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Edited By Bob Monn and Dennis Jones
Web Content Management Infrastructure Project Under Way
Other News | January 11, 2000 IPMA Board Meeting
--by Garth Cowan, Project Manager, Enterprise Business Solutions, Department of Information Services
Washington State continues its leadership in Digital Government. The state has been named the nation’s Digital State for the third time by the Progress and Freedom Foundation and the Center for Digital Government, and is the only state to receive the award to date. The state continues to receive inquiries from many national and international delegations, interested in learning more about our model of Digital Government. Currently citizens, businesses and state employees can access more than 240 online services through the state’s Internet portal, Access Washington.
Exciting times are ahead, as agencies implement a number of new online services scheduled for the very near future, including:
However, as the state’s web presence grows in size and value, new complexities arise, including:
In order to offer solutions to these problems, DIS is leading a team including representatives from a number of agencies, whose goal is to gather requirements and collaborate on an infrastructure for content management.
During the month of February, the team will be conducting focus sessions to gather a consensus on requirements and to see if there is enough commonality to provide a single set of tools. This will be a chance for agencies to have a say in how this infrastructure will be built.
If there is enough commonality in the requirements and the costs are feasible, an RFP process will be implemented to select a Content Management tool. The RFP will result in a master contract that can be used by any state agency, board, or commission. This will prevent agencies from having to conduct their own competitive acquisitions for this complex technology.
These focus sessions will be held on the dates below. The first session is the most important as it will include a presentation and education on Content Management, and all subject areas for requirements will be identified and described. An initial set of basic requirements will be established and then will be detailed further in the following meetings.
Focus group sessions are as follows (all sessions will be held in the Forum building boardroom):
February 12 - 8:30 AM to noon – Education and setting basic requirements and goals
February 22 - 8:30 AM to noon – Detailed requirement definition
February 23 - 1:30 PM to 5:00 PM – Continuation of detailed requirement definition
February 26 - 8:30 AM to noon – Finalization of requirements (if necessary)
To register for these sessions, please contact Carlene Covey at (360) 407-0662 or send her e-mail at carlenec@dis.wa.gov
A listserv has also been established to keep stakeholders and focus session participants informed about the process. To join the listserv, use this link:
If you have further questions about this project or would like to participate, please contact Garth Cowan at (360) 902-3197 or at GarthC@dis.wa.gov.
Editors' note: See Garth's presentation from the January 25, 2001 Agency Webmasters meeting for more information on this project.
-- compiled by Bob Monn
The second report issued by the Government Performance Project again finds Washington tied for the top spot in the country among the 50 states. This project is a collaboration between Governing magazine and the Maxwell School of Syracuse University with funding by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The first report was released two years ago and plans call for the evaluation to be repeated at regular intervals.
The report evaluates states in five areas — financial management, capital management, human resources, managing for results and information technology. Washington scored highest in IT; the report stated "Washington is so good at so many things in this field that it sometimes seems to be playing in a different league from the other 49 states."
See the complete story (Link no longer available) including Washington's report card (Link no longer available) in the February 2001 issue of Governing magazine. IPMA News also reported on the initial report from the Government Performance Project in the April 1999 issue.
The January/February 2001 issue of Government West magazine includes an article on a high-speed wireless network being used by police departments in the rural areas of Yakima County. The voice and data network connects seven Lower Yakima Valley city police departments with county, state, and federal agency resources; the remaining seven cities in the area will be connected by the end of the year. The article discusses the development of the network, the technology, the practical applications of the network and their benefits, and the intergovernmental cooperation required to develop and maintain the network.
Mentoring is discussed in a series of articles in the January 29, 2001 issue of Computerworld magazine. One of the articles in the series covers the reverse mentoring program used by Proctor and Gamble in which employees are matched up with senior managers to provide the managers with new perspectives in IT, biotechnology, or diversity. Remember Stuart from the Ameritrade TV commercial? See the mentoring articles in Computerworld.
Members Present: Jim Albert, Mary Ellen Bradley, Thomas Bynum, Phil Grigg, Sheryl Hall, Dennis Jones, Dennis Laine, Mike McVicker, Bob Monn, Darrel Riffe, Doug Tanabe and Shelagh Taylor
Shelagh Taylor, IPMA Chair, opened the January 11, 2001, meeting of the IPMA Board of Directors at 7:38 a.m.
Reports
Secretary/Treasurer: The minutes from the December Board meeting were approved.
Doug Tanabe presented the December 2000 financial status and activities reports. The Board approved the reports.
Business Planning: Mary Ellen Bradley presented the Merrill Lynch Holdings Status report and the year 2000 Budget Status report for board review and comment. The board requested that Mary Ellen provide a Year over Year version of the Merrill Lynch Holdings Status report for the February board meeting.
Executive Seminar: No Report
Forum: Jim Albert reported that the theme the committee has selected for this year's Forum will be "Seamless Services Anytime, Anywhere."
A lot of work is going into the development of the tracks and break-out sessions. There is a concentrated effort being made to upgrade the educational content of the sessions, to be more in keeping with the primary mission of the IPMA. Past Forum attendees and others will be asked to provide input regarding proposed sessions via a questionnaire posted at the IPMA web site.
Jim indicated that the biggest hurdle is to identify and get a commitment for two keynote speakers. He said that any specific suggestions will be considered and greatly appreciated.
Professional Development: No Report
Communications: Bob Monn reported that the January issue of the IPMA News will be available on the web site in the next few days. He also has an article lined up for next month's IPMA News by Garth Cowen on the recently initiated DIS Web Content Management project.
New Business:
Annual Planning Retreat: The retreat has been rescheduled for March 1-2, 2001, at Quinault Ocean Shores Resort.
Committee Reassignment: Doug Tanabe announced that he has been named Acting Director of the Department of Personnel by Governor Locke. He is not sure if that appointment will permit him the time to continue his duties as the Secretary-Treasurer, so for the time being, Thomas Bynum who is the co-Secretary-Treasurer, will take over the lead role.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:15 a.m.
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