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STATE GOVERNMENT COUNCIL
Nebraska Information Technology Commission
Tuesday, November 20, 2007, 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Nebraska State Office Building - Conference Room 6Z
301 Centennial Mall South, Lincoln, Nebraska

MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT:
Dennis Burling, Department of Environmental Quality
Beverlee Bornemeier, Alt. for Tom Conroy, OCIO-Enterprise Computing Services
Josh Daws, Secretary of State’s Office
Dorest Harvey, Private Sector
Steve Henderson, Alt. for Brenda Decker, Chief Information Officer
Pat Flanagan, Private Sector
Rex Gittins, Department of Natural Resources
Jeanette Lee, Department of Banking
Bill Miller, State Court Administrator's Office
Glenn Morton, Workers’ Compensation Court
Jim Ohmberger, Health and Human Services
Gerry Oligmueller, Budget Office
Jayne Scofield, OCIO - Network Services
Bob Shanahan, Department of Labor
Len Sloup, Department of Revenue
Bill Wehling, Department of Roads

MEMBERS ABSENT: Bob Beecham, NDE Support Services; Michael Behm, Crime Commission; Mike Calvert, Legislative Fiscal Office; Carlos Castillo, Department of Administrative Services; Lauren Hill, Governor's Policy Research Office; Beverly Neth, Department of Motor Vehicles; Terry Pell, State Patrol; Robin Spindler, Correctional Services; and Rod Wagner, Library Commission

ROLL CALL, MEETING NOTICE & OPEN MEETINGS ACT INFORMATION
 
Mr. Henderson welcomed Len Sloup as the new alternate to the Council from the Department of Revenue. Mr. Henderson called the meeting to order at 1:30 p.m. There were 13 voting members at the time of roll call. It was stated that the meeting notice was posted to the NITC, State Government Council and Nebraska Public Meeting Calendar Websites on October 4, 2007 (meeting date changed on October 15th) and that the agenda posted to the NITC Website on November 16, 2007. A copy of the Open Meetings Act was located on the front table.

Jeanette Lee and Dennis Burling arrived at the meeting.

PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES - AUGUST 9, 2007 AND SEPTEMBER 6, 2007*

Mr. Harvey moved to approve the August 9, 2007 and September 6, 2007 minutes as presented.  Mr. Flanagan seconded.  Roll call vote:  Burling-Yes, Bornemeier-Yes, Daws-Yes, Harvey-Yes, Henderson-Yes, Flanagan-Yes, Gittins-Yes, Lee-Yes, Miller-Yes, Morton-Yes, Ohmberger-Yes, Scofield-Yes, Shanahan-Yes, Sloup-Yes, and Wehling-Yes.  Results:  Yes-15, No-0.  Motion carried.

Ms. Decker was attending the NITC's Performance Audit Committee hearing today and could not attend the State Government Council meeting.  Mr. Henderson reported that the performance audit report suggested that there be more formality on the selection of the reviewers for I.T. projects.  Other issues in the report related to NITC’s role in policy matters and project review and oversight.  The full report is available on the Legislature's website: http://nebraskalegislature.gov/web/public/reports/audit.

UPDATE ON EMAIL CONVERSION - Jayne Scofield

Due to a scheduling conflict, this report was moved up on the agenda. The Office of the CIO has converted to the new system. Other agencies are currently in the process of converting. DAS will be the last agency for 2007 but work will continue in January 2008. The project is ahead of schedule. The team has also been working on application conversions. Issues raised by members included:

  • Mr. Gittens submitted a help desk ticket because some staff are not getting emails forwarded from Notes.
  • Mail box size may not be adequate for agency’s needs.  The standard size has been established at 250 MB.  Additional storage can be purchased for $2 per additional 250 MB.  The Office of the CIO will be monitoring this issue.
  • Members requested more information on the Exchange Administrator’s role within the old Lotus Notes system.
  • Members suggested that the team provide agencies a list of compatible client versions that work with our Exchange server.
  • There are issues with ICAL functionality relating to Notes.

Members were asked to send any additional questions or comments to Mr. Henderson or Ms. Decker.

Gerry Oligmueller arrived at the meeting.

GOVERNMENT TECHNOLOGY COLLABORATION FUND GRANT APPLICATION - SECURITY ARCHITECTURE WORK GROUP - VULNERABILITY THREAT MANAGEMENT*

The Security Architecture Work Group is requesting a $75,000 grant from the Government Technology Collaboration Fund to purchase a vulnerability assessment tool for the state. In the past, these grant funds have been used to hire outside entities to perform similar vulnerability testing, which was limited to a specific point in time. The work group wants to purchase a tool which will allow for ongoing and as needed testing. The Office of the CIO has released an RFP for this purpose. Bid openings will occur in December.  The Intent to Award is scheduled for January 31 with implementation to begin by February.  The RFP states that project is contingent upon funding from the Government Technology Collaboration Fund. 

The Office of the CIO will work collaboratively with agencies in scheduling of the scans.  Agencies will have the option to do the scan themselves or have it done by the Office of the CIO.  The tool will be web-based.  The maintenance costs will depend on the vendor selected. The work group will make recommendations on how to pay for onging costs of the project. It is anticipated that the vendor would provide “train the trainer” on-site training.  Depending on what the scans discover, there may be a cost involved to the agency to fix the vulnerabilities. 

Mr. Flanagan moved to recommend approval of the grant request for the Vulnerability Threat Management project.  Mr. Harvey seconded. Roll call vote: Wehling-Yes, Sloup-Yes, Shanahan-Yes, Scofield-Yes, Ohmberger-Yes, Oligmueller-Yes, Morton-Yes, Miller-Yes, Lee-Yes, Gittins-Yes, Flanagan-Yes, Henderson-Yes, Harvey-Yes, Daws-Yes, Bornemeier-Yes, and Burling-Yes.  Results:  Yes-16, No-0.  Motion carried.

REVIEW NITC STRATEGIC INITIATIVES FOR THE 2008 STATEWIDE TECHNOLOGY PLAN

The three strategic initiatives that the State Government Council has been involved with are State Government Efficiency, E-Government, and Security and Business Resumption.  The NITC will review the initiatives at their November meeting and is asking for the Council's input.  After discussion, the Council recommended no changes to the initiatives.

OTHER BUSINESS

With Ron Ritchey no longer employed by the State of Nebraska, members expressed concern about Efax and Ironport support.  These are critical systems to agencies. Members requested that the OCIO document how these systems will be supported going forward.

AGENCY REPORTS

At a future meeting, Mr. Burling will provide a demonstration of their information sharing project.

NEXT MEETING DATE - AND ADJOURNMENT

The next meeting of the State Government Council will be held on January 10, 2008.

With no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:23 p.m.

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

Meeting Minutes