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A Publication Featuring The Information Services Technology of Maine State Government
| Volume IV, Issue 10 | October 2001 |
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Updates from the Chief Information Officer |
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Maine Ranks #3 in Best of the Web. The Center for Digital Government www.centerdigitalgov.com/center/bow01/ rated Maine’s portal third behind California and Pennsylvania in their annual best of the Web contest. Perennial winners, Virginia and the State of Washington followed Maine. Maine’s submission was rated against a total of 396 state and local government entries. The sites were judged for their innovation, use of online technology to deliver government services, efficiency, economy and ease of access. Last year Maine received honorable mention but improvements to the site allowed us to leapfrog several states to win this prestigious award. |
The Governor held a press conference on September 6th to tout this significant achievement. The following link provides a feature article from the Kennebec Journal www.centralmaine.com/news/stories/010907mainefol.shtml. All involved should take great pride in this accomplishment including the Information Services Policy Board (ISPB), Information Services Managers Group (ISMG), Bureau of Information Services, InforME and everyone else who has participated in making our site so successful.
Fall Foliage Web Cam. The first of September a Web cam was installed at the Department of Transportation, which allowed us to publish live foliage shots of the Capitol starting in mid-September. In addition to simply taking shots of the foliage, we have designated an area in Capitol Park where schools and/or tourists in the area can go to have their picture taken and posted on the State’s foliage Web site ( http://www.state.me.us/doc/foliage/maineleafcam.html ). The camera is scheduled to zoom in on this area every 30 minutes (there is a sign designating this in the park). The picture taken will be time stamped and stored by InforME for the duration of the season so those getting on our site will be able to go in, find their particular photo and, if they wish, send it in post card format to friends and relatives. During evening hours InforME will post a "video" of photos taken from sunrise to sunset. Later in the season, we may do the same but the "video" will show the progress of the whole season. The foliage web cam was also featured as part of the Governor’s September 6th press conference. Mary Silva spearheaded this effort for this office.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). A contract developed by Don Hildebrand, is currently in the final stages of review to complete a high level HIPAA assessment of all 16 departments within the Executive Branch. This sole source procurement is with the same vendor currently engaged by the Department of Human Services and Department of Behavioral and Developmental Services (formerly MHMRSA) to perform their HIPAA assessment as it relates to Medicaid.
Work commenced on September 24. Phase I, the initial assessment determining the scope and impact of HIPAA, will be completed by October 29. The work accomplished under Phase I will further define the level of effort required for Phases II and III. Phase II includes a detailed gap analysis between HIPAA Electronic Transactions and Code Sets and impacted systems/applications identified during the initial assessment. Phase III provides for a detail relative to HIPAA Security and Privacy Rules, including risk assessments and gap analyses. Phases II and III will be completed by March 14, 2002. Upon completion of the assessment, requirements will be established to identify costs and resources necessary to comply with this federal law.
Strategic Information Technology (IT) Plan. The CIO’s Office and the Gartner Consulting Group continue to collect data, via surveys and interviews, from members of Legislature and IT representatives from the Legislative and Judicial Branches. A draft document is under development to solidify an Information Technology (IT) vision that links and supports Executive Branch business and IT strategies. A four-hour workshop was held September 21 to discuss the draft document and reach consensus from representatives of the 16 Executive Branch departments. This workshop will be followed by presentations to the ISMG and ISPB, with final approval by the ISPB. Follow-on activities will develop the supporting IT architecture baselines and requisite migration plans. In addition, potential enterprise-wide projects will be identified and prioritized. Enthusiasm and cooperation continues at all levels in support of this project.
Maine Learning Technology Endowment Survey and RFP. A survey was sent to all 243 schools with 7 and 8 grade classes on August 7, 2001. The data collected helped in the preparation of the request for proposals, which was released September 14. Proposals are due October 24, and preliminary details are available at www.state.me.us/mlte. To date, 235 schools have responded to the survey or have been called directly for the information.
Broadband Infrastructure ( L.D. 1632). The first meeting of this study group was held on August 14, 2001. The group developed a work plan and an agenda for the formal kickoff with the Advisory group chaired by the Department of Economic and Community Development Commissioner Steve Levesque. A half-day informational session for both groups was scheduled for late September. During this session, two panels, one comprised of economic development professionals and the other of representatives from the service providers, presented issues they may be facing; new initiatives; and general comments on their perspective of broadband deployment. Following each presentation there was a Q&A session to obtain further information that will assist the workgroups with the development of recommendations as to the State’s role in the deployment of this technology.
E-Forms Committee. An e-Forms Committee has been established to develop a planning process for agencies to put forms on-line in the most effective and efficient manner. While most forms are presently on-line, not all that could be fillable and/or interactive are. The committee will look at tools to put forms on-line; how to insure accessibility as related to Section 508; processes to tie the forms to an application saving duplicate data entry and when the actual application should be made available to the consumer. The first meeting was held at the end of September and a presentation back to the ISMG is scheduled for the end of October.
