Information technology bulletin

68 Pages·1995·5.9 MB·English

by  Massachusetts. Office of Management Information Systems. Strategic Planning Bureau

Digitized by the Internet Archive
2012 with funding from
in
Member
Boston Library Consortium Libraries
http://archive.org/details/informationtechn41998mass
Wb I
p
1' I
1 In
r
Hi J** Jul
II l<
-
m
Bfl
BO
•v ' 1111 *",;<.,
., *
•
I 1 1 r*Vi^
ft I %l I '
v.-
J.
. . a -J
9
i I
^
13
. . •**.
t'. .<
;-.VHHgp
: • I
I
.r .
<•«
».
Ar3*>*- y\
M\<
f
Commonwealth Massac
huse
O F t t s
Informa
UULLCbllUlY
G H O O
E
ssachusetts
l\l l_
Cooy
u N
I
Vol. 4 No. 1 Executive Office For Administration & Finance Winter 1998
Information Technology Division
DOR Commissioner Seeks More
Government Through
Efficient IT
Mitchell Adams award in the category ofGovernment and tem that captures all ofthe data on those
believes that less Non-Profit Organizations for its Telefile forms. Through a unique partnership
papermeans better system which allows certain taxpayers to with Unisys, DOR developed a state-of-
governmentandhe file their returns by phone and for its Im- the-art system that has increased effi-
has the awards to aging system that uses data recognition ciency and reduced operating costs.
prove it. As Com- technology. (Please see the IT Bulletin 's Followingthe Commissioner's edictthat
missioner of the Winter1997Issue, Volume3, NumberIfor only proven, off-the-shelf software be
Massachusetts De- a more detaileddescription ofthe system.) used, the system has already paid for it-
partment of Rev- Likening the awards ceremony in Wash- selfin labor cost savings. "We can now
enue, Mr. Adams ington, DC to theAcademyAwards forIn- capture 50% more data and record it
has been a strong advocate of using infor- formation Technology, Commissioner more accurately, and we deliver better
mation technologytohelpcreate apaperless Adams said that while winning the award servicesbecauseelectronic imagesofthe
environmentandto make governmentmore was exciting, it is also a testament to the tax returns are available instantly to re-
DOR DOR
efficient. This advocacy led to de- vision and dedication of staff. spond to taxpayer inquiries," said Com-
velop its innovative Telefile tax filing sys- "Telefilewas aboldinitiativethathadnever missionerAdams. Betweenthe two new
tem which won the prestigious beendonebefore," he said. "Our staffsaw systems, the battle ofpaperagainstcom-
Computerworld Smithsonian Award in that the technology was feasible and they puters becomes no contest, as demon-
June. worked hard to make sure that it was user strated by the table at the end of this
friendly." story.
This nationally recognized award honors
those who have used information technol- The results ofthat hard work can be dem- Even with these accomplishments in
ogy to improve society. DOR won the onstrated by the number of people who hand, Commissioner Adams is con-
now file their taxes by telephone, elimi- stantly seekingadditionalimprovements.
In this issue... nating the tons ofpaperforms that used to On January 23, DOR recorded its one
DOR
inundate each year. For example, in millionthTelefiler, Kathleen Bligh from
DOR Commissioner the last tax season, a record 400,000 tax- Medford. However, the Commissioner
1
HR/CMS Update ? payers utilized the Telefile system. As a would like to see more taxpayers utilize
result, taxpayers benefit through aquicker the system. He also predicts that there
Margaret Sullivan Named MIS Director ...3 refund turnaround and the state reduces will soon be a day when DOR will be
Electronic Commerce 4-5 costs and increases efficiency. able to electronically deposit the refund
Who's DoingWhat Re: theYear2000 ... 6-7 into the taxpayer's bank account when
.
IT Bond II Update: Early Successes 8 Telefile can accommodate taxpayers who the telephone call is completed. For in-
"TAB" Assists with Telecom Needs 9 utilize the state's short form but that still novative tax filing options, see DOR's
...
leaves approximately 1.7 million people web site at http://www.state.ma.us/dor.
MotorVoterMoving Forward 10 who must file the longerForm One. DOR
New Data Center Options 11 has solvedthe highcostofprocessingthese
A Message from the CIO 12 forms —— which total about 100 tons of DOR Commissioner
paper by developing an imaging sys- Continued on page 2
R/CMS UPDATE
H
:
Information Session Scheduled for March
As
implementation of HR/CMS (Human Re- ruary, with the exception ofbenefits administration.
sources/Compensation Management Sys- Once it is completed, the Executive Committee will
tem) moves forward, an informational session determine a limited number of modifications to be
"The project will be scheduled in late March in the Gardner Audito- addedto the HR/CMS software and the projectteam
rium at the State House in Boston. At the session, user will move into the next phase of the project, con-
agencies and other interested parties will be given an ceptual design.
on schedule update on the progress of HR/CMS.
is
Mr. Hartnett saidthe projectteamhas also conducted
Personnel Administrator Jim Hartnett of the Human a number of meetings with constitutional officers to
to meet its Resources Division said that this project will provide an provide updates, establish lines ofcommunicationand
enterprise-wide human resource information and pay- make sure everyone is aware ofthe major phases of
roll system for the Co—mmonwealth. It will replace —is- the project andthe implementation schedule. He also
implementa- lands of automation the existing legacy systems noted that the level of cooperation from all parties
with a single, integrated system. He noted that since the has been excellent. "The project is on schedule to
project went "live" in July, the HR/CMS team headed meet its implementation timetable in the Year2000,"
by PatriciaWadahasbeen working on anumberoftasks, said Mr. Hartnett. He also cited a number offactors
tion timetable
including ajoint application design process (JAD) that for the project's success to date, including the con-
focuses on a review of existing business practices, re- tinued support of Secretary of Administration and
viewing them against the packaged software, and devel- Finance Charles Baker, the level of cooperation and
in the Year oping a list of "gaps" that detail significant differences support by and between the project's executive com-
between the two. The JAD process and resulting gap mittee members, the leadership ofPatriciaWada and
analysis have entailedreviewing existing business func- her project team, the full participation from employ-
2000." tions such as: manage job classification and positions/ ees representing the various areas of state govern-
budgets, on-cycle payroll, training and labor relations. ment and the quality of work being done by the
This process is on track and shouldbe completed inFeb- Andersen Consulting project team staff.
DOR
Commissioner
Continued frompage 1.
Mr. Adams has been Commissioner ofRevenue since 1991 Priorto his appointment, he served in avariety offinancial management
.
and advisory positions in which he focused on developing systems and programs to maximize resources and revenues. As Vice
Chancellor for Administration and Finance for the University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester, he was the medical
center's chieffinancial advisor. Beforejoining the medical center, he servedfouryears as Dean ofFinance and Business forHarvard
Medical School. He also served as the Budget Director for Boston's Beth Israel Hospital. Commissioner Adams graduated cum
laude from Harvard College and received a master's degree from the Harvard Business School.
Paper Computer
vs.
27 day refund turnaround 4 day Telefile turnaround
S2.00 processing cost per return $1.51 cents per Imaged return,
$1.25 per Telefile return
2 weeks to retrieve a tax Immediate data retrieval
return from storage available
2 acres required to store tax 25 square feet ofstorage for one
returns year ofdigital tax returns
325 tax returns processed 618 tax returns processed per day
per day per operator per operator
MA DOR
Source:
Information Technology Bulletin Winter'98
"
Named
Margaret
Sullivan First
MIS
Civilian Director for State Police
Margaret Sullivan has been Ms. Sullivan said there are a number ofother important technol-
namedMIS Directorforthe ogy implementations to come such as automating records man-
Massachusetts State Police. agement and replacing the overburdenedAutomated Fingerprint
Ms. Sullivan, who was previously Di- Identification System (AFIS). Workhas alreadybegun onrecords
rector of Technical Services for the management. When it is completedthe State Police will havethe
MassachusettsDistrictAttorneysAsso- ability to collect statistical data which will help them direct re-
ciation, becamethefirstciviliantohold sources to the appropriate areas. Ms. Sullivan said the MIS De-
the MIS position for the State Police. partment plans an RFR to replace the AFIS system. "It is a ca-
pacity issue," she said. "The currentsystemisprocessing as many
In her new position, Ms. Sullivan said cards as is technically feasible. As more cities have the ability to
she will focus on upgrading existing transfer fingerprints electronically it will be critical that the pro-
technology and implementing anumberofambitious programs. cessing speed and capacity are increased to the level where cards
Upon her appointment last summer, Ms. Sullivan said her first are handled in a timely manner for the submitting police depart-
orderofbusiness wastobring some cohesiveness tothe agency's ments."
information technology systems.
While the implementation ofthese programs is aformidabletask,
"The State Police had been automated over an extended period Ms. Sullivan said she looks forwardtothe challenge. "It's achal-
oftime which has led to inconsistencies in the implementation," lenge to implement change with a small MIS department such as
she said. For example, the police had multiple e-mail packages ours but we will be up to the task," she said.
which made electronic communication between various geo-
graphic areas difficult. The—MIS Department is converting ev-
ery office to Lotus Notes allowing such basic functions as
internet mail. It is expected that the conversion will be com- means
" This
pleted by June. In addition, the State Police will be upgrading
PCs and software from WordPerfect to more current Microsoft
applications. time on
less
Other majorprojects are planned, including the implementation
of computer aided dispatch and records management software. paper work
Infrastructure is now beingput in place that will connect all sub-
stations through a Wide Area Network and a pilot program has
and more
started on the implementation of mobile data which will con-
nect officers in their cruisers to headquarters through the use of
laptopcomputers. When fully implemented, there will be laptops
time focused
in approximately 2,000 State Police vehicles. This function will
allow instantaneous checks on license plates (to check on stolen
vehicles, etc.) and individuals (to check for prior records, etc.). on
policing.
Officers will be able to send e-mail from their cruisers and file
reports electronically. "This means less time on paper work and
more time focused on policing," said Ms. Sullivan.
InformationTechnology Bulletin Winter'98
Electronic Commerce Conference CERTIFICATION AUTHORITY RATING AND
Held in San Antonio TRUST TASK FORCE (CARAT] of the National Au-
tomated Clearing House Association Internet Council
SanAntonio, Texas was the site last December for a conference (NACHA).
on Electronic Commerce at the State Government level, hosted
by the National Association of State Information Resource Ex- The Internet Council of NACHA is home to the CARAT Task
ecutives (NASIRE), the National Association of State Purchas- Force. CARAT is working on the development ofmarket-based
ing Officers (NASPO) and the National Association of State rules and standards for the evaluation and rating ofcertification
Auditors, Comptrollers andTreasurers (NASACT). There were authorities. Through participation in the pilot, and research and
47 state governments represented, several federal agencies, and involvement with other industry and government efforts related
hundreds ofparticipants. At the final policy session ofthe con- tocertification authority accreditation and evaluation, taskforce
ference, the assemblyunanimously approvedaresolutiononelec- members are striving to develop a uniform regimen ofmetrics,
tronic commerce policies at the state level. In brief, the four processes and standards, acceptable to the private and public
areas dealt with were as follows: sectors.
• Adopt a simple, technology neutral and non-regulatory elec- Three state asso—ciations- NASIRE, NASACT, NASPO (seepre-
tronic signature and records legislation and create a uniform vious column) and their state government members have as-
base-line ofdefinitions, scope and effect for this type ofleg- sumed a leadership role on this issue. Through membership to
islation. the Internet Council they are working with Federal government
• Work through the state government initiated effort in the and private sector representatives to develop a market-based
NACHA
Internet Council of (see next column) to develop means to evaluate or rate the trustworthiness and performance
multi-state guidelines for the use of digital signatures and of certification authorities issuing digital certificates as part of
certification authorities. This is aprivate sectormarketbased public key infrastructure (PKI) commerce solution. The intent
standards effort that is meant as an alternative to state-by- of the project is to develop standards accepted by the market
state or federal regulations in this area. that enable sound decision making for organizations which ac-
• Adopt the National Information Infrastructure Privacy Prin- cept digital certificates issuedby an outside certification author-
ciples as a guide to systems requirements, business controls ity. Workis being conducted viathe Internet Council as an open
andfuture policy governing electronic commerce applications and participatory forum as an alternative to legislation or regu-
to ensure the privacy ofindividuals is protected in state gov- lation.
ernment electronic transaction and records systems.
• Finally, it was resolved to accomplish this, state associations The most recent meeting ofCARAT was hosted by ITD in Bos-
should agree to create a short term task force to further ex- ton in January. At this meeting, the group focused on a pro-
plore and develop the above policies and report backon more posed work productpresented 1/5/98 centered on the creation of
detailed policies. open but bounded electronic commerce trading communities.
Daniel Greenwood, ofITD, is co-chair ofthis Task Force.
Commerce
Electronic
Continued on page 5
More information on these two topics is available at: www.state.ma.us/itaVlegal.
Information Technology Bulletin Winter'98
U
IM IM
Federal and State Electronic Commerce Online Government Task Force Report
Policy Update Planning Initiative
The Clinton Administration has continued to push a variety of The Online Government Task Force (established by Louis
curbs on the domestic use and export of encryption. This posi- Gutierrez, Commonwealth CIO) has concluded its final report.
tion has been controversial among industry, privacy andcivil lib- The Task Force has proceeded on the premise that state govern-
erties groups that seeka secure electronic commerce marketplace ment should aggressively adopt online government solutions
which uses encryption. Federal legislation on the hill includes whereverthey canbe used to increase the efficiency andquality
competing encryption bills (controlled and restricted vs avail- ofgovernment. TheTask Force began theirwork by evaluating
able foruse and sale); abill by Congresswoman Eshoo thatwould common applications which require varying amounts of secu-
require all federal forms to be available for submission over the rity and authentication andthen usingthose asexamplestoframe
Internet; a bill by Congressman Baker that would regulate and a Request for Information (RFI) on products and services to
federally control electronic authentication companies and prac- meet these needs. The Task Force also conducted a survey of
tices; a bill by Senator Bennet (not yet introduced) would create existing and planned Online government projects throughout
a special legal safe harbor for banks to do electronic commerce; the Commonwealth. This survey provided an indication ofcur-
and Congressman Castle has indicatedhis support for legislation rentonline government initiatives that are deemed importantby
that would simply remove legal barriers to electronic signatures agencies. The results of both efforts are detailed in the Task
and records (unclear when/whether we will see the bill filed). Force Report.
Underlying several federal bills is a policy controversy over
whether or how much state laws pertaining to electronic com- TheTaskForce report andrecommendations have served as the
merce should be preempted by federal legislation. basis ofan ITD strategic planning initiative for electronic com-
merce and online government. The ultimate goal is to develop
Last year, Dan Greenwood ofITD, testified before the US House the infrastructure and guidance that will encourage agency in-
and the US Senate regarding the relationship between state and novations in this area while providing coordinated, consistent
federal law in the areas of electronic commerce and information and secure access to state government services. The planning
privacy. State legislation is steadilybeing enactedacross thecoun- effort is coordinated by ITD's Strategic Planning Group (SPG).
try that reflects the simple barrier removing approach advocated
by the San Antonio resolution (see www.ilpf.org for a survey of As part of the plan, ITD staff will lead five interagency
state laws). Massachusetts draft legislation along these lines is workgroups in the areas of Security, Policy, Technical Infra-
being prepared for filing this session by the Cellucci Administra- structure and Support, Legal Policy,Application Guidance, and
tion. The NationalConference ofCommissionersonUniformState CommonBusiness Processes.These workgroups will draftwhite
Law are also drafting legislation, including proposed Article 2B papers, policy options and recommendations that will be pre-
ofthe Uniform CommercialCode (dealing withthe licenseofdigi- sented for discussion at a Commonwealth Online Government
tal information) andtheElectronicTransactionAct (ETA) (remov- Summit to be held in late Spring of this year. SPG will then
ing legal barriers to electronic records and signatures and clarify- draft the Commonwealth's Online Government Strategic Plan
ing state electronic contracting law in the public and private sec- based on the Summit proceedings. Agencies can track the
tors). The ETAcites the draftMassachusetts legislation in several progress ofthis planning initiative by accessing ITD's Intranet
sections and the Commissioners have asked the Commonwealth site at http://www.itd.state.ma.us.
to assist them in defining two sections ofthe uniform law (excep-
tions to the scope and the government transactions sections).
InformationTechnology Bulletin Winter'98
Who's Doing What Regarding:
Y2K PMO Agency Interviews
• At the State Office Building in Springfield, the energy man-
ITD'sYear2000ProgramManagementOffice (Y2KPMO)team agement system, which includes air handlers, chillers, boil-
is continuing its agency interview approach forcollecting infor- ers, and lighting systems, is in remediation.
mation on the Commonwealth's progress in meeting the Year
• At the Massachusetts Information Technology Center in
2000 challenge. While its July-October round ofinterviews fo- Chelsea, the UPS system, computerroomA/C, automatic tem-
cused on the general approaches being usedby the various agen-
perature control, auto transfer switch gear, chillers, elevators,
cies to achieve compliance, its October-December round cen- and security are all Y2K compliant. The telecommunications
tered on identifying the status of mission critical and essential
system is currently in the assessment phase and will be com-
systems. Agencies with non-compliant mission critical systems
pliant by January 1, 1999.
areexpected to have planned and launched remediation projects
to ensure those systems will be corrected and returned to pro- The Bureau of State Office Buildings is responsible for the
duction no later than January 31, 1999. The deadline for essen- McCormack building at One Ashburton Place, the Saltonstall
tial systems is May 31, 1999. These dates will ensure agencies Building at 100 Cambridge Street, and the State House.
are ready for FY2000 which begins July 1, 1999.
• The State House security system, phone system, and parking
Commonwealth Facilities and the garage system are scheduled for remediation.
2000
Year • The badge system for the McCormack and Saltonstall build-
Although most Year 2000 attention focuses on non-compliant ings is compliant.
information systems, another area which cannot be overlooked
• The elevators for the McCormick and Saltonstall buildings
is embedded systems or automated devices that use embedded are not controlled by computers and therefore are Y2K
chips and program code to perform their functions. Ofparticu-
compliant.
lar concern are those embedded systems that control access to
facilities and provide maintenance functions for facilities: ther- Non-State Owned or Leased Facilities: Agencies that
mostat controls, elevators, alarm systems, heating and air con-
rent space will have to contact theirlandlords aboutfacility com-
ditioning systems, building access, and parking garage access.
Y2K
pliance. In an effort to aid the agencies in this process, the
As part of their Year 2000 compliance, agencies must ensure PMO
has drafted a standard letter to landlords identifying key
that their offices and facilities will be habitable and accessible
to their employees and the citizens of the Commonwealth. issues. Acopy ofthis letter is available on the ITD Y2K web site:
http://www.magnet.state.ma.us/Y2K Agencies are encouraged
.
Owned to send this letter, modified to their specific needs, to their land-
State Facilities: The Department ofCapital Plan-
lords to ensure that, in terms oftheir physical operations, it will
ning and Operations (DCPO) and the Bureau of State Office
be 'business as usual' on January 1, 2000.
Buildings are responsible for Year 2000 compliance at the ma-
DCPO
jor state-owned buildings. reports the following compli- Outreach To Local Organizations
ance status for its buildings:
Anumber ofCommonwealth agencies have oversight responsi-
• Transportation Building at 10 Park Plaza in Boston: All sys- bility for or close working relationships with local organizations
tems (energy management, chillercontrol panel, security sys- and municipalities throughout the state. Some ofthese agencies
tem, telephone system, and fire alarm system) are compli- are utilizing their access to and frequent contact with local orga-
ant. Plans are underway to remediate the elevators. nizations to aggressively increase Year 2000 awareness and pro-
mote best practices for achieving compliance. Local outreach
InformationTechnology Bulletin Winter'98