MINUTES OF INFORMATION RESOURCES CABINET MEETING
June 1, 1998
IRC Members in Attendance:
Al Abbott, Dept. Of Roads
Al Abramson, Dept. Of Motor Vehicles
Berri Balka, Dept. Of Revenue
Tom Conroy, DAS-Information Management Services Div.
Jeff Elliott, Health & Human Services System, Finance & Support
Dorest Harvey, GDE Systems
William Miller, DAS-Communications Div.
The Honorable Scott Moore, Secretary of State
Yvonne Norton-Leung, Governor's Policy Research Office (Chair)
Gerry Oligmueller, DAS-Budget Div.
Steve Schafer, DAS-Intergovernmental Data Services Div.
Dayle Williamson, Natural Resources Commn.
Dennis Zimmerman, Commercial Federal Bank
Others in Attendance:
Rod Armstrong, State Information Technology Coordinator
Randy Cecrle, Workers' Compensation Court
Keith Dey, Dept. Of Motor Vehicles
Lyn Heaton, DAS-Budget Div.
Steve Henderson, DAS-Information Management Services Div.
Teresa Jacobs, Nebraska State Historical Society
Dennis L. Johnk, DAS-Transportation Services Bureau
Kris Leininger, Lieutenant Governor's Office
Greg Lemon, Deputy Secretary Of State
Jim McGee, HHSS-Information Systems & Technology
Jim Ohmberger, DAS-Information Management Services Div.
Robert Peters, Dept. Of Water Resources
J.L. Schmitt, Dept. Of Administrative Services (voting for Karen Kilgarin)
Jennifer Soucie, DAS-Communications Div.
The Information Resources Cabinet was called to order at 1:30 p.m. on June 1, 1998, by Yvonne Norton-Leung, Chair. The meeting was held in the basement conference room of the Governor's Residence. A quorum was present.
BRIEFINGS AND PUBLIC COMMENT
Sam Somerhalder gave a presentation on the State of Nebraska's Official Website, which is maintained by Nebrask@ Online. He demonstrated several state agencies and elected officials' services that are being provided online. He stated that Nebrask@ Online had 700,000 hits in 1996, 4.2 million hits in 1997, and 6.8 million hits January-May, 1998. Forty-one state agencies are currently online.
REGULAR REPORTS, DISCUSSIONS & ACTIONS
Government Technology Collaboration Fund
Yvonne Norton-Leung presented a memorandum describing the Government Technology Collaboration Fund and requested input concerning the criteria for disbursing the fund. Discussion ensued and changes/additions were made to criteria. Berri Balka made a motion to accept the criteria as set forth in the memorandum. Dayle Williamson seconded. Vote taken: Abbott-yes; Abramson-yes; Balka-yes; Conroy-yes; Curtis-not present; Elliott-yes; Harvey-yes; Lecuona-not present; Miller-yes; Moore-yes; Norton-Leung-yes; Oligmueller-yes; Schafer-yes; Schmidt, voting for Kilgarin-yes; Williamson-yes; Zimmerman-yes. Motion carried.
Revised Enterprise Goals
Yvonne Norton-Leung indicated that the revised Enterprise Goals have been useful in setting guidelines for the Government Technology Collaboration Fund and DAS-Budget Division's Information Technology Plan Instructions for state agencies.
Legal Issues Work Group
Yvonne Norton-Leung asked for a motion to approve the setting up of a Legal Work Group as standing advisors to the IRC. This group will be responsible for reviewing legal issues as assigned and for staying abreast of the state of the law. She stated that the legal issues continue to surface in relation to technical and program issues which state officials address, and that she believes a group who understands the legal environment and who are willing to keep up to date on court cases, decisions and legislation that might affect state government would be an advantage. She recommended that Greg Lemon, Tim Erickson, Rick Becker and representatives from state agencies be included in this Legal Work Group.
Al Abramson made the motion to create a Legal Work Group and to select the above-named individuals to serve on this group. Dorest Harvey seconded. Vote taken: Abbott-yes; Abramson-yes; Balka-yes; Conroy-abstained; Curtis-not present; Elliott-yes; Harvey-yes; Lecuona-not present; Miller-yes; Moore-yes; Norton-Leung-yes; Oligmueller-yes; Schafer-yes; Schmidt, voting for Kilgarin-yes; Williamson-yes; Zimmerman-yes. Motion carried.
IT Planning Schedule for Review
Bill Miller made a motion to adopt the IRC Information Technology Plan Review Process for the Nebraska Information Technology Commission as revised. Gerry Oligmueller seconded. Vote taken: Abbott-yes; Abramson-yes; Balka-yes; Conroy-yes; Curtis-not present; Elliott-yes; Harvey-yes; Lecuona-not present; Miller-yes; Moore-yes; Norton-Leung-yes; Oligmueller-yes; Schafer-yes; Schmidt, voting for Kilgarin-yes; Williamson-yes; Zimmerman-yes. Motion carried.
Technology Planning & Budgeting
Gerry Oligmueller reported that the technology planning and budgeting information for state agencies can be accessed on the DAS-Budget Division's website.
Century Date Change
Steve Henderson reported that 80% of the Century Date Change projects have been completed or are in progress. Work is on schedule.
Government Online
No report.
Standards
No report.
State Records Board
The next State Records Board meeting is set for Friday, June 24 at 1:30 p.m. in Room 1507 of the State Capitol. The Honorable Scott Moore indicated that a possible item for discussion will be the state agency use of fee-based services for no charge.
Web Link Criteria
The Honorable Scott Moore reported that he, Greg Lemon and Bill Miller met and formulated the following disclaimer language to address the issue of outside links on state agency websites:
"Notes on Outside Links: This website contains links to sites which are not maintained or under the control of (name of agency). All pages maintained by (name of agency) have URLs beginning with "......", links beginning with any other series of letters or numbers are outside links. Technical problems with outside links, other than a link that has been moved or changed, should not be reported to (name of agency) but to the entity that maintains the site. If you feel that the content of an outside link is inappropriate please E-mail (link to E-mail) us."
E-Mail Project
Tom Conroy gave a status report on the E-mail implementation project.
Individual Agency Reports
Dayle Williamson presented highlights of two activities that are underway at the Natural Resources Commission. He noted that both activities seemed to fit in well with the six enterprise goals and could also be used to acquaint the public with the innovative actions taken by State Government in relation to information technology. The first activity described included a spatial method to determine the location of irrigation wells located in the alluvium of the Republican River Basin. The Legislature appropriated $500,000 for FY 98/99 and the same amount for FY 99/00 to cost share on the installation of measuring devices on wells in the alluvial aquifer of the Republican River Basin. This legislation came as a result of the Republican River lawsuit that has been filed by Kansas and a need to have better data on water use. To begin administering the program, the NRC is using its geographic information system to overlay the alluvium and all registered irrigation wells on digital ortho photo quadrangles. In this way spatial and tabular information available comes together on a single map and enhances identification and understanding. The photos with the overlaid information will be provided to the Natural Resource Districts in the basin to provide a basis for their assistance in administering the program. Continuing efforts are underway to assure the accuracy of well locations through the use of global positioning system surveys. The digital ortho photo quandrangles have been made available through a work share program between the Natural Resources Commission and the United States Geological Survey. It is presently the only such full partnership effort with statewide scope in the nation.
The second activity described included the use of the digital ortho photo quandrangles and digital elevation models developed for Boone County. The NRC has responsibility to map floodplain areas throughout the state on a priority basis. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has provided appropriate mapping for most of the urban areas. Unfortunately, many of the rural areas have not yet been mapped and information for flood insurance is very limited. Over the past two decades, the NRC has completed detailed mapping in several areas of the state; however, using traditional engineering methods it has been a costly and time-consuming process. Utilizing the digital information now available, commission staff members have devised an innovative way to speed up the process with FEMA approval. Relying on traditional methods, it would have taken several people more than a year to map the areas in Boone County that were not included in FEMA coverage. Working with the new method, it took one person approximately one month to complete the basic work. After completion of the initial work, FEMA staff in Washington, D.C. downloaded the information from the Commission file transfer protocol site, and developed the series of maps required for the county. FEMA has indicated an interest in expanding this activity nation wide to expedite the mapping process and save a great deal of time and money. Nebraska may well be the national pilot program for such an effort.
(FEMA has arranged for a meeting of several federal agencies, state agencies and local units of government from Iowa to come to Lincoln at the end of June. The purpose of the meeting is for NRC staff to demonstrate the new initiative.)
Miscellaneous
Yvonne Norton-Leung will give an IRC report at NITC's June 16, 1998 meeting.
Best wishes were extended to Rod Armstrong, as he leaves 20+ years of service with state government, for a position with AIM Institute.
The meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.
Minutes taken by Kris Leininger.
Meeting Minutes