TECHNICAL PANEL

Nebraska Information Technology Commission

Tuesday, July 13, 2004, 9:00 a.m.

Varner Hall, 3835 Holdrege

Lincoln, Nebraska

APPROVED MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Mike Beach, Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission

Brenda Decker, Department of Administrative Services, State of Nebraska
Rick Golden, University of Nebraska (Alt. for Walter Weir)
Christy Horn, University of Nebraska, Compliance Officer
Steve Schafer, Chief Information Officer, State of Nebraska

ALTERNATES PRESENT:

Rick Becker, Office of the Chief Information Officer, State of Nebraska
Steve Henderson, Department of Administrative Services

MEMBERS ABSENT: Kirk Langer, Lincoln Public Schools, Director, Technology

CALL TO ORDER, ROLL CALL, AND MEETING NOTICE

In the absence of the chair, Steve Schafer called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. The meeting notice was posted to the Nebraska Public Meeting Calendar and the NITC web sites on May 26, 2004. The meeting agenda was posted to the NITC web site on July 2, 2004. A quorum was not present at the time of roll call. The meeting proceeded with informational items until a quorum was present.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Roger Hahn distributed new contact information for the Nebraska Information Network offices.

GIS (GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM) UPDATE

Larry Zink, GIS Steering Committee

Nebraska GIS Steering Committee is an intergovernmental coordinating body created by the Legislature in 1991 and it includes representatives from state agencies, counties, municipalities, NRDs, public power, and federal agencies. Nebraska GIS Steering Committee focuses much of its efforts on encouraging and facilitating collaborative efforts to develop, maintain, and distribute core geospatial databases needed by a wide cross-section of GIS users (streets and roads, rivers and streams, geo-referenced aerial imagery, elevation, property parcels, Public Land Survey System, etc.) The GIS Steering Committee has organized several advisory groups that will be forwarding recommendations for standards.

• Advisory Committee for Nebraska Land Record Modernization Standards
• Advisory Committee on Transportation – Street Address Databases

Mr. Zink entertained questions from the panel members.

Mr. Beach arrived at 9:08 a.m. and Ms. Horn arrived at 9:13 a.m.

APPROVAL OF MAY MINUTES

Ms. Decker moved to approve the May 25, 2004 minutes. Mr. Golden seconded the motion. All were in favor. The motion was carried by unanimous voice vote.

TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE – VIDEO AND AUDIO COMPRESSION STANDARD FOR SYNCHRONOUS DISTANCE LEARNING (PDF 121k)
Mike Beach, Educational Telecommunications Commission

Mr. Beach provided a brief review of the Report: A Video and Audio Compression Standard for Synchronous Distance Learning and Videoconferencing in the State of Nebraska (PDF 323k) and highlighted the following charts: Community Representation on page 30, Signal Aspect Ratings Online Survey on page, Video Rating on page 46, and Video Quality on page 47. The report included results of objective and subjective testing.

Suggested changes to the standards document included the following:

• Section 4.0 Applicability, for the last bullet it was recommended to use the wording in the email standard for state government document.

• For section 6.0 Related Documents, it was suggested to include a link to the report, as well as a link to the old standard.

Ms. Decker moved to post the Video And Audio Compression Standard For Synchronous Distance Learning with the suggested changes for the 30-day public comment period. Mr. Golden seconded. Roll call vote: Beach-Yes, Decker-Yes, Horn-Yes, Schafer-Yes, and Golden-Yes. Results: Yes-5, No-0. Motion was carried by unanimous vote.

Discussion occurred regarding the duration of the public comment period. In the Statewide Technology Plan, it is stated that the comment period is 30 days. In the past, this time period has posed some problems in meeting dates for the Technical Panel to review standards for recommendation to and final approval by the NITC. Staff proposed changing the time from 30 to 25 days. It was decided to table this agenda item until the next meeting.

PROJECT REVIEW: SECRETARY OF STATE GRANT–SURFACE WATER RECORDS SCANNING
Mahendra Bansal and Susan France, Department of Natural Resources

Currently, any requests for records are done manually through paper files. It is estimated that there are approximately 9,000 files to be scanned that could be available to research over the Internet. Ms. France and Mr. Bansal entertained questions from the panel members.

Ms. Horn moved to approve the technical elements review of the Surface Water Records Scanning grant (PDF 363k). Mr. Beach seconded. Roll call vote: Golden-Yes, Schafer-Yes, Horn-Yes, Decker-Yes, and Beach-Yes. Results: Yes-5, No-0. Motion was carried by unanimous vote.

PROJECT REVIEW: SECRETARY OF STATE GRANT–DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, ONLINE FILING 1040N AND SCHEDULES II AND III

This grant will support development of the 1040N (long form) and Schedules II and III for online individual income tax filing through Nebrask@ Online. The number of taxpayers eligible file online will increase, allowing more individuals to file online at no cost to them.

Mr. Golden moved to approve the technical elements review of the Department of Revenue, Online Filing 1040N and Schedules II and III grant (PDF k). Ms. Horn seconded. Roll call vote: Decker-Yes, Beach-Yes, Golden-Yes, Schafer-Yes, and Horn-Yes. Results: Yes-5, No-0. Motion was carried by unanimous vote.

PROJECT REVIEW: GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY COLLABORATION FUND - SECURITY ASSESSMENT
Steve Schafer, Chief Information Officer

A security assessment for state government was funded with prior grant funds. A second vulnerability scan was done to evaluate the progress agencies made towards correcting vulnerabilities. The intention would be to expand the scope of the grant. The Security Work Group will determine the scope. The State Government Council recommended approval with the condition to seek additional funding partners.

Mr. Beach moved to recommend funding of the GTCF Security Assessment (PDF 178k) grant to the NITC. Mr. Golden seconded. Roll call vote: Horn-Yes, Schafer-Abstained, Golden-Yes, Beach-Yes, and Decker-Yes. Results: Yes-4, No-0, and Abstained-1. Motion was carried by majority vote.

PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM (PDF 250k) (Last Year’s Version)

The State Government Council has reviewed the form and made no recommendations for changes. The form is used in the budget request process. There were no recommendations for changes from the panel members.

Ms. Horn and Ms. Decker left meeting at 10:55 a.m. Ms. Horn provided the Accessibility update before leaving.

UPDATES:

Accessibility, Christy Horn. There is good cooperation at UNL in regards to getting the web site up to code. Accessibility workshops will soon be ready to go in the near future.

CAP, Steve Schafer. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, July 14th.

Security Work Group, Steve Schafer. The next meeting is scheduled for early August. Agenda items include discussions on the gap analysis for strategic initiative on security, expanding the scope of the Security Assessment grant, as well as, follow-up and next steps of the vulnerability scan.

Statewide Synchronous Video Network Work Group, Mike Beach. Discussions continue regarding the scheduling software. The funding meeting with Congressman Osborne’s office went very well. His staff is assisting by exploring federal funding. There is a federal fund earmarked for telehealth and education. Mr. Fisher is also assisting with this effort.OTHER BUSINESS

Mr. Golden announced that Nebraska's SEGP application has been approved. ESU 10 will be holding a press conference tomorrow, Wednesday, July 14th, in Kearney.

NEXT MEETING DATE AND ADJOURNMENT

The next meeting of the NITC Technical Panel will be held on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 at 9:00 a.m. at Varner Hall, 3835 Holdrege, in Lincoln, Nebraska.

With no further business, Mr. Schafer adjourned the meeting at 11:05 a.m.

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

Meeting Minutes