Arkansas Department of Transformation and Shared Services

The Transformation and Efficiencies Act of 2019 (Act 910) merged the Office of Transformation with the former Arkansas Department of Information Systems (ADIS) to create the Department of Transformation and Shared Services as a cabinet-level department in state government.

In December 2016, Governor Asa Hutchinson appointed Amy Fecher (former director of the Arkansas Department of Rural Services) as the Chief Transformation Officer (CTO) for the new Office of Transformation. Created in anticipation of a large-scale state government reorganization, the office researched ways to reduce the number of cabinet-level agencies in state government and began putting together a proposal for this project, with the aim of crafting legislation to codify the transformation.

Early “pilot projects” of the Office of Transformation included the merger of the former Department of Rural Services (now the Rural Development Commission) with the Economic Development Commission, as well as the absorption of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery by the Department of Finance and Administration, both during the 2015 legislative session.

Under Act 910, which joined the Office of Transformation and ADIS, other divisions were consolidated under the umbrella as well, including the Division of Building Authority (DBA), the Employee Benefits Division, the Office of Personnel Management, the Arkansas Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Office, and the Office of State Procurement.

For additional information:
Arkansas Department of Transformation and Shared Services. https://portal.arkansas.gov/agency/department-of-transformation-and-shared-services/ (accessed December 27, 2019).

Staff of the CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas