Community Council Priorities and Action Plans
(Draft)
Nebraska will cultivate an economic, political, and regulatory environment conducive to IT development by:
- Ensuring access to public and private services for all citizens of the State of Nebraska (regardless of impediment--i.e., location and socio-economic status) through the appropriate and efficient use of information technology.
Action Plan: Telehealth Reimbursement and Licensure
Address the issues of telehealth reimbursement and licensure, by providing insurance companies, telehealth providers, and policy makers with information on these issues.
Lead: Telehealth Subcommittee
Time Frame: Beginning June, 2001
Action Plan: Technical Assistance Center for Telehealth
Explore the feasibility of establishing setting up a Technical Assistance Center for Telehealth. A virtual technical assistance center could provide technical assistance to telehealth providers. The Technical Assistance Center could be a virtual call center or could be Web-based with a bulletin board and best practices. A listserv might also be useful to link telehealth providers in the state.
Lead: Telehealth Subcommittee
Time Frame: Beginning September, 2001
- Promoting the development of an infrastructure (including sufficient bandwidth) that is secure, affordable, reliable, and responsive to the specific needs of various sectors. Efforts should be made to ensure that systems across the state are compatible.
Action Plan: Telehealth Standards
Make recommendations to the Technical Panel regarding telehealth standards and compatibility issues.
Lead: Telehealth Subcommittee
Time Frame: Beginning June, 2001
- Developing the intellectual infrastructure necessary to support Information Age development. Intellectual infrastructure includes the development of a workforce knowledgeable of and fluent in the use and applications of information technology, the availability of IT support services, and the inclusion of information technology in local or regional economic development plans.
Action Plan: Rural and Community IT Development
Address the information technology planning needs of Nebraska's communities, by:
- Inventorying and assessing current programs and strategies that address community IT leadership and planning, intellectual infrastructure, and telecommunications infrastructure in communities.
- Identifying specific gaps, duplication and collaborative opportunities regarding information technology needs in communities, including community IT leadership and planning, intellectual infrastructure, and telecommunications infrastructure.
- Making recommendations regarding program development.
- Inventorying community-based IT planning groups in the state.
- Working with the Technologies Across Nebraska initiative to review, make recommendations, and develop Information Technology toolkit resources for communities.
- Conducting a series of meetings with members of community IT committees to review to solicit feedback.
- Making action item and policy recommendations to the Community Council and the NITC by September 30, 2001.
Lead: Rural and Community IT Development Planning Group
Time frame: May – September, 2001
Action Plan: IT Needs of Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses
Address the IT needs of entrepreneurs and small businesses by:
- Inventorying and assessing current programs which serve entrepreneurs and small businesses.
- Working with the Technologies Across Nebraska initiative to review, make recommendations, and an IT resource guide for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Lead: Community Council and Technologies Across Nebraska initiative
Time frame: After September 30, 2001
- Facilitating IT development and innovation by raising awareness, sharing information, encouraging collaboration, and developing partnerships among public and between public and private entities.
Continue to develop, within the NITC Web site, a clearinghouse service to provide convenient access to information about information technology.
Lead: Community Council, Local Government Subcommittee, Telehealth Subcommittee, and Rural and Community Technology Planning Group
Time Frame: Ongoing
- Fostering awareness and collaborative and innovative uses of information technology by local governments to reduce costs, improve efficiency, and provide better customer service.
Action Plan: Local Government IT Needs
Address local government IT needs by:
- Reviewing and evaluating information technology policy implications for local governments.
- Identifying and developing toolkit resources for local governments, including sample IT plans, sample inter-local agreements, best practices, and case studies.
- Identifying the implications of LB 827 (if it passes) and develop resources to help local governments utilize the tools this bill offers communities.
- Developing local government policies and procedures that would
- Reduce duplication of effort
- Ensure compatibility of equipment expenditures both within a political jurisdiction and between other jurisdictions
- Establish adequate and meaningful planning, and
- Establish uniform public policies and procedures which promote uniformity, resource sharing, standards and guidelines, support services, training, and cooperative development of geographic information systems.
Lead: Local Government IT Subcommittee
Time Frame: Beginning June, 2001
Action Plans