Strategic Plan IV 2007-2009

The InforME Board prepares a strategic plan every two years. The Board finalized its fourth strategic plan in early 2007 for the 2007-2009 period.

InforME - The Information Resource of Maine

MISSION

The Information Resource of Maine is a self-supporting and cost effective portal that provides and enhances access to public information and eGovernment services. InforME recognizes the right of citizens to access public information while respecting the laws that protect privacy and confidentiality.

VISION

The Information Resource of Maine is the preeminent source for electronic access to public information and the online transaction of public business. Our vision of InforME encompasses:

Ever expanding government information accessible through a single portal available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, via the Internet;
Interactive government services that meet the needs of private business and provide a catalyst for the further advancement of electronic commerce;
Efficiencies created through electronic access and transactions that enables government to offer more personalized attention to citizens who prefer traditional means of access;
Citizen interaction with government that promotes participation in our democracy by providing access to public information and presenting opportunities for public input; and
A profound commitment to public service.

INTRODUCTION

After more than seven years as the state’s e-government portal, InforME has reached a new stage of maturity, with over 350 e-government services in place, a consistently award-winning Maine.gov website, and a variety of enterprise solutions. This maturity, along with changes in state government IT structure and policy, requires new thinking and new strategies in order to ensure that InforME continues to achieve its vision for serving both state government and the public.

The InforME Board’s Strategic Plan sets the direction with a commitment to online service excellence and strong eGovernment policy. This most recent Strategic Plan spans 2007-2009, and defines the over-arching goals and the strategies to achieve them.

During the Strategic Planning retreat, the InforME Board, management staff and OIT/eGovernment Services discussed the key issues facing InforME over the next three years and the direction InforME should take. As a result, the over-arching goals were updated to reflect these discussions.

The group agreed that, over the next three years, InforME should find ways to:

Diversify its revenue stream to maintain a stable self funded model,
Continue to maintain high standards for accessible and user-friendly design,
Better measure and quantify the value of services provided,
Reach out to the Legislative and Judicial branches and agency Commissioners to educate them about InforME and identify opportunities for partnership,
Expand local and county government online services,
Focus on ensuring data and system security,
Expand marketing of existing services and grow adoption of services,
Leverage new technologies to provide innovative service delivery, and
Continue to promote and build e-Democracy.

The six over-arching goals below provide the basis for the Strategic Plan. It is imperative that the InforME staff and Board work together to:

Maintain InforME as the pre-eminent e-government resource for the State of Maine and Maine.gov as a web portal of excellence.
Grow and diversify Maine.gov by aggressively marketing existing online services and continuing to create new e-government services which profoundly impact people who are living and doing business in Maine.
Expand efforts to integrate the Legislative and Judicial branches into Maine.gov and develop new partnerships and services.
Enhance Maine.gov to promote its interoperability with State IT services and improve its reliability while minimizing infrastructural duplication.
Maintain a stable self-funded model for InforME and facilitate new partnerships through a variety of funding options.
Establish and maintain the value of InforME services through measurement of usage, satisfaction, value and ROI, and ensure mutual benefit for services provided at no charge to agencies.

With a diligent approach as described in the strategies below, our goals for making Maine a better place to live and work will be realized.

* Please see Glossary of Terms.

GOAL # 1: "Maintain InforME as the pre-eminent e-government resource for the State of Maine and Maine.gov as a web portal of excellence."

OBJECTIVE I: Continue to work with OIT to develop and promote consistent, user-friendly and accessible web design standards.

STATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Continue participation in Web Coordinators Group, Webmaster Group, and Accessibility Committee.	Ongoing
2) Maintain and update the Webmaster Resource Center website.	Ongoing
3) Work with OIT to evaluate design standards and templates and identify changes needed to keep up with industry standards.	Ongoing
4) Promote InforME’s web design services and continue to contract with agencies for website design.	Ongoing

OBJECTIVE II: Update and upgrade Maine.gov portal content and delivery to maintain a high level of excellence for portal users, expand e-democracy, and remain innovative.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Annually identify new technologies, features, and services that will provide value to citizens and businesses using the Maine.gov portal.	Feb 1 annually
2) Research, prioritize, and implement annual upgrades for Maine.gov portal.	June 1 annually

OBJECTIVE III: Develop multi-agency/multi-jurisdictional applications and suites of services.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Identify new cross-agency applications, suites or service portals, such as a professional licensing portal, business licensing, and Sportsmens’ Suite.	Feb 1 annually
2) Develop and execute a plan to implement services identified above.	April 1 annually

OBJECTIVE IV: Maintain and develop enterprise solutions to enable e-government for state and municipal agencies and create efficiencies.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Continue to enhance and support existing webmaster tools and enterprise services.	Ongoing
2) Assist OIT in its web content management initiative.	Ongoing
3) Build or identify an enterprise do-it-yourself survey tool for agencies.	Oct 2007
4) Work with OIT, Webmasters, and Web Coordinators to identify other possible enterprise tools/services.	Ongoing

GOAL # 2: "Grow and diversify Maine.gov by aggressively marketing existing online services and continuing to create new eGovernment products which profoundly impact people who are living and doing business in Maine."

OBJECTIVE I: Identify and create new e-government services to benefit citizens and business in Maine.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Create list of successful eGov services from other states and approach Maine agencies with service ideas.	July annually
2) Survey selected subscribers, targeted user groups, and agency partners to identify new service ideas.	Ongoing Quarterly
3) Evaluate new projects using prioritization matrix and review with the Board.	Ongoing

OBJECTIVE II: Expand municipal and county online services and participation in existing services.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Expand municipal participation in existing online services.	Ongoing
2) Continue to work with MMA to attend events and leverage those appearances to increase program participation.	Ongoing
3) Launch property tax service and promote municipal participation.	Aug 31, 2007
4) Enhance WebShop service to include conference registrations, adult ed registrations, and/or other municipal services.	Dec 31, 2007 & Ongoing
5) Increase direct marketing to municipalities and communications through the municipal/county associations.	Ongoing

OBJECTIVE III: Increase adoption rates for existing services and generate high adoption of new services through marketing initiatives and partnerships.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Develop annual association/conferences/tradeshow schedule and promote InforME services to target groups through these events.	Nov 1 Annually
2) Annually evaluate adoption for all existing fee services and work with partner agencies to develop marketing strategies.	Dec 1 Annually
3) Regularly disseminate press releases featuring Maine.gov and InforME online services.	Ongoing
4) Design marketing/promotional materials for InforME eGov services.	Ongoing
5) Identify possible usability/interface/technical issues in existing applications that might reduce application usage, by conducting user testing and/or reviewing user feedback surveys and customer service requests.	Ongoing

OBJECTIVE IV: Promote InforME and the Maine.gov brand to both government and citizen users and create new service opportunities through outreach and public relations.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Develop an annual marketing plan for Maine.gov and InforME services, including targeted efforts in partnership with agencies.	Feb 1 Annually
2) Develop and enhance relationships with user associations including the Maine Municipal Association, Maine Realtors’ association, Maine Bar Association and other professional associations.	Ongoing
3) Develop Maine.gov media, including introductory materials for agencies.	Ongoing
4) Participate in state government technical groups and events, such as the Web Coordinators Group, Webmaster Group, and the Digital Government Summit.	Ongoing
5) Identify public speaking opportunities to educate about e-government and InforME/Maine.gov.	Ongoing
6) Write articles for the state OIT newsletter on a regular basis.	Ongoing
7) Submit InforME services for national awards. Create award nomination schedule.	Ongoing Annually
8) Maintain the InforME website as an educational and promotional site for state partners, municipalities, and subscribers.	Ongoing
9) Make sure the Maine.gov logo and InforME are clearly branded on all InforME services.	Ongoing

GOAL #3: "Expand efforts to integrate the Legislative and Judicial branches into Maine.gov and develop new partnerships and services."

OBJECTIVE I: Participate in the legislative process on InforME related statute initiatives.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Target outreach and education to legislative leadership.	Ongoing
2) Work with OIT to develop an IT impact statement for new bills.	Sep 1, 2007
3) Implement IT impact statement requirement via rule change and/or statute change.	Jan 2008
4) Use IT impact statements to inform the Board on InforME’s ability to address proposed bills should they become law.	Ongoing

OBJECTIVE II: Promote awareness and market InforME to Legislature and Judiciary.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) If possible, identify a primary point of contact within each branch.	May 2007
2) Hold an orientation event targeted to legislative and judicial branches, to educate them about eGov and InforME.	April 2007
3) Develop an orientation packet for legislators.	Dec 2007
4) Identify other ways to increase InforME’s presence with these branches.	July 2008

GOAL #4: "Enhance Maine.gov to promote its interoperability with State IT services and improve its reliability while minimizing infrastructural duplication."

OBJECTIVE I: Promote interoperability between Maine.gov and State IT Services.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Work with OIT in the development of an over-arching IT architecture.	Jan 1, 2008
2) Work with OIT to identify gaps in the information delivery services offerings between the State and InforME	Feb. 28, 2008 & Ongoing
3) Develop new information delivery services to fill identified service gaps as appropriate within InforME’s business and governance model.	Ongoing

OBJECTIVE II: Maintain Maine.gov’s high level of reliability, improving it where opportunities present themselves.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Maintain an effective disaster recovery plan that guarantees the continuance of the portal.	Ongoing
2) Maintain high security standards and procedures to minimize risk.	Ongoing
3) Leverage the State of Maine IT infrastructure in InforME operations as appropriate.	Ongoing

GOAL #5: "Maintain a stable self-funded model for InforME and facilitate new partnerships through a variety of funding options."

OBJECTIVE I: Pursue Time & Materials contracting and alternative funding models to meet agency needs and bring revenue to the portal.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Develop a contracting mechanism for the sole-source acquisition of services that is better suited for portal development than the Preferred Vendors list.	Sep. 2008
2) Offer T&M model as an option to develop services or websites that do not fit the transaction fee model.	Ongoing
3) Refine T&M development process and project management.	Oct 1, 2007
4) Propose alternative funding models for application development.	July 31, 2007
5) Evaluate proposed alternative funding models and present for Board approval.	Sep 2007

OBJECTIVE II: Formalize and refine the process for hosting of non-InforME web applications.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Create an application hosting SLA and obtain approval from the InforME Board.	May 2007
2) Develop fee schedule/rates for application hosting.	May 2007
3) Develop policies related to application hosting.	April 2007
4) Develop process for agencies to request and obtain application hosting.	April 2007

GOAL # 6: "Establish and maintain the value of InforME services through measurement of usage, satisfaction, value and ROI, and ensure mutual benefit for services."

OBJECTIVE I: Measure and track the value of services provided to state and municipal agencies and the revenue generated for the portal by these agencies.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Track and attach dollar value to resources used during service development and for maintenance of ongoing services.	Ongoing
2) Provide a statement to agency partners at the completion of a service and annually regarding the cost and value of services received from InforME.	Ongoing
3) Annually report to the Board a breakdown of the value of services consumed versus portal revenue generated by agency partners.	May annually beginning 2008
4) Identify methods for measuring the Return-on-Investment (ROI) for online services.	July 2007

OBJECTIVE II: Measure and track the usage of InforME online services, Enterprise tools and support services.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Identify key InforME services for measurement.	May 2007
2) Promote usage of “adoption rate wizard” by agency partners to facilitate keeping up-to-date adoption statistics.	Ongoing
3) Report quarterly to the Board on usage statistics and growth.	Ongoing Quarterly

OBJECTIVE III: Measure and track the satisfaction of InforME customers and agency partners.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Evaluate existing online satisfaction surveys for InforME customer groups and upgrade if needed.	June 2007
2) Encourage completion of project surveys by agency partners at the end of each project.and work with partner agencies to develop marketing strategies.	Ongoing
3) Conduct subscriber surveys once per year.	September Annually
4) Survey at least 25% of agency non-project/ongoing customers (hosting, etc) once per year.	October Annually
5) Include a feedback survey for users to voluntarily complete at the end of each application.	Ongoing
6) On an ongoing basis work with OIT/eGovernment Services to identify areas for improvement.	Ongoing
7) Report annually to the Board on customer satisfaction based on survey results.	December Annually

OBJECTIVE IV: Evaluate current services provided at no charge to agencies and ensure mutual benefit to the agency and the portal for these services.

STRATEGIES	TARGET DATE	RESULTS
1) Conduct inventory of services currently provided at no charge to agencies.	July 2007
2) Evaluate resource usage and propose fees or reduction in services (going forward) if merited.	August 2007
3) Develop a “free service SLA” and require this for every no-charge service provided.	May 2007
4) Present new no-charge services to be approved by the InforME Board.	Ongoing

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

General Terms

NIC – National Information Consortium

ISPB – Maine’s Information Services Policy Board

SLA – Service Level Agreement

ROI – Return on investment

ISMG – Information Services Managers Group

RRS – Rapid Renewal Service

MMA – Maine Municipal Association

SOS – Secretary of State’s Office

IT – Information Technology

MEGIS – Maine Geographic Information System

Portal - An entry point to all the services and information that the website audience needs and wants. The State of Maine portal provides a single entryway for citizens and businesses to access all information and services related to state government.

Branding – A business process beyond creation of a corporate image or identity. The process is planned, strategically-focused and integrated throughout the organization. Branding establishes the direction, leadership, clarity of purpose, inspiration and energy for a company's most important asset, its corporate brand.

eDemocracy – eGovernment in part means making the democratic process, including information and services pertaining to democracy, available and accessible and in some cases transformable through the Web.

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