2005 State Strategic Plan for Information Resources Management

Appendix BAgency Innovations

This appendix highlights information and communications technology best practices, innovations, and successes by describing how agencies successfully develop and deliver effective services to their constituents. These successes serve as excellent examples of agencies delivering mission-critical business solutions, which effectively fulfill the strategic goals of Objective 10, Core Mission.

Services to Citizens

The core missions of government agencies include provision of vital services and information to all Texans. The examples below illustrate best practices in delivering services to citizens through technological innovation.

The Governor's Office, in conjunction with Department of Information Resources (DIR), has launched new business and consumer portals that facilitate access to government services. The Texas Business Portal allows companies that want to do business in Texas to acquire all necessary licenses and permits. The Living in Texas Portal provides citizens online services and information, such as driver license renewals, electric utility payments, consumer protection, taxes, and tourism. Both sites are available through TexasOnline, the official state Web portal.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) utilized the state portal's electronic payment (ePay) infrastructure component to allow its customers to pay bills and fees online. This system integrates payments with the commission's electronic reporting and permit applications processing. ePay is also used for self-service payments at the commission, for items such as quick copies.

Business-Technology Alignment and Planning

With limited resources for technology projects, it is critical that agencies establish effective internal governance practices to align their projects with their business needs. This ensures that resources are spent wisely and business areas get tools they need to provide better service delivery. The following examples show how agencies are moving aggressively to address technology governance issues.

The Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) initiated a monthly meeting for internal Business and Technology Services/Application Development and Support. This initiative provides a forum for business process improvement and the development of new processes that will work best for the entire agency. DADS has also chartered a Business Process Advisory Team that includes representatives from all program and service delivery areas. This team will work toward agency-wide business-technology alignment. Additionally, the agency has started work on an information technology business plan that will recommend business process improvements.

The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has approached government technology planning from an agency-wide perspective to ensure that technology projects and purchases are driven by business needs. Business needs from all areas of the agency are communicated and jointly prioritized to foster coordination and sharing of information technologies. Every biennium, each TDI program area completes a comprehensive business plan that includes a description of future projects. Projects with a technology component are subject to an internal approval process, including a business justification and cost-benefit analysis. Representatives from all TDI program areas attend monthly planning meetings where technology projects are prioritized from an agency-wide perspective. Business planning in the agency is documented by a Five-Year Information Technology Roadmap that the agency updates annually.

Collaboration and Resource Sharing

Collaboration and resource sharing envisioned by this plan help state and other government agencies make more effective use of existing technology assets. State and local partnerships help technological innovations and solutions to spread quickly throughout the state. The examples in this section illustrate how agencies leverage each other's strengths to reduce costs and provide service to customers.

The Texas State Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners consolidated its information technology services (hardware, software, programming, assessment, and security) through the Health Professions Council (HPC), located at the Hobby State Office Building. HPC members, particularly small agencies, have reported that consolidated provision of technology services has been very successful.

In 2004, government agencies housed in the Hobby State Office Building began a collaborative effort with DIR to identify opportunities for consolidating or co-locating information and communications technology services. Recommendations include replacing Internet connections with a single, high-speed Ethernet connection, an enterprise messaging and collaboration system, and a secure room to co-locate and consolidate equipment. Implementation of several of the recommendations has begun.

The Texas Structural Pest Control Board reports that it has received significant assistance from TDI on local area network maintenance. TDI has also supplied surplus property, such as desktops, monitors, and laptops to the board at no cost.

Texas Tech University, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and the University of Texas Medical Branch have partnered to provide telemedicine services to the state's prison population. This health care delivery system includes primary care clinics in each prison, 16 infirmaries, several regional clinics, and a full-service prison hospital. The university has also partnered with local communities to provide telemedicine services in rural areas. The Big Bend area-one of the country's most remote regions and offers less local medical care per resident than any other area in the state-has partnered with Texas Tech University's Health Sciences Center to link the Alpine hospital to the university's medical professionals. In Hart, the school health clinic is linked with the Texas Tech Health Science Center to provide school-based telemedicine clinics. Texas Tech also has established several telemedicine clinics in the colonias near El Paso.

The University of Texas at Brownsville has partnered with the University of Texas-Pan American to purchase and operate a single library management system for both universities. This collaboration has saved approximately $70,000. The partnership attributes its success to detailed coordination for daily system management, ongoing monitoring to ensure that data is not lost or corrupted, and procedures and administration management and responsibilities established early in the collaboration process.

Mission-Focused Applications

Rapid technology advancements and the constant emergence of new technologies create many challenges for state agencies. The following excerpts highlight how they have shared best practices in application development and transition of legacy systems.

The Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired has converted its student database from a legacy mainframe system to a more accessible Web-based application that includes multi-level security, reporting capabilities, and all data required for Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) reporting. The new system provides campus-wide access and allows more efficient dissemination of information to the school's staff, including those who are blind or visually impaired. With this system, any authorized individual can generate reports on demand. The system has improved scalability and the potential for connections to other campus systems as they are converted to Web-based applications written in the Java programming language.

The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) developed JumpStart as a template application that provides a complete technical framework for new TWC applications. JumpStart streamlines application development by providing a template and tools for display logic, business logic, and data layers. JumpStart provides a skeleton framework upon which to code a new application and a working sample application that provides developers with examples of each type of Web page. Benefits of this system include the built-in security functionality, which saves each project time to design, code, and test Web pages. The skeleton framework sets up a new application in minutes, instead of weeks. Performance is improved by using thoroughly tested examples and development methods. Accessibility is ensured through the use of a pre-tested layout. The system promotes a consistent look and feel, and coding is streamlined by requiring only the specific business logic to be added.

The Department of Public Safety (DPS) has converted its legacy M204/VMSA applications to leading edge technology utilizing a DB2 database and SQL/UDB stored procedures. Manual programming has been replaced by an online customer search capability. The department's improved stability and availability of mission-critical applications has drastically reduced the total print volume. All batch processes have been eliminated, and turnaround time for information searches has greatly improved.

Adapting Mobile and Wireless Technologies

The expanding reach and power of communications technologies are a key component of many of the strategies in this plan. In local and remote workplace settings, the combination of mobile and wireless technologies are being increasingly implemented by state agencies. For example, the use of a modem-equipped personal data assistant (PDA) that receives text messages via satellite technology allows government entities to achieve efficiencies, even in the most remote rural areas. The examples that follow illustrate how agencies are using communications technologies to provide advanced services to customers.

The Texas Department of Transportation has partnered with Coach Connect Corporation to implement its Road Connect initiative, which provides free wireless Internet access at 102 Texas rest areas. This initiative is designed to reduce driver fatigue by increasing rest area stops. Drivers can use Road Connect to access travel and safety information as well as information on local area restaurants, hotels, and attractions. ¹⁸

The Hand-Held Devices Project enhances TCEQ's Investigation Information Collection System by providing an interface between a handheld PDA and the Consolidated Compliance and Enforcement System (CCEDS). When preparing for facilities inspections, investigators download permit and compliance information into their PDAs. Upon return from an investigation, staff can upload site data from PDAs into the CCEDS. This process eliminates manual transcription and data entry from handwritten reports. Thus, it reduces staff preparation and reporting time, facilitates information location, reduces total investigation time, reduces paperwork and filing, and decreases correction time.

DPS has implemented a three-phase project to replace the Texas Law Enforcement Telecommunications System. The new system will provide message switch functions, computer-to-computer interface connectivity, and a Web-based user interface with law enforcement agencies. The satellite system provides the ability to increase statewide service, reduce costs, and improve reliability. Mandated response times are met while security and privacy requirements are ensured through double encryption. Backup features are also available.