Technical Panel

Nebraska Information Technology Commission
Wednesday August 22, 2001 - 9:00 a.m.
Varner Hall - Board Room
38th and Holdrege, Lincoln, Nebraska

APPROVED MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Bob Huber, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission (alternate for Mike Beach)
Brenda Decker, Department of Administrative Services, State of Nebraska
Christy Horn, Compliance Officer, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Steve Schafer, Chief Information Officer, State of Nebraska
Walter Weir, Chief Information Officer, University of Nebraska

OTHERS PRESENT:

Rick Golden, University of Nebraska
Ruth Michalecki, Network Reliability and Interoperability Council V, Federal Communications Commission
Tom Rolfes, Office of the CIO/NITC
Steve Henderson, Department of Administrative Services, State of Nebraska
Ron Bowmaster, Nebraska Intergovernmental Data Communications Advisory Council
Gene Hand, Public Service Commission
Wayne Fisher, Internet Specialist Distance Learning Planning, Department of Education

ROLL CALL AND MEETING NOTICE

The chair, Walter Weir, called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. Roll call was taken. Five members were present. A quorum existed to conduct official business. The meeting notice posted to the N.I.T.C. and Nebraska Public Meeting Calendar Web sites on August 2, 2001. The agenda was posted to the N.I.T.C. Website on August 17, 2001.

PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

APPROVAL OF JULY 10, 2001 MINUTES

Mr. Schafer made the following corrections:

• Under Statewide Technology Plan’s E-Government Architecture subsection, the second sentence should read, “A grant application will be submitted to the Government Technology Collaboration Fund to continue the work on E-Government”.
• Under Updates. Change E-Government to E-Government Architecture.

Ms. Decker moved to approve the corrected minutes. Mr. Huber seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Huber-Yes, Decker-Yes, Horn-Yes, Schafer-Yes and Weir-Yes. Motion was carried by unanimous vote.

UPDATE ON LB 833 IMPLEMENTATION (PDF 254k)
Wayne Fisher, Internet Specialist Distance Learning Planning, Department of Education

Mr. Fisher distributed map indicating Nebraska’s Educational Service Units and the Status of Distance Learning Sites. Two-thirds of state’s schools have distance learning education sites. The list of schools without distance learning education sites was also provided. The bill has allocated $3 million for FY02 and FY03 – not to exceed $1.5 million per year of lottery monies. The Nebraska Department of Education is the fiscal agent. The draft of the “ADDITIONS TO RULE 89 DUE TO LB 833” will be ready today to submit to the State Board of Education for review and approval at the next meeting. Districts without distance education will be requested to provide a letter of intent to participate in the process. After discussion the Technical Panel made the following recommendations and requests:

• The Technical Panel requested to be involved with the review of the RFP.
• The Technical Panel recommended including a statement referencing the State’s development of a migration strategy for the video standards.
• The Technical Panel requested a draft of the migration strategy for the next meeting.

FORMS FOR STATE AGENCIES REVISIONS - AGENCY COMPREHENSIVE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PLAN
Steve Schafer, Chief Information Officer, State of Nebraska

The Technical Panel made the following recommendations:

• Section 3.D Security. Enhance awareness of state agencies regarding the security architectures developed by the Technical Panel (are you aware of these, implementation plans, etc.)
• Section 3.F. Accessibility. Include the set of questions asked of federal agencies. Ms. Horn will send these to Mr. Becker.
• J.D. Edwards requirements. The question was raised as to whether these should be included in the document. Mr. Becker will follow-up with Mr. Conroy for his input and suggestion.

FORMS FOR STATE AGENCIES - PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM
Steve Schafer, Chief Information Officer, State of Nebraska

The Technical Panel made no changes or recommendation to the document.

STATE ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE - Status Report (PDF k

Accessibility Architecture:
The Accessibility Checklists (PDF 151k) will be an appendix to the policy. The following changes and/or additions were made to the Accessibility Policy (PDF 212k):

• Sections C.6.a. and C.7.3. - delete the questions marks
• Section F.3 - insert information from Mark Schultz regarding the Assistive Technology Partnership.

Mr. Schafer moved to approve the draft guidelines with the suggested changes to be posted for a 30-day public comment period. Ms. Horn seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Weir-Yes, Schafer-Yes, Horn-Yes, Decker-Yes, and Huber-Yes. Motion was carried by unanimous vote.

Mr. Schafer suggested the development of a training CD would be beneficial for training agencies. It could be a grant project for submission to the Government Technology Collaboration Fund.

Network Architecture: Cabling Guidelines (PDF 143k)
Ron Bowmaster, NIDCAC

Mr. Bowmaster, in conjunction with the Division of Communications and Information Management Systems, developed the guidelines. Members expressed a concern in regards to setting 5e, as the minimum standard.Ms. Decker offered to have Dave Keele, Field Services Manager of the Division of Communications, further develop the document for review by the Technical Panel at the next meeting.

Hardware Architecture: Minimum Workstation Configuration Guidelines (PDF 143k)*

Members expressed concerns regarding the need to include statements in the Purpose and Objectives that:

• Simplify and clarify the technical support of minimum guidelines,
• Guidelines are needed to provide a “secure” environment,
• Agencies must analyze their specific software requirement needs, applications and hardware before purchasing,
• Document is not intended for justification to request increased budget dollars.

It was decided to table action on the document. Mr. Henderson will further develop the document for review at the next meeting.

PROJECT REVIEWS

State Records Board Grant Application - UNL - Conservation and Survey Division (PDF 263k)

The Technical Panel, having reviewed the grant application entitled “Archiving and Digital Access to the Conservation and Survey Division Aerial Photography Collection,” finds that:

• The project is technically feasible.
• The proposed technology is appropriate for the project.
• The technical elements can be accomplished within the proposed time frame and budget.

Mr. Schafer moved to forward the Technical Panel's review of the UNL-Conservation and Survey Division grant to the State Records Board. Ms. Decker seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Huber-Yes, Decker-Yes, Horn-Yes, Schafer-Yes and Weir-Yes. Motion was carried by unanimous vote.

Government Technology Collaboration Fund Review Process
Rick Becker, Government Information Technology Manager, CIO/NITC

Mr. Becker reminded members that grant applications are due August 31st and that at least one Technical Panel member, along with 2-3 other persons, served as a reviewers for each grant.

REGULAR INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND WORK GROUP UPDATES

Wireless Project. Ms. Decker reported that the request for bids is out and will be due in November. The first series of questions has been completed. Potential vendors have been doing site visits. The second round of questions is due tomorrow. A project proposal for the $1.5 million will be coming to the Technical Panel for their review.

NETCOM. Ms. Decker reported that bids are due Monday, August 27th. A team of 9 persons has been established to review the bids. The finalist will be announced Sept 7th with presentations scheduled to occur September 10th-12th.

Security Architecture Work Group. Mr. Schafer reported that the next meeting is scheduled for August 28th to put the final touches on the templates. The Technical Panel indicated that the templates should be formally adopted by the N.I.T.C. A representative from the State Patrol will be at the next Work Group meeting to discuss the Patrol’s process for incident reporting. The Work Group has also been discussing conducting and organizing a security forum.

Accessibility Architecture Work Group. Ms. Horn reported that the draft is complete and that she will attempt to organize a Work Group meeting for next week.

E-Government Architecture Work Group. Mr. Schafer reported that a grant application will be submitted for the Government Technology Collaboration Fund to continue work on E-government Architecture. The E-government Conference is scheduled for November 6th at the Cornhusker Hotel.

Video Standards Work Group. Mr. Huber reported that testing is almost complete and the Work Group will be making recommendations soon. Members encouraged the Work Group to have recommendations ready for adoption by the Technical Panel at the September or October meeting for final approval at the October 31st N.I.T.C. meeting.

OTHER BUSINESS

Mr. Huber informed the panel that John Stritt, new Director for the TriValley Distance Learning Consortium, was approved to replace John Horvath to serve on the Video Standards Work Group at the August 17th Education Council meeting.

FUTURE MEETING DATES AND ADJOURNMENT

The next meeting dates of the Technical Panel will be September 11, 2001, 9:00 a.m., October 9, 2001, 9:00 a.m., and October 23, 2001, 9:00 a.m.

Ms. Decker moved to adjourn. Ms. Horn seconded the motion. All were in favor. Motion was carried by voice vote. The meeting was adjourned at 11:50 a.m.

Minutes were taken by Lori Lopez Urdiales and reviewed by Rick Becker, Office of the CIO/N.I.T.C.

Meeting Minutes