DATE: Thursday, September 25, 1997          TAG: 9709250386

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY AKWELI PARKER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   62 lines

CITY TOUTS TECHNOLOGY AT DAYLONG WORKER FAIR EMPLOYEES FROM THREE CITIES EXAMINE WAYS TO STREAMLINE THEIR WORK.

Many people don't automatically associate the terms ``government'' and ``efficiency,'' but putting the two together was the intent of Wednesday's Techno 97 Employee Technology Fair.

Sponsored by Norfolk, the expo at Scope convention center invited all levels of city workers from Chesapeake, Norfolk and Virginia Beach to check out 39 high-tech companies and the ways they might make jobs easier.

The theoretical payoff: Greater efficiency would mean better use of tax dollars.

Rosemary Wilson, a member of the Virginia Beach School Board, marveled at a space-saving solution from Newport News-based Reams Computer Corp.

Using a CD-ROM jukebox, a scanner and a modest processor, Reams' system transfers reams of documents from bulky paper to compact disc.

``We have to keep student records and employee records, and it takes up a lot of space,'' said Wilson.

But the Reams machine would apparently cut storage costs and make records easier to retrieve, she said.

And copying information would cost only $6 or so for the blank CD, said company president F. Gordon Reams.

``What would it cost you to take a four-door file cabinet and copy it?'' he asked.

Seven years ago, such a system might have cost $80,000, said Reams systems consultant Carl Long. But, because of better technology and cheaper memory, today's price is closer to $20,000.

Local reps from Schaumburg, Ill.-based wireless communications giant Motorola offered relief from perhaps the most unglamorous part of law enforcement - paperwork.

``That's the big wave of the future: automating the worker's paperwork and using wireless to get information back to the server,'' said Neil Kunzler, a Motorola representative in Virginia Beach.

A program called PoliceWorks - sort of an Office97 for cops - allows officers to diagram accidents, write crime reports and issue tickets electronically, all from the comfort of their Crown Victorias.

Kunzler said the software is designed to catch errors and omissions, and reduce the need for officers to head back to the precinct to do administrative stuff - and that, he said, saves taxpayers money.

Organizers of the show said they expected 500 attendees to show up the entire day. But by just past noon, said one registration official, 400 had already passed through.

Next year, for the second technology show, organizers expect to at least double the number of exhibitors, said Drew Wallner, Norfolk's information systems project manager.

``This year we keyed in on information technology,'' Wallner said. ``Next year we want to expand that.''

And in the spirit of regionalism, the next fair will include more Hampton Roads communities and more types of technology.

One proposed technology for next year even suggests that government waste can actually be a good thing. The topic: robotic solid waste handling. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

D. KEVIN ELLIOTT/The Virginian-Pilot

Motorola representative Greg Lawlor...Capt. John Forbes, left, and

John Warner...

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu