Approved:       January 24, 2007        

Date

MINUTES OF THE HOUSE GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Jim Morrison at 3:30 P.M. on January 22, 2007, in Room 526-S of the Capitol.

All members were present except for Representatives Ruiz, Kelley, Holland, and Tafanelli, all of whom were excused.

Committee staff present:

Mary Galligan, Kansas Legislative Research

Tatiana Lin, Kansas Legislative Research

Renae Jefferies, Office of Revisor of Statutes

Gary Deeter, Committee Assistant

Conferees appearing before the committee:

Don Heiman, Legislative Chief Information Technology Officer

Others attending:

See attached list.

The Chair emphasized the need to develop a process that will enable state agencies to more easily collaborate in the use of Information Technology (IT). He then introduced Don Heiman, Legislative Chief Information Technology Officer, who provided a diagram showing the structure of state IT networks.

Mr. Heiman gave a brief history of IT development in the state, saying that, in the early days of technology, the Kansas Department of Administration separated the offices of telecommunications and computer services. Then, in the 1980s, these two offices were merged. By the 1990s, the idea of shared services began to develop under the rubric of electronic democracy–the concept that government could be present electronically.

Mr. Heiman then traced the development of three networks: KANWIN (Kansas Wide-Area Network), KANREN (Kansas Research and Education Network), serving higher education, and KAN-ED, created by statute to serve libraries, hospitals, and K-12 schools. He said KANWIN is managed by DISC (Division of Information Systems and Communications) under the Kansas Department of Administration. The network serves all branches of government. KANREN operates under the Kansas Board of Regents; he noted that KANREN is a 501(c)3 organization and is a member of a national consortium of universities.

Mr. Heiman concluded by saying that what is lacking is a central governance structure for these networks. Members discussed the implications of the presentation. Responding to questions, Mr. Heiman made the following points:

•          Presently in the state, there are $170 million in ongoing projects over $250,000;

•          About 90% of these expenditures go to outside contractors. The national average for state IT expenditures in relation to a state’s total budget is 2.5%; in Kansas in 2000 the percentage was .8%. Mr. Heiman recommended an IT budget of 1.2% as fitting for strategic planning;

•          Mr. Heiman said a strategic plan is crucial for efficient use of IT, noting that from 1996-2001 the Centers for Digital Government ranked Kansas #2 in digital democracy; in 2001 Kansas was ranked #1, as published in Governing Magazine.

•          To be successful, agency IT must be unified by a strategic plan driven by a vision of electronic government; Mr. Heiman cited CJIS (Criminal Justice Information System) as an example;

•          Presently the state has two documents that address planning–the Strategic Information Management (SIM) Plan, and the Agency Three-Year Plan. Mr. Heiman recommended studying the agencies’ three-year plans to determine where interrelationships can be built, further recommending the Thomas Bugnitz/Robert Benson NIE (New Information Economics) model for strategic planning.

When Mr. Heiman was asked to recommend a scenario for change, he said the structure has already been established by 1998's SB 5 (now K.S.A. 75-7201 ff.); the Chief Information Technology Architect, Bill Roth, in collaboration with the three branch CITOs, are authorized to develop a strategic plan driven by enterprise architecture to reflect a business model of Kansas government, an open process that involves all branches of government. He said all agency three-year plans should be keyed to the SIM plan, noting that the legislature has authority to make funding decisions for agencies.

Members suggested that planning structures should be simple to implement. Mr. Heiman said in government various entities, functions, and sheer size make planning more complex. He recommended that the Committee work toward eliminating agency “stovepipe” (isolated) IT systems.

The Chair asked Mr. Heiman to illustrate electronic government as expressed by the Information Network of Kansas (INK–now Kansas.gov). Mr. Heiman said INK was conceived in 1991, created by the legislature to provide access to government services; it now has 325 applications and gross revenues of about $24 million, 80% of which flow back to state agencies, the remainder divided between INK and Kansas Information Consortium (KIC), the network administrator. He said that KIC is a subsidiary of the National Information Consortium, which now operates in about 18 states, providing an e-government model that was pioneered in Kansas. Answering another question, Mr. Heiman said Kansas no longer ranks in the top ten for e-government.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:51 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 23, 2007.