Nebraska Information Technology Commission: Meeting Minutes

NEBRASKA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION

Tuesday, June 14, 2005, 12:30 p.m.
Video Conference Sites:
City Hall Offices, 1614 1st Avenue, South Sioux City, Nebraska
Executive Building-Room 103, 521 South 14th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska
Kearney Public Library-Media Center, 2020 1st Avenue, Kearney, Nebraska
Panhandle Learning Center-High Plains Room, 4502 Avenue I, Scottsbluff, Nebraska
APPROVED MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT:
Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy, Chair (South Sioux City Site)
Greg Adams, Mayor, City of York (Lincoln Site)
Linda Aerni, Chief Executive Officer, Community Internet Systems (South Sioux City Site)
Dr. Doug Christensen, Nebraska Department of Education (Lincoln Site)
Dr. Eric Brown, Manager, KRVN Radio (Kearney Site)
L. Merill Bryan, Senior Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Union Pacific (South Sioux City Site)
Senator Phil Erdman, Ex-officio (Scottsbluff Site)
Trev Peterson, Attorney, Knudsen, Berkheimer, Richardson, and Endacott, LLP (Lincoln Site)

MEMBERS ABSENT:
L. Dennis Smith, University of Nebraska

CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL AND MEETING NOTICE

Lieutenant Governor Sheehy called the meeting to order at 12:30 p.m. There were seven voting members present at the time of roll call. A quorum existed to conduct official business. The meeting notice and agenda were posted to the NITC and the Public Calendar Web sites on Tuesday, June 7, 2005.

PRESENTATION – SOUTH SIOUX CITY’S I.T. EFFORTS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS (MS PowerPoint 29k)

Lance Martin, Communications Coordinator, City of South Sioux City

Lance Swanson, South Sioux City Schools, Technology Director

Lance Hedquist, City Administrator, South Sioux

Greg Koinzan, Police Officer, South Sioux City Police Department

Lt. Governor Sheehy introduced Lance Hedquist, City Administrator for South Sioux City. Mayor Bill McLarty was also present. The NITC was acknowledged and thanked for providing grant assistance to South Sioux City. The city has received national recognition and awards for their efforts. The presenters proceeded with a PowerPoint presentation that covered the collaborative I.T. efforts among the city administration, the public schools and the police department. Questions were entertained.

APPROVAL OF MARCH MINUTES

Commissioner Brown moved to approve the March 15, 2005 minutes as presented. Commissioner Aerni seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Adams-Yes, Aerni-Yes, Brown-Yes, Bryan-Yes, Christensen-Abstained, Sheehy-Yes, and Peterson-Yes. Results: 6-Yes, 1-Abstain, 0-No. The motion was carried.

PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

STRATEGIC INITIATIVES UPDATE (PDF 102k)
Brenda Decker, Chief Information Officer, State of Nebraska

Ms. Decker highlighted some of the staff recommendations pertaining to the NITC Strategic Initiatives:

Nebraska Statewide Telehealth Network. This has been a collaborative effort headed by the Nebraska Hospital Association. The NITC and the Community Council’s Telehealth Subcommittee have also been instrumental in its development.
Network Nebraska. This is a collaborative effort between the Division of Communications and the University of Nebraska. The next phase of this initiative is to formalize business relationships and agreements and to enhance rural bandwidth through aggregation.
Statewide Synchronous Video Network. The passage of LB689 and the NITC’s membership on the task force will provide an opportunity for the NITC to look at how the statewide network can provide digital education. The primary objective of this initiative is to establish an Internet Protocol-based network that will interconnect all existing and future distance learning and videoconferencing facilities in the State of Nebraska.
Community IT Planning and Development. The primary objective of this initiative is to foster community and economic development in Nebraska communities through the effective use of information technology.
Promoting the Efficient Delivery of Government and Educational Services. The State Government Council has been working on shared services; standards and guidelines, project review process; e-government; and business continuity and disaster recovery.

Commissioners commented on the need to protect the public trust in regards to disaster recovery and business continuity. There is an emphasis at the national level for information sharing among agencies.

Discussion followed regarding responsibility for the goals and vision of the Statewide Technology Plan and communication with state legislators. The Commissioners believe there is a lack of awareness and knowledge about the purpose and goals of the NITC among senators. Although the NITC biennial report and budget recommendations are submitted to the Legislature, there still seems to be a disconnect. Senator Erdman was appointed by the Governor to serve on the NITC as liaison with the legislature. It was noted that Senator Erdman stated that continued education about the NITC needs to occur, and that it is imperative that information is received in a timely manner for the legislature to make budget decisions. The NITC is responsible for completion of its goals and vision. Staff will discuss the issue further to recommend a better mechanism for communication with the Legislature regarding reports, recommendations and building awareness.

Commissioner Christensen moved to approve the strategic initiatives for the Statewide Technology Plan. Commissioner Aerni seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Christensen-Yes, Brown-Yes, Adams-Yes, Bryan-Yes, Peterson-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, and Aerni-Yes. Results: 7-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

LB689 Task Force Membership. The legislation provides for two representatives from the NITC to serve on the task force. Those representatives will be Lt. Governor Sheehy and Commissioner Brown. Brenda Decker will serve as representative of the Governor.

LB645 Task Force Membership. The legislative language calls for three representatives from the NITC to serve on the task force. Appointments to the task force are to be done by September 2005. Interested Commissioners are to inform Lt. Governor Sheehy or Ms. Decker as soon as possible.

STAFF AND COUNCIL REPORTS - COMMUNITY COUNCIL (PDF 13k)

Anne Byers, Community I.T. Manager

Membership Recommendation. The Community Council and its Telehealth Subcommittee felt it was important to have a physician serve as a member. Dr. Jerry Easterday (PDF 10k) was nominated as a new member representing the telehealth sector. He has been providing telehealth services through Lutheran Family Services.

Commissioner Bryan moved to approve the Community Council’s recommendation of Dr. Easterday as a new member. Commissioner Christensen seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Peterson-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, Christensen-Yes, Bryan-Yes, Brown-Yes, Aerni-Yes, and Adams-Yes. Results: 7-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

Technology Innovation Grants for Economic Revitalization (TIGER)

At the May 24 Community Council meeting, the council recommended offering mini grants for projects which use information technology to enhance economic development instead of funding a special project. Approximately $20,000 is available in the Community Technology Fund. Applications would be due Sept. 1, 2005. Awards would be announced in November 2005. The NITC will need to approve the guidelines to begin the grant process. Questions were entertained.

Commissioner Aerni moved to approve the guidelines for the Community Council's Technology Innovation Grants for Economic Revitalization (TIGER) (PDF 31k). Commissioner Brown seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Adams-Yes, Peterson-Yes, Aerni-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, Brown-Yes, Christensen-Yes, and Bryan-Yes. Results: 7-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

COUNCIL REPORTS - EDUCATION COUNCIL

Tom Rolfes, Education Information Technology Manager

The Education Council has met twice since the March NITC meeting. Council members have been very interested in LB689. An all day work session was held on April 22nd with 25 members and alternates present. As a result of the work session, a vision statement and list of desired outcomes were developed that the Council would like to see from the distance education task force. To gather data for the task force, three surveys were developed – a separate one for teachers, IT managers/coordinators, and administrators. The surveys were posted on ESU 10 web site. So far, over 640 teachers, 70 tech coordinators, and 130 administrators have responded. When data is compiled, it will be given to the NITC representatives on task force.

Membership Recommendations. The Education Council submits the following recommendations for membership for final approval by the NITC.

Higher Education Renewals: Yvette Holly, Chuck Lenosky, and Jack Huck

Higher Education New Members: Stan Carpenter and Clark Chandler

K-12 Education Renewals: Ed Rastovski, Joe LeDuc, and Al Schneider

K-12 Education New Members: Rich Molettiere

Commissioner Peterson moved to approve the Education Council’s recommendations for new and renewed memberships (PDF 20k). Commissioner Christensen seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Peterson-Yes, Adams-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, Aerni-Yes, Christensen-Yes, Bryan-Yes, and Brown-Yes. Results: 7-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

COUNCIL REPORTS - STATE GOVERNMENT COUNCIL
Rick Becker, Government Information Technology Manager

The State Government Council has met three times since the March NITC meeting. Agenda items have included the following topics: Nebraska State Homepage revision; shared services; and revision to the Basic E-mail Standard. A press conference to announce the new Nebraska.com site is scheduled for June 16th.

Commissioner Aerni raised a question regarding the host for the State of Nebraska homepage. Ms. Decker explained that the Nebraska homepage is the responsibility of the State Records Board. The State Records Board contracts with NOL whose parent company is outside of the State of Nebraska. The Commissioners asked the Chair to send a letter to the State Records Board indicating their thoughts of the home page hosting. Staff will follow-up on this and get back to the Commissioners. A new web site is also being developed for Lt. Governor Sheehy. The NITC is also exploring this possibility of a new web site.

REPORT - TECHNICAL PANEL

Walter Weir, Chair, Technical Panel

The Technical Panel has met twice since the March NITC meeting. Three standards and guidelines recommendations are on today’s agenda. The panel has been discussing software that may help with prioritizing budget requests. There are approximately 250,000 users on Network Nebraska. Through a NEMA grant, a larger router has been obtained for the Peter Kiewitt Center. The router will help move part of the Internet traffic through Omaha on a Level 3 connection.

STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES: WEB BRANDING AND POLICY CONSISTENCY

Discussions regarding web branding began with the Nebraska Webmasters Group. The purpose of the Brand Graphic is to make it clear that the web page being viewed is an official State of Nebraska web page with an image that cannot legally be used on non-State of Nebraska web pages. The purpose of the footer requirements is to ensure that the public can easily view the privacy and security policies and that every web page has them available. Questions were entertained.

Commissioner Peterson moved to approve the Web Branding and Policy Consistency Standard (PDF 28k). Commissioner Aerni seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Sheehy-Yes, Christensen-Yes, Aerni-Yes, Brown-Yes, Bryan-Yes, Peterson-Yes, and Adams-Yes. Results: 7-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES: SECURITY STATEMENT

A security statement will be posted on a web page -- which may include other privacy and policy information -- linked directly from the State of Nebraska home page http://www.nebraska.gov. Questions were entertained.

Commissioner Aerni moved to approve the Security Statement Standard (PDF 23k). Commissioner Bryan seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Brown-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, Bryan-Yes, Peterson-Yes, Adams-Yes, and Aerni-Yes, Christensen-Yes. Results: 7-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

STANDARDS AND GUIDELINES: E-MAIL STANDARD FOR STATE GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

The basic e-mail system product that was approved over a year ago had a major revision which was more graphics intensive so low bandwidth users were having difficulty. The work group refocused and tested other products. A new product was chosen and, since the standard called for a specific product this standard is up for review and approval again. Questions were entertained.

Commissioner Aerni moved to approve the E-mail Standard for State Government Agencies (PDF 36k). Commissioner Adams seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Aerni-Yes, Bryan-Yes, Christensen-Yes, Adams-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, Brown-Yes, and Peterson-Yes. Results: 7-Yes, 0-No. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

NEW BUSINESS

Ms. Decker announced that on August 9th the Technical Panel is hosting a collaborative meeting with the other councils. NITC Commissioners will be invited to attend as well.

NEXT MEETING DATE, TIME AND LOCATION AND ADJOURNMENT

The next meeting of the Nebraska Information Technology Commission will be held on Friday, September 16, 2005, at 1 p.m. and will be held with the Education Council. Due to a 1 p.m. appointment, Commissioner Brown requested that the meeting be held in the morning.

With no further business, Lt. Governor Sheehy adjourned the meeting at 3:15 p.m.

Meeting minutes were taken by Lori Lopez Urdiales and reviewed by staff of the Nebraska Information Technology Commission.

Meeting Minutes