Fortunately, the end is in sight for this filing cabinet proliferation. Already the State is moving rapidly to electronic data processing. The departments of education, employ

ment, public health, and State welfare are all implementing or considering the implementation of electronic data processing systems to handle their paperwork problem. We think it should be a source of pride that California organizations are moving so rapidly into this new information processing field.

But on the horizon I think there is real cause for concern, because, while definite plans for EDP are being made within the organization itself, consideration is not being given to requirements of automated information exchange between these State organizations and proposed computation centers. This may result in essentially an extreme provincial situation-highly developed systems of data processing

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within the individual organizations, but horse-and-buggy methods of information exchange between these organizations, see figure 6. Mr. Larkin mentioned earlier an information flow map in his remarks. This chart attempts to depict graphically an information flow diagram for the State of California. What we have done here is to list, in a matrix form, all of the State organizations, such as the department of justice, welfare, public health, business and commerce, and so on, figure 7. We have also shown other organizations which interact with the State government; namely, cities, counties, Federal Government agencies, and private enterprise.

In the course of our survey, we logged on this chart every instance where information was exchanged between a particular organization

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