In 1938, Punch card (EAM) technology was introduced into Westchester County when Remington Rand 90 column punch card machines were installed by the Department of Welfare (Social Services). They remained the only “automated” department until 1958. That year the Board of Elections installed an IBM 402 and Finance installed a Univac 120 card calculator. During the next ten years, plug board and limited internal programming of Finance, by way of Univac 1004’s and 1005’s and the 90 column punch card remained the media for data storage for both Finance and Social Services.

One of the key advantages of the punch card system was that a computer was not required to encode information onto the cards – the typewriter-like card-punch machine, was all that was needed – and "key-punch operators" (who did nothing but punch cards full-time on such machines) were in great demand.

1967: Data processing masterplan
In November 1967, Price Waterhouse and Company evaluated the data processing function in Westchester and created a master plan. It called for the merger of Social Services and Finance EDP resources to form a data processing division. It called for the acquisition of current generation facilities with magnetic tape as the primary storage media and the expantion of EDP services beyond Social Services and Finance.

1968 -1999: Tape and batch systems to mainframes
An RCA Spectra 35 was ordered in early 1968, and declared operational by May, 1969. The first application efforts directed at converting the earlier punch card methodology into tape/batch systems were completed by December 31, 1969. Punched-card systems fell out of favor in the 1970s, as disk and tape storage became cost-effective, and interactive terminals meant that users could edit their work directly rather than use the intermediate punched cards. From January, 1970 to 1976, the staff, applications, and equipment grew in numbers, sophistication and diversity. In 1971 the Data Processing Division was transferred from the Department of Finance and established as an arm of the Office of the County Executive.

In 1976 the Data Processing Division became part of the newly created Department of General Services.  Consistent with the earlier emphasis on Welfare applications, EDP resource allocation continued to reflect Social Services’ high proportion of county expenditures. However, Finance, Budget Personnel, Bureau of Purchase, Health, District Attorney/Courts and others also received EDP services. The equipment used during that time was two Univac Series 70 Processors (70/2 with 512K & 70/45 with 256K) (formerly RCA), with disc storage as well as tape, and three "high-speed" printers. Two communication controllers handled over five thousand inquiry/response messages a day from 53 video display type remote terminals at 14 Social Service work locations throughout the county.

The Data Processing Division was later organized into three major sections: Application Development, Technical Support, and Operations.  

The Applications Development Section was organized into project teams that were assigned to a major areas of responsibility (e.g. Social, Financial, Judicial, and Technical). The Operations Section was organized into three units: Control, Data Entry and Computer Services. Many of the teams found in today's Department of Information Technology loosely resemble those that existed decades ago. 

Mainframe systems enjoyed a remarkable run in Westchester, beginning with the Univac 120 in 1958 and ending three decades later with the Unisys 2200/400 and IBM 3090. The county's mainframe technology evolved steadily, upgrading from the 120 system to the enhanced 1004 and 1005 versions. Univac was later replaced with the RCA Spectra 35 and the more powerful Sperry models which no longer required punch cards: 90/80, 1100/60 and 1100/90.  The 90/80 preceded the advent of internal e-mail, also known as SperryLink. The last mainframe computers operated by the county were Unisys 2200/400 and IBM 3090. 

1999: Westchester IT comes of age
The Department of Information Technology, as it's known today, underwent its most dramatic transformation in 1999, the year Norman Jacknis assumed the position of Chief Information Officer.  Previously outsourced work was brought back to the county as the department centralized and consolidated its technologies. 

One of Dr. Jacknis' first projects as CIO was to spearhead the county's transition from mainframe to client/server based systems. Dell servers, Sun servers and IBM RS/6000s replaced all existing mainframes. This expansive conversion included a major hardware overhaul in addition to training over 2,000 County employees in Microsoft Office – the Internet was now deployed as a vital desktop function. 

As county operations became more intertwined with the Internet, a Web team was formed and inter-active online applications were soon developed. Web masters were eventually designated in almost all departments. It was also around this time that DoIT assumed responsibility for the County Records and Archives Center. To view DoIT's current organization structure, click here.      

Westchester County IT Today
IT in Westchester County has come a long way since the punch card technology of the 1930s. Today, DoIT serves 40+ county departments, boasts 5,000 networked devices (4,500 of which are Dell personal computers), a high-speed fiber optic backbone, Microsoft, Unix and Solaris servers, 130+ employees, and dozens of developers using primarily Java, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL.   

DoIT's rapid evolution over the past century has been reflected in changing names, technologies and leaders. There is no doubt the department will continue to take a proactive stance in IT, adapting and embracing new technologies to carry the county forward.