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IPMA News : December 2002
Edited By Mary Ellen Bradley and Bob Monn
IPMA News : December 2002Edited By Mary Ellen Bradley and Bob Monn |
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Event Notice: IT Security - A Layered Security Strategy
Summary of November 14, 2002 IPMA Board Meeting
-- by Brian Dirks, Web Program Development Manager, Washington Department of Information Services
Ask George, perhaps the only Internet search engine named after a President, has acquired new powers over his "domain."
Positioned in the center of Access Washington, Ask George has answered more than 2.7 million questions since its launch in February 2001. It now draws between 6,000 and 7,000 new queries most weekdays.
The Department of Information Services has upgraded the popular Washington government search tool with new technology offered by Ask Jeeves, the search engine company that hosts Ask George. The upgrade went into production Dec. 10.
One big difference to users: When Ask George is reasonably sure of himself, he serves up the page containing the exact content directly – no more picking through several choices. (To demo this feature, try "business license"). If this page misses the mark, the user can click on a link within a corner pop-up box. That click will deliver the more traditional search results page with Web page choices.
The search results page itself sports a fresh look, with a new banner that contains its own text box so that users needn’t scroll down if they want to conduct another search.
As always, the plain-English search tool delivers highly targeted results from across state agency Web sites as well key topical information from city and county Web sites. Want to look up the text of a specific RCW or WAC? What about parks and recreation info for Olympia? Ask George will take you right there.
As with the old, the "new" George displays frequently asked guidance questions, most of which were developed two years ago by a cross-agency team. However, these questions are delivered without the drop-down menu structures in the "old" George to make the information even more "findable."
The new Ask George promises to deliver a mountain of information behind the scenes as well. Through a robust analytics system the tool can tell where content holes may need to be filled, how many people are asking which questions, exactly how they are asking those questions and other user information. This data can be used to assist with Web page design and to help agencies better understand user behavior.
DIS is currently developing a service offering – to be announced in January - that will help state agencies put the power of George to work for them. The cost will range from free to a scalable rate depending on Web site size and level of customization. DIS has already built customized versions of Ask George search for the soon-to-be launched Inside Washington refresh and for its own Web site at http://www.wa.gov/dis.
More about Ask George can be found at: http://www.wa.gov/dis/tools/awstyleguide/searchguide.htm. To obtain a free CD video about Ask George, please request from teresear@dis.wa.gov or call 725-5332. To learn more about the service offering, or about how to best "optimize" state agency pages for the Ask George search, contact Brian Dirks at briand@dis.wa.gov or 725-5316.
Title of Event: Defense in Depth: A Layered Security Strategy
Sponsor: Information Systems Audit and Control Association, Mount Rainier Chapter
Where: Office Building 2 (OB-2), Service Level, Cafeteria Meeting Room
When: January 28, 2003, 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM
Presenters: Aaron Morrison, Tripwire, Inc., along with technical staff from Tripwire, and from Structured, a computer security consulting firm.
Program: Computers and digital assets are an integral part of every organization’s operations. Protecting your computer systems, IT network and other information assets against loss or unauthorized change is critical. This presentation will describe options for a "defense in depth" layered security strategy, including firewalls, network intrusion detection systems, and host based intrusion detection systems; and will include a demonstration of the Tripwire host based intrusion detection system.
Who Should Attend: Managers, and technical and non-technical staff who have an interest in learning more about computer network security.
Registration: If you plan to attend, please register by sending an email to Mike Olson at olsonmm@dshs.wa.gov.
Contact: For more information, contact Mike Olson at olsonmm@dshs.wa.gov.
The E-Government Act of 2002 was passed by both the House and Senate in November and the President is expected to sign the bill this month. This bill has been characterized as one of the most significant pieces of IT legislation in the past six years. It creates a new Office of Electronic Government within the Office of Management and Budget and addresses web guidelines, accessibility standards, privacy and security requirements, GIS standards, training and purchasing. For more information, see Federal Computer Week.
5 Years Ago -- December 1997 IPMA Newsletter
10 Years Ago -- December 1992 IPMA Newsletter
15 Years Ago -- December 1987 IPMA Newsletter
20 Years Ago -- December 1982 Association of Data Processing Managers Newsletter
25 Years Ago -- December 1977 Association of Data Processing Managers Newsletter (Not available at this time)
Members Present: Mary Ellen Bradley, Thomas Bynum, Phil Grigg, Sheryl Hall, Dennis Jones, Mike McVicker, Bob Monn, Darrel Riffe, Doug Tanabe and Shelagh Taylor. Phil Coates, CFO, Jim Andersen, Forum Events Manager, and Jim Albert to discuss additional SIG affiliations, were also present.
Doug Tanabe, IPMA Chair, opened the November 14, 2002, meeting of the IPMA Board of Directors at 7:35 a.m.
Reports
Secretary/Treasurer: Doug Tanabe identified an error in the October Board meeting minutes. In the Executive Summit section, a year was shown as 2003, rather than 2002. The minutes from the October 2002 Board meeting were approved as corrected.
The Board approved the October 2002 financial status and activities reports.
Phil Coates distributed a Cash Flow report showing that the organization will end calendar year 2002 with a cash balance about $800 less than it began the year. This loss is much less than it might have been given that the Executive Summit was presented at no cost to the participants this year.
Business Planning: Mike McVicker reported that the IPMA Merrill Lynch portfolio was at about the same level that was originally invested.
Executive Summit: Phil Grigg reported that the Executive Summit follow-up session at the WestCoast Olympia Hotel was well attended with more than 70 participants.
Planning for the 2003 Summit is underway. Phil and Darrel are working with Campbell’s to reserve approximately 100 rooms for three days in the last week of September or the first week of October. The board expressed a preference for Tuesday through Thursday.
Forum: Jim Andersen presented the following status report on the preparations for the 2003 Forum:
Professional Development: Sheryl Hall reported that the October seminar was extremely well attended with 84 attendees. The modifications to the registration system that Bob Monn implemented worked extremely well allowing Sheryl and Dennis to manage the registrations and the waiting list. Among other things, registrants received a message about the importance of canceling if they cannot attend. This was an improvement over the past seminars.
The committee is planning six events in 2003.
Communications: Bob Monn reported that the November issue of the IPMA News was released on the 13th and, other than that, it had been a fairly slow month. Mary Ellen Bradley queried the board for suggestions for articles in coming issues of the IPMA News. Several members had ideas for her to follow up on.
New Business:
Election of Board Members: Darrel Riffe reported that he, Dennis Jones and Phil Grigg had met. Two of the current four board members whose terms are ending have decided not seek re-election. Two members of the IPMA have expressed interest in filling those positions. The Nominating Committee submitted the names of Thomas Bynum, Dennis Laine, Andy Marcelia and Jim Albert to the board for approval. These names, along with the ability to write in an alternative candidate, will be submitted to the membership for ratification prior to the December Board Meeting.
Expansion of IPMA Special Interest Groups (SIG): Jim Albert introduced the concept of adding the State Telecommunications Association (STA) as an IPMA SIG in much the same way as the Project Managers Association. The STA has approximately 60 members and a six person board of directors. Glenn Hay-Roe is the current chair of the STA. The STA currently has a web site that is hosted by the Department of Transportation. If the IPMA board endorses the concept of adopting the STA as a SIG the STA board would put together a proposed contract and present it to the IPMA board for consideration. The board indicated that it would be amenable to considering such a proposed contract. It was unanimously agreed that such a SIG was in keeping with the IPMA mission.
2003 Board Planning Retreat: Mike McVicker reported that it looks like the retreat will be held in February. He will have more details to present at the December meeting.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:47 a.m.
IPMA, P.O. Box 1943, Olympia, WA 98507-1943