FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Robert Blackwell, (312) 236-2002

Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Releases its New Management Portal

October 2004 – The Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) launched the first release of its Online Management Portal, providing a centralized and highly automated online workspace for agency employees. The announcement signals another step in moving State Government closer to its goal of improved productivity, reduced cost, and enhanced self-service management capabilities.  Electronic Knowledge Interchange (EKI) worked with DCEO on the design, development, and implementation of the web portal solution.

EKI won the engagement in a competitive RFP process awarded in April 2004. The firm identified and documented DCEO requirements in an initial phase, and delivered key components on a scheduled basis over the succeeding months. These components included: employee access to critical information, collaborative workspace, and automated workflow for generation and approval of specialized DCEO communications.  Deploying Microsoft®  technology, EKI used Microsoft’s SharePoint®  Portal Server 2003 and InfoPath® tools to build and integrate the solution and enable document creation using forms-based data.

EKI is pleased to have been a part of creating the DCEO Management Portal.

About Electronic Knowledge Interchange
Founded in 1997 by Robert Blackwell Jr., EKI, a certified Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) by the City of Chicago, had about $10 million in revenues in 2002. EKI has more than 70 employees. Blackwell Jr. and his partner, Diego Ferrer, have more than 35 years of technology and consulting expertise.