In many ways Hawaii's government runs its computers like the Internet age hardly happened.

E-mail systems are old. Some departments use IBM computers while others use Apples. Each department has its own specialized computer system, meaning it can have a hard time exchanging information with a different system in another department.

Because of all these different computers and software, Hawaii is spending more money than it would if it could buy uniform computer systems in bulk.

Improving Hawaii's information technology was the top recommendation of a task force's investigation into how to make the state more effective.

“;What we have is many years of tradition uninterrupted by progress,”; said Don Horner, CEO chief executive officer of First Hawaiian Bank and chairman of the Task Force on Reinventing Government. “;We could be a lot more efficient and productive without expanding government, and we'd have more high-tech jobs.”;

During its probe the task force learned that piles of discs are hand-carried each day to a secure site in case of a fire, instead of the information being backed up to remote computers, said state Sen. Donna Mercado Kim.

“;That is archaic,”; said Kim (D, Kalihi Valley-Halawa). “;Every department has IT (information technology) people, and they each have their own way of doing things. We need to have a broad system and change the way people are doing things.”;

The task force recommended in this month's report that the state establish a chief information officer position to manage and centralize the state's computer systems. Legislation has been proposed this year to create the CIO job, but previous efforts by Gov. Linda Lingle failed.

Hawaii's department-by-department way of handling information would not work in the business world, where companies invested heavily in upgrades as the Internet and computers grew in importance, said Lynn McCrory, president of PAHIO Development.

“;It's like we had all these little companies and they all grew at the same time, and then when the big company came along and merged everything, it never made the changes,”; said McCrory, a member of the task force.

The panel started its work in October with the goal of finding ways to eliminate government waste and to save money without cutting core services. Its members included business CEOs, union leaders and government officials.

The group's 28-page report makes various recommendations, but the government's computer problems were evident throughout. The report does not estimate how much money the state could save by modernizing its computers.

“;They focused on making government more efficient and making sure taxpayers get the most bang for their buck,”; said state Rep. Marcus Oshiro (D, Wahiawa-Poamoho). “;As any business out there knows, in order to operate a modern IT environment, you need interconnectivity between departments.”;