TECHNICAL PANEL

Tuesday, January 8, 2002, 9 a.m.
Varner Hall, Regents Board Room
3835 Holdrege Street, Lincoln, Nebraska

APPROVED MINUTES

MEMBER PRESENT:

Mike Beach, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission
Steve Henderson, Department of Administrative Services (Alternate)
Steve Schafer, Chief Information Officer, State of Nebraska
Walter Weir, Chief Information Officer, University of Nebraska

MEMBER ABSENT: Christy Horn, University of Nebraska, Compliance Officer

OTHERS PRESENT: Rod Armstrong, Nebraska Online; Wayne Fisher, Nebraska Department of Education; Rick Golden, University of Nebraska; Bob Huber, NETC; Kevin Keller, State of Nebraska, Information Management Services; Sid McCartney, Division of Communications; Galin Karpisek, Cisco Systems; Mirta Hansen, FUTUREKIDS; Dick Palazzolo, Public Service Commission; Dave Wagaman, State of Nebraska, Budget Office; and Tom Rolfes, Rick Becker, and Lori Lopez Urdiales, Office of the CIO/NITC

ROLL CALL AND NOTICE OF MEETING

The chair, Walter Weir, called the meeting to order at 9:07 a.m. There were four members present at the time of roll call. A quorum existed to conduct official business. The meeting notice was posted to the N.I.T.C. web site and Nebraska Public Meeting Calendar web sites on December 13, 2001. The agenda was posted to the N.I.T.C. web site on January 2nd with a revision posted on January 4th, 2002.

PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

APPROVAL OF DECEMBER 11, 2001 MINUTES

Mr. Schafer moved to approve the December 11, 2001 minutes as presented. Mr. Henderson seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Beach-Yes, Henderson-Yes, Schafer-Yes, and Weir-Yes. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

PROJECT REVIEWS – LB 833 IMPLEMENTATION (PDF 98k)
Wayne Fisher, Nebraska Department of Education

The grant applications were due in mid December. Forty districts have applied for a total of 45 different sites. A total of 11 consortiums have applied and some consortiums have all schools within their district involved. Districts still have concerns regarding gateways, standards, costs and the deadline to apply for E-rate funds. Mr. McCartney and Mr. Huber are addressing these issues with the districts and consortia. The project is on schedule.

PROJECT REVIEWS – STATE RECORDS BOARD GRANT APPLICATION, BUSINESS PORTAL II (PDF 123k)
Rod Armstrong, Nebraska Online and Steve Schafer, Chief Information Officer

Members reviewed the grant application.

Mr. Beach moved to adopt the following resolution: The Technical Panel has reviewed the grant application entitled “Business Portal Phase II,” and 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. Henderson seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Weir-Yes, Schafer-Abstained, Henderson-Yes, and Beach-Yes. The motion was carried.

PROJECT REVIEWS – WIRELESS TRAINING MODULE, LIBRARY COMMISSION (PDF 2MB)

Mr. Beach moved to adopt the following resolution: The Technical Panel has reviewed the grant application entitled “Wireless Training Module” and 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. Henderson seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Weir-Yes, Schafer-Yes, Henderson-Yes, and Beach-Yes. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

STATE ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE – INCIDENT RESPONSE AND REPORTING PROCEDURE FOR STATE GOVERNMENT (PDF 141k)
Steve Schafer, Chief Information Officer

The comments and suggestions received during the 30-day comment period have been incorporated in the revised document. The State Government Council has also reviewed the draft document.

Mr. Schafer moved to recommend to the NITC that the policy be adopted. Mr. Henderson seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Schafer-Yes, Weir-Yes, Beach-Yes and Henderson-Yes. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

STATE ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE – SECURITY ARCHITECTURE, SECURITY POLICIES ADOPTED 1/23/2001 (PDF 229k)
Steve Schafer, Chief Information Officer, State of Nebraska

Review of this policy was tabled until the next meeting.

STATE ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE – VIDEO ARCHITECTURE (PDF 139k)
Mike Beach, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission

The draft and work group report has been presented to and reviewed by all the councils.

Mr. Beach recommended the following change to the document:

Under Section D., the second bullet titled “If using state funding”, change the wording of the second indented bullet to read, “All existing facilities or applications receiving state funding for ongoing operations must convert to the standards listed in Section C as soon as fiscally prudent or upon renewal of any existing communications service contract, whichever comes first.”

Mr. Beach moved to recommend to the NITC that the "Video and Audio Compression Standard for Synchronous Distance Learning and Videoconferencing" be adopted as modified. Mr. Schafer seconded the motion. Roll call vote: Weir-Yes, Schafer-Yes, Henderson-Yes and Beach-Yes. The motion was carried by unanimous vote.

Mr. Weir commended Mr. Beach and Mr. Huber for their efforts developing and testing the video standard. Mr. Weir also wanted to send acknowledgement and a thank you to the work group members, as well as to the persons who helped with the testing. Staff will follow-up.

NEBRASKA NETWORK (PDF 133k)
Steve Schafer, Chief Information Officer, State of Nebraska

At the October 31st N.I.T.C. meeting, the Commission passed a resolution to evaluate the feasibility of the development of a network and related support functions to serve education, communities, and state government. The draft charter will be forwarded to the N.I.T.C. for final approval and adoption at the January 23rd meeting. The Technical Panel designated the following persons to serve on the workgroup:

• Nebraska Educational Telecommunications - Bob Huber (Mike Beach, alternate)
• University of Nebraska Computing Services Network - Rick Golden (Walter Weir, alternate)
• DAS Division of Communications - Dan Ward (Sid McCartney, alternate)
• DAS Information Management Services - Steven Henderson (Beverlee Bornemeier, alternate)

REGULAR INFORMATIONAL ITEMS AND WORK GROUP UPDATES

Wireless. Ms. Decker not available to report.

Network Architecture (NETCOM). Ms. Decker not available to report. Mr. Weir reported that the Lieutenant Governor is meeting with the University of Nebraska and the Nebraska Department of Education regarding their participation.

Security Architecture. Review of the policies was tabled until the next meeting.

Accessibility Architecture. Ms. Horn was not available to report.

E-Government Architecture. The Workgroup has not met since the last Technical Panel meeting.

Video Standards. The Video Standards have been developed and approved by the Technical for recommendation to the NITC. Mr. Beach asked the panel to consider changing the name and charter of the workgroup so that it could be available to address additional standards. This will be an agenda topic for discussion at a future meeting.

OTHER BUSINESS

Enterprise Security Infrastructure Implementation. Mr. Keller and Mr. Henderson presented a PowerPoint presentation and entertained questions from members.

Mr. Schafer had attended the NASCIO (National Association of State Chief Information Officers) enterprise architecture planning session. Mr. Schafer suggested that the Technical Panel review that State’s existing approach and compare it with the approach taken by NASCIO. A presentation from NASCIO will be available on the N.I.T.C. web site.

Members requested an N.I.S. Update for next month’s meeting. Phase I Gap Analysis was to be completed in January.

Mr. Weir announced that Ruth Michalecki passed away on January 4th and the funeral is to be held this coming Thursday.

FUTURE MEETING DATES, ADJOURNMENT

The next meeting of the Technical Panel will be held on Tuesday, February 12th, 9 a.m. in the Regents Board Room, Varner Hall, 3835 Holdrege Street in Lincoln.

Mr. Weir adjourned the meeting at 11:55 a.m.

Minutes were taken by Lori Lopez Urdiales and reviewed by Rick Becker, Office of the CIO/NITC.

Meeting Minutes