Jerry McInturff, Julian Soh, and Colin Corbin
Department of Revenue Internal Auditors

"Son of Cyberhacking"

The security lessons presented at last year's Executive Seminar were reviewed briefly -- hacking tools are numerous and easy-to-use; the biggest threats to network security are internal; no system is 100% secure; and routine system backup is critical! Security-related events of the past year were noted including several successful denial-of-service (DoS) attacks of high profile web sites, frequent web site defacements, and several security breaches including NASA.

The speakers then presented "Hacking 201" including live demonstrations of a number of tools and techniques used by hackers. Topics covered included various DoS attacks, viruses, network sniffing, and password cracking. The session concluded with a brief review of anticipated threats in the immediate future and potential countermeasures.

Dick Thompson, Director of Government Relations,
University of Washington

An agency perspective on the upcoming legislative session with a focus on IT initiatives.

Dick Thompson provided an overview of the Washington State budget process with an emphasis on the effects of Initiative 601 on the 2001-2003 budget process. He identified the key legislative players in the budget process including the Caseload Forecast Council created in 1997 and the Expenditure Limit Committee established this year.

He also described the principal revenue sources for the State budget and the recent history of state revenues and expenditures. He then identified the challenges for the Governor and the Legislature in providing a budget within the 601 limit given the projected costs of maintaining current service levels in basic education and various entitlement programs. In doing so, he reviewed major components of expenditure growth (i.e., budget drivers).

State Representative Gary Alexander,
[R] 20th District

A town meeting style discussion about the upcoming budget session from a legislator's viewpoint

Representative Alexander noted that the maintenance level 01-03 biennial budget will approach the 601 limit. Potential "policy" adds include state employee salary increases; K-12 class size reductions, accountability standards, and security; prisons; and salmon recovery. He also noted several ballot initiatives with budget implications. The net effect of the potential "policy" adds and the ballot initiatives totals $1-2 billion above the 601 limit.

Representative Alexander then engaged in a wide-ranging discussion with the audience. Among the points he highlighted was the importance of privacy and identity theft issues.

Steve Kolodney, Director, Department of Information Services

Issues in the current state environment

Steve Kolodney discussed Release 2.0 of the Digital Government Plan that will be published in the near future. He highlighted the community architecture and the "dot-gov" infrastructure that is the foundation of the plan.

Steve introduced several key members of his staff who discussed various aspects of the infrastructure:

• Scott Bream discussed trust and noted that the State of Washington will begin issuing digital certificates next month through Digital Signature Trust, the State's recently selected certification authority.
• Chuck Moore described the SecureAccess security infrastructure.
• Laura Parma described Transact Washington, the extension of Access Washington designed to provide secure access to selected applications with a single sign-on.
• Lance Calisch provided a demo of Transact Washington using three assurance levels of digital certificates.
• Paul Taylor discussed governance issues.

Gary Robinson, Senior Assistant Director, Forecasting & Information Services, Office of Financial Management

Future trends in Washington State and the implications for delivery of government services

Gary Robinson reviewed demographic and economic trends in Washington and discussed their implications for various government services and the state budget. He compared Washington with other states and also looked at trends across Washington at the county level. He also noted trends in selected age/sex cohorts best correlated with major service categories (e.g., K-12 education, higher education, welfare, nursing home care, and prisons).

Detailed information can be found on the OFM web site.

Marty Chakoian, CTO, City of Seattle; Mike Herrin, Summit Project Manager, City of Seattle; and Barbara Read, Principal, IBM Global Services

Managing large systems integration projects for success. Lessons learned; what works and what doesn't.

The presenters reviewed the City of Seattle's experience in implementing two enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects -- a human resources management system and a financial system -- using PeopleSoft software. The success (i.e., project completion within budget and schedule) of these projects is notable given the industry-wide ERP success rate of only 30%. The City employed IBM Global Services as the principal consultant on these projects.

Barbara Read provided an overview of ERP projects and the major implementation challenges. Mike Herrin shared his experience as the City's project manager.

Microsoft PowerPoint presentation (512 KB)