NEBRASKA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION
Southeast Community College-Room 303
608 Park Place, Lincoln, Nebraska
Wednesday, November 1, 2006, 9:00 a.m.
MINUTES
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy, Chair
Linda Aerni, Chief Executive Officer, Community Internet Systems
Pat Flanagan, Information Services Manager,
Mutual of Omaha
Lance Hedquist, City Administrator, South Sioux City
Dr. Dan Hoesing, Superintendent, Laurel-Concord, Coleridge, & Newcastle Public Schools
Mike Huggenberger, Director-Netlink, Great Plains Communications
Dr. Janie Park, President, Chadron State College
Trev Peterson, Attorney, Knudsen, Berkheimer, Richardson, and Endacott, LLP
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Dr. Doug Kristensen, Chancellor, University of Nebraska-Kearney
Senator Phil Erdman, State of Nebraska
CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, NOTICE OF MEETING & OPEN MEETINGS ACT INFORMATION
Lt. Governor Sheehy called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. The meeting notice and meeting agenda were posted to the NITC and Public Meeting Calendar Web sites on October 25, 2006. Lt. Governor Sheehy announced that a copy of the Open Meetings Act was located on the back table next to the entrance.
APPROVAL OF AUGUST MINUTES
Commissioner Park moved to approve the August 4, 2006 minutes as presented. Commissioner Hedquist seconded. Roll call vote: Aerni-Yes, Hedquist-Yes, Hoesing-Yes, Huggenberger-Yes, Park-Yes, Peterson-Yes, and Sheehy-Yes. Results: Yes-7, No-0. Motion carried.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment.
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS
LB 1208 Implementation, Brenda Decker. The Request for Proposal bids for the scheduling system closed yesterday October 31st. Four bids were received. The evaluation team will begin their work towards meeting the award date scheduled for November 22nd. There are representatives of Distance Education Council and staff of the Office of the CIO on the evaluation team. The team is aware that a MPLS network has been launched through Phase III of Network Nebraska. LB 1208 will assist greatly in getting expanded services to schools. The Distance Education Council approved that LB 1208 implementation begin in the Northeast Nebraska school districts. The Office of the CIO is filinga form 470 on behalf of all Phase I entities. School districts and Educational Service Units have submitted letters approving the CIO to bid for network services. The NITC staff will be meeting with Senator Raikes to provide an update on LB 1208 efforts.
Commissioner Flanagan arrived at the meeting.
Broadband Services Task Force, Lieutenant Governor Sheehy. The Lieutenant Governor, Commissioner Aerni and Commissioner Kristensen serve on the task force. The report has been drafted and is currently being reviewed. The report is to be completed by November 15th. One recommendation of the taskforce is to having ongoing evaluation and assessment of the deployment of broadband in Nebraska. Lieutenant Governor Sheehy recommended that the NITC take the lead on assuring an on-going evaluation. Staff of the Office of the CIO affirmed that this was within the responsibilities of the NITC.
Information Technology Services Report June 2006, Brenda Decker. The Office of the CIO will be providing an annual report of its operational accomplishments and future goals. It is an informational document and a companion to the NITC’s Biennial Report to the Legislature.
NITC PRIORIZATION OF FY 2007-09 IT BUDGET
Mr. Weir and Mr. Henderson acknowledged and thanked the reviewers, University of Nebraska and the Office of the CIO project management staff for their assistance. Each I.T. project proposal was evaluated by three reviewers. Each of the advisory councils, as well as the Technical Panel, have reviewed the I.T. project proposals. For this biennial budget, the Office of the CIO utilized a portfolio management process to assist the NITC in their recommendations.
Commissioner Hedquist moved to approve the Technical Panel and Advisory Councils’ I.T. Budget Project Proposals recommendation as listed below with the exception of project numbers 50-01, 85-01, 27-01, 27-03, and 47-01 to be further discussed by the Commission:
Mandate:
25-01, HHSS-New Medicaid Management Information System (MMIS)
47-04, NET-Final DTV Transmitter Conversion Project
Tier 1:
51-01, University of Nebraska, Student Information System
Tier 2:
05-01, Supreme Court-E-Filing in JUSTICE
13-01, Department of Education-Nebraska Transcript Project
37-02, Workers' Compensation Court-Court Re-engineering - Adjudication
37-03, Workers' Compensation Court-Court Re-engineering - Vocational Rehabilitation
Tier 3:
05-02, Supreme Court-Digital Audio Recorders
25-02, HHSS-Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)
37-01, Workers' Compensation Court-WCC Internet Enhancement and Security
47-02, NET-Public Media Archive and Distribution Project
47-03, NET-Public Media at the Capitol
Commissioner Hoesing seconded. Motion was open for discussion.
Commissioner Peterson expressed concern about the two Health and Human Services Systems projects that were not submitted on time and were listed without any type of review. The Medicaid project proposal was submitted and approved during the last biennial budget. It was rated low due to the similar concerns as this year’s proposal. The project did go out for bid. All bids were rejected at that time. The agency had to get approval from the federal government to go back out for bid.
Commissioner Peterson offered a friendly amendment to add the HHSS projects 25-01 and 25-02 to the list for further discussion. The friendly amendment was accepted by Commissioners Hedquist and Hoesing.
Commissioner Hedquist moved to approve the Technical Panel and Councils’ I.T. Budget Project Proposals recommendation as listed below with the exception of project numbers 50-01, 85-01, 27-01, 27-03, 47-01, 25-01, and 25-02 to be further discussed by the Commission:
Mandate:
47-04, NET-Final DTV Transmitter Conversion ProjectTier 1:
51-01, University of Nebraska, Student Information SystemTier 2:
05-01, Supreme Court-E-Filing in JUSTICE
13-01, Department of Education-Nebraska Transcript Project
37-02, Workers' Compensation Court-Court Re-engineering - Adjudication
37-03, Workers' Compensation Court-Court Re-engineering - Vocational RehabilitationTier 3:
05-02, Supreme Court-Digital Audio Recorders
37-01, Workers' Compensation Court-WCC Internet Enhancement and Security
47-02, NET-Public Media Archive and Distribution Project
47-03, NET-Public Media at the Capitol
Commissioner Hoesing seconded. Roll call vote: Aerni-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, Flanagan-Yes, Peterson-Yes, Hedquist-Yes, Park-Yes, Hoesing-Yes, and Huggenberger-Yes. Results: Yes-8, No-0. Motion carried.
DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION FOR PROJECT 50-01, STATE COLLEGE SYSTEM-STUDENT INFORMATION ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM AND COLLABORATION WITH PROJECT 51-01, UN-STUDENT INFORMATION SYSTEM:
The current student information systems (SIS+) will no longer be supported as of 2009 due to some of the financial aid requirements. The needs of the State College System and the University of Nebraska may differ but there could be some common implementation elements of a student services information system. Mr. Weir has spoken with Ed Hoffman, of the State College System, about the technical aspects of the project to bring down the cost of implementation. They have been discussing the various models – centralized versus decentralized versus a hybrid model. A hybrid model may be one option that can be used by all. The hybrid model would utilize common data sets which could be modified by each institution upon implementation. Collaboration can also be done with sharing implementation experiences. Commissioner Aerni commented that it would be nice to have one place where citizens can go for information on education. Mr. Weir has also had discussions with Bob Beecham, Nebraska Department of Education, about developing a data warehouse.
Regarding Projects 50-01, State College System-Student Information Administrative System, and the collaboration with Project 51-01, UN-Student Information System, Commissioner Peterson moved:
- to leave the project in Tier 1.
- that the NITC strongly recommends that the University of Nebraska and the State College System collaborate on these projects in the areas of data element and definitions, data warehouse design, data sharing, networking, hardware, and implementation.
- that the systems should be interoperable.
- that the University of Nebraska and the State College System work closely with the Technical Panel and provide periodic project reports to the NITC.
Commissioner Hedquist seconded. Roll call vote: Huggenberger-Yes, Hoesing-Yes, Hedquist-Yes, Flanagan-Yes, Aerni-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, Peterson-Yes, and Park-Yes. Results: Yes-8, No-0. Motion carried.
DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION FOR PROJECT 27-03, DEPARTMENT OF ROADS-HIGHWAY CONDITION REPORTING SYSTEMS (HCRS) ENHANCEMENT:
The project is currently listed in the Tier 3 group. As noted by the Technical Panel, there is no mention of collaborative efforts with other agencies or with the GIS Steering Committee. The Technical Panel review also indicated that there was not much technical information in the proposal to effectively score the project.
By group consensus, the Commissioners defined a Tier 4 for projects. These are projects that had insufficient information to proceed with a recommendation for funding.
Commissioner Hedquist moved that Project 27-03, Department of Roads-Highway Condition Reporting Systems (HCRS) Enhancement, be moved to Tier 4 due to insufficient information to proceed with a recommendation. Commissioner Peterson seconded. Roll call vote: Hoesing-Yes, Huggenberger-Yes, Park-Yes, Peterson-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, Aerni-Yes, Flanagan-Yes, and Hedquist-Yes. Results: Yes-8, No-0. Motion carried.
DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION FOR 85-01, RETIREMENT-MIGRATION OF PIONEER TO THE jCLARITY PLATFORM
Jerry Brown, Office of the CIO, is currently the IT Manager working with the Retirement Systems. Randy Gerke, Retirement Systems Interim Director, was also present to answer questions. The proposal was submitted by the previous director at a time when the agency had no permanent IT support staff. Mr. Brown submitted a letter of response addressing some of the reviewers' concerns. Following is an excerpt: “The PIONEER application was developed in a language called Forte, which is a fourth generation language. Forte is owned by Sun Microsystems, who purchased the product suite in late 1999. Sun Microsystems has pledged to support Forte on select platforms until sometime in 2007, after which legacy systems (i.e. PIONEER) will need to look elsewhere for support. PIONEER was written with some dependency on Windows 2000. It is projected that Microsoft will terminate Windows 2000 support by 2010. It is possible to transition to Windows XP, but would involve updating 75+ workstations, updating the software where appropriate, and testing the entire system. It is yet to be determined if this would be justified, based on when the transitioned system would be in production.”
Commissioner Aerni moved that Project 85-01, Retirement- Migration of Pioneer to the jClarity Platform, be moved to Tier 4 due to insufficient information to proceed with a recommendation. There was no second. The motion died for lack of a second.
Commissioner Peterson moved to leave Project 85-01, Retirement- Migration of Pioneer to the jClarity Platform, in Tier 1 and recommended that the agency coordinate with the Technical Panel for oversight of the project. Commissioner Hoesing seconded. Roll call vote: Aerni-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, Flanagan-Yes, Peterson-Yes, Hedquist-Yes, Park-Yes, Hoesing-Yes, and Huggenberger-Yes. Results: Yes-8, No-0. Motion carried.
DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION FOR 27-01 DEPARTMENT OF ROADS–EXPANSION OF FALCON DMS TO AGENCY-WIDE USE
The Technical Review noted that it appears that Falcon is already being used in some areas of the agency with plans to expand its capabilities, and that there was not enough technical information on the project.
Commissioner Flanagan moved that Project 27-01 be moved to Tier 4 due to insufficient information to proceed with a recommendation. Commissioner Huggenberger second. Roll call vote: Hoesing-Yes, Huggenberger-Yes, Hedquist-Yes, Park-Yes, Flanagan-Yes, Aerni-Yes, Peterson-Yes, and Sheehy-Yes. Results: Yes-8, No-0. Motion carried.
DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION FOR 47-01 SATELLITE RECONFIGURATION
Michael Winkle, Assistant Manager, University Television provided a brief history of the project. The NET Commission approved the project. NET has been working with other agencies who may be interested in passing data through Network 3 satellite uplinks. Those agencies include the Department of Roads, Health and Human Services Systems and law enforcement agencies. The capabilities and advantages once implemented would be better managed by Network Nebraska.
Commissioner Flanagan moved to leave Project 47-01, NET-Final DTV Transmitter Conversion Project in Tier 3 as recommended. Commissioner Peterson second. Roll call vote: Park-Yes, Peterson-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, Aerni-Yes, Flanagan-Yes, Hedquist-Yes, Hoesing-Yes, and Huggenberger-Yes. Results: Yes-8, No-0. Motion carried.
DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION 25-01, HHSS-NEW MEDICAID MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MMIS)
Regarding Project 25-01 New Medicaid Management Information System, Commissioner Peterson moved:
- to leave Project 25-01 in the recommended “Mandate” list.
- to note that the project was not submitted on time for an evaluation and Technical Panel review.
- that the agency coordinate with the Technical Panel for review of the project as needed.
Commissioner Aerni seconded. Roll call vote: Flanagan-Yes, Park-Yes, Aerni-Yes, Hedquist-Yes, Hoesing-Yes, Huggenberger-Yes, Peterson-Yes, and Sheehy-Yes. Results: Yes-8, No-0. Motion carried.
DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATION 25-02, HHSS-LABORATORY INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (LIMS):
Commissioner Peterson moved to leave in Tier 3 and that the project report to the Technical Panel on a regular basis. Commissioner Flanagan seconded.
Motion was open for discussion. There was concern that the agency did not meet the deadline for submission of I.T. Project Proposals in time for the evaluation and technical review. A friendly amendment was offered to state the NITC’s concern the project did not get evaluated. Commissioners Peterson and Flanagan accepted the friendly amendment.
Regarding Project 25-02 Laboratory Information Management System, Commissioner Peterson moved:
- to leave Project 25-02 in the recommended Tier 3 list.
- to note that the project was not submitted on time for an evaluation and Technical Panel review.
- that the agency coordinate with the Technical Panel for review of the project as needed.
Commissioner Flanagan seconded. Roll call vote: Huggenberger-Yes, Hoesing-Yes, Hedquist-Yes, Flanagan-Yes, Aerni-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, Peterson-Yes, and Park-Yes. Results: Yes-8, No-0. Motion carried.
NITC BIENNIAL REPORT
Commissioners reviewed the draft report and had no recommended changes. Photos will be added to the final product.
By statute, the NITC is required to annually review its goals and strategic initiatives. When approved, the advisory councils develop action items to accomplish the initiatives. Two additional initiatives were presented for discussion.
eHealth. Lieutenant Governor stated that there are a number of initiatives in the state addressing various aspects of eHealth. There is a need for a statewide advisory group to identify barriers and facilitate collaboration among eHealth initiatives. This could be a role for the NITC.
Dr. Park moved to direct staff to further develop the eHealth concepts and to bring a recommendation to the NITC for inclusion as an additional NITC Strategic Initiative. Commissioner Hoesing seconded. Roll call vote: Hoesing-Yes, Huggenberger-Yes, Park-Yes, Peterson-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, Aerni-Yes, and Hedquist-Yes. Results: Yes-8, No-0. Motion carried.
It was recommended to have the NITC’s Community Council and the State Government Council assist in developing the initiative.
Public Safety Radio. The Office of the CIO has been working with the Department of Roads, State Patrol and local law enforcement on a public safety radio project.
Dr. Park moved to direct staff and the State Government Council to further develop the Statewide Radio Project initiative and make a recommendation to the NITC for inclusion as an additional NITC Strategic Initiatives. Commissioner Hedquist seconded. Roll call vote: Huggenberger-Yes, Hoesing-Yes, Hedquist-Yes, Flanagan, Aerni-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, Peterson-Yes, and Park-Yes. Results: Yes-8, No-0. Motion carried.
REPORTS AND ACTION ITEMS FROM THE COUNCILS – COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Community Technology Fund Special Project Report-Podcasting Across Nebraska. The application period closed on Friday, October 13. Thirty-three applications were received from communities and regional groups across the state. Currently, applications are being reviewed. It is anticipated that selection of participants will be completed by the end of November. A list of applicants can be viewed in the above report link. The Lieutenant Governor’s remarks from the November 13th eGovernment Conference will be recorded and made into a demo podcast during an afternoon session of the conference.
REPORTS AND ACTION ITEMS FROM THE COUNCILS – EDUCATION COUNCIL
The Education Council has met twice since the last NITC meeting. At the October meeting, agencies were invited to present their IT projects and be available for questions. Council members requested a presentation of the portfolio management software used during this biennial funding cycle. LB1208 activities are on-going and fast-paced to meet the projects goals and completion dates. By August 13th all northeast Nebraska sites should be up and running. Beginning tomorrow, November 2nd, a 2-day vendor fair for codec devices will be held in Kearney. Educational service unit I.T. staff will be creating a catalog of all peripheral devices that would available to K12 and higher education institutions. The Distance Education Council is collaborating with the NITC Education Council.
Membership. Al Schneider has resigned from the Education Council. The council would like to nominate Bob Uhing, Education Service Unit 1, to serve as his replacement and new member of the Education Council.
Commissioner Hoesing moved to approve the nomination of Bob Uhing to serve as a new member of the Education Council. Commissioner Hedquist. Roll call vote: Peterson-Yes, Hedquist-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, Flanagan-Yes, Park-Yes, Aerni-Yes, Huggenberger-Yes, and Hoesing-Yes. Results: Yes-8, No-0. Motion carried.
REPORTS AND ACTION ITEMS FROM THE COUNCILS – STATE GOVERNMENT COUNCIL
Rick Becker, State Government Council I.T. Manager
The council has been focusing on the I.T. project proposal process. Nebraska moved up to number 14 in the nation in the Digital State Survey results.
Business Continuity, Steve Henderson. Over the last year, Lieutenant Governor Sheehy has been meeting with agency directors to discuss this issue. There are not many states are taking this approach to business continuity. The discussions focused on what are the priority services we provide to Nebraska’s citizens. A list has been prepared and it is currently being evaluated by a technical audience to determine its feasibility. Mr. Henderson thanked the Lieutenant Governor for his support and involvement in this effort.
REPORTS AND ACTION ITEMS FROM THE TECHNICAL PANEL
Walter Weir, Chair, Chief Information Officer, University of Nebraska
The Technical has met twice since last NITC meeting. Agenda items have focused on standards and guidelines and the I.T. Project Proposal review process.
Revised Charter. LB 921 gave the Office of the CIO several votes on the Technical Panel. The membership contained in the charter was revised to correct this. Other changes included correcting the office address. The panel would like to recommend a change to section 6.1 Number of Members from seven to five members, and in Section 6.2 Representation to the charter to the following:
6.2 Representation
6.2.1 One representative from the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission;
6.2.2 One representative from the Office of Chief Information Officer;
6.2.3 One representative from the University of Nebraska Computing Services Network;
6.2.4 One member with expertise in assistive technology;
6.2.5 One member representing K-12 education; and
6.2.6 Other members as specified by the Commission.
Commissioner Aerni moved to approve the recommended changes to the Technical Panel Charter. Commissioner Hedquist seconded. Roll call vote: Park-Yes, Huggenberger-Yes, Hoesing-Yes, Hedquist-Yes, Flanagan-Yes, Aerni-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, and Peterson-Yes. Results: Yes-8, No-0. Motion carried.
Membership. Michael Beach resigned from the Technical Panel due to a career opportunity out of state. The Technical Panel would like to nominate Michael Winkle, General Manager for NET, to serve as his replacement on the Technical Panel.
Commissioner Flanagan moved to approve the nomination of Michael Winkle to serve as a new member of the Technical Panel. Commissioner Hedquist seconded. Roll call vote: Hoesing-Yes, Huggenberger-Yes, Park-Yes, Peterson-Yes, Sheehy-Yes, Aerni-Yes, Flanagan-Yes, and Hedquist-Yes. Results: Yes-8, No-0. Motion carried.
OTHER BUSIINESS
The Digital Government Summit, sponsored by the Office of the CIO and Government Technology Magazine, will be held on November 13th, at the Embassy Suites in Lincoln, Nebraska. The registration is free. The Office of the CIO has invited local government representatives to be part of the conference. The conference information link will be sent to commissioners.
The Security Work Group of the NITC Technical Panel has been developing a security standard. Plans are to have the standard recommendation at the NITC to their next meeting. In the event that the standard is not ready for approval, the Governor has agreed to issue an executive order.
Several of the Commissioners had positive comments regarding the I.T. proposal project review process.
NEXT MEETING DATE, TIME, LOCATION AND MEETING ADJOURNMENT
The Office of the CIO will contact Commissioners regarding available dates for a late February or an early March meeting.
Commissioner Flanagan moved to adjourn. Commissioner Hedquist seconded. All were in favor. Motion carried by voice vote.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:44 p.m.
Meeting minutes were taken by Lori Lopez Urdiales and reviewed by the staff of the Office of the NITC.Meeting Minutes