Approved: January 29, 2007

Date

MINUTES OF THE HOUSE GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE

The meeting was called to order by Chairman Jim Morrison at 3:34 P.M. on January 25, 2007, in Room 526-S of the Capitol.

All members were present except Representatives Mah and Wilk, both 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:

Denise Moore, Executive Chief Information Technology Officer

Bill Roth, Kansas Chief Information Technology Architect

Others attending:

See attached list.

The Chair referenced Attachment 1, a letter recommending the Fort Hays Information Assurance Program to the House Appropriations Committee. A motion was made, seconded, and unanimously passed to authorize the recommendation as expressed in the letter. (Motion, Representative Johnson; second, Representative Swenson)

By appropriate motion, second, and committee vote, the minutes for January 23, 2007, were approved as printed.

The Chair welcomed Denise Moore, Executive Chief Information Technology Officer, and Bill Roth, Kansas Chief Information Technology Architect. Ms. Moore introduced Deputy DISC Director Morey Sullivan and staff IT architect Brian Dreilling, then outlined the Kansas IT (Information Technology) Governance structure and how that structure operates (Attachment 2). She said a new governance structure was created by SB 5 in 1998 (K.S.A. 75-7202-7211): an IT Executive Council (ITEC), a Chief Information Technology Architect (CITA), a Chief Information Technology Officer (CITO) for each branch of government, and a legislative oversight committee, the Joint Committee on Information Technology (JCIT), noting the roles of each and subsidiaries of each.

Mr. Roth reviewed the governance initiatives that resulted from SB 5: a Strategic Information Management (SIM) Plan, agency three-year IT management and budget plans, enterprise architecture, and a requirement for agencies to submit project plans for evaluation and approval. He stated that Kansas is one of only a few states that involve all three branches in IT structure, a cultural shift intended to create collaboration on IT initiatives. As security problems surfaced, he said, an IT Security Council was created, further noting that the Information Network of Kansas was a leader in creating electronic government.

Mr. Roth said the SIM Plan develops core project management standards, from which agencies create project plans, and the enterprise architecture provides technical standards for creating projects from business needs. He called the SIM Plan a road map that includes a big-picture range of 5-15 years, and from the SIM Plan a Radar Chart is derived to bring three views: the top layer the business initiatives of an agency, the second layer the technology initiatives, and the third layer the application processes. He commented that the Radar Chart helps an agency align IT with business functions and helps identify bridges between or among agencies.

Members queried Mr. Roth and Ms. Moore; most topics dealt with interagency redundancies, silo systems, and possible collaboration, to which the conferees responded thus:

•          Certain common functions can be built throughout the enterprise, such as disaster recovery, back-up, security, and perhaps wireless and document management (Ms. Moore);

•          Currently the Department of Administration is working to create a new statewide financial management system, which will bring agencies together under one financial system (Mr. Roth);

•          Mr. Roth acknowledged that if he were assigned to work full-time on collaborative models among agencies, coordination could progress more rapidly, although overcoming the fiefdom culture could impede progress;

•          Wireless systems are funded at an agency level, so there is presently no common wireless architecture (Ms. Moore);

•          Agency business drives the architecture, and the nascent IT architecture will enable business to increase efficiency (Mr. Roth);

•          Agencies are reluctant to collaborate on IT projects until present systems become obsolete and need to be replaced (Mr. Roth);

•          A central IT governance has been tried in a few states; such a system would probably create a service-request model and could be costly (Mr. Roth);

•          A shared-services model might be an alternative–an agency innovates a solution set, which then becomes standard for all other agencies–and would likely be more successful (Mr. Roth).

The Chair announced that the presentation would continue on Tuesday, January 30, and adjourned the meeting at 4:48 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Monday, January 29, 2007.