Government Solution Center Submissions

Center for Technology in Government
SC12
Solution Title: Meeting the Needs of New York State

Nassau County
SC9
Solution Title: eGovernment

NYS Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination
SC1

NYS Department of Motor Vehicles
SC3
Solution Title: History of the License/ID in NYS

NYS Department of Transportation
SC5
Solution Title: NYSDOT Web Site and 511 Traveler Information Portal

NYS Forum
SC13

NYS Office of Children and Family Services
SC14
Mobile Technology Pilot and Demonstration Projects

NYS Office of General Services
SC8

NYS Office of Temporary Disability Assistance
SC7
Solution Title: myBenefits

NYS Office of the Chief Information Officer/Office for Technology
SC10
Solution Title: eLearnNY

Full Descriptions

Center for Technology in Government
SC12
Meeting the Needs of New York State

Problem
The Center for Technology in Government (CTG) was created by the State of New York in 1993 as a research and demonstration resource devoted to the needs of New York's state and local governments. CTG began as a place where government agencies could experiment with new ways to use information and technology to improve the cost-effectiveness and coordination of public services.

Solution
As part of the Research Division of the University at Albany, CTG developed a commitment to engage in applied research projects in active partnership with dozens of state and local government organizations in New York. Since its earliest days, CTG has shared its projects and results at the yearly GTC-East conferences, including fifteen years of experimentation, development, and innovation, highlighting the Center's history, mission, products, and impacts.

Technology
The Center's projects have included ground-breaking work in government use of the World Wide Web; interorganizational information sharing to support human services, public finances, and criminal justice; and exploration of new ways to connect state agencies and local governments in their joint responsibilities for services to citizens.

Benefit
Today, CTG is recognized as a world leader in digital government research and a globally acknowledged expert in connecting research and practice. CTG continues to meet the needs of New York's state agencies and local governments through projects that provide relevant research findings. We are pleased this year at GTC East's 20th anniversary to showcase and highlight the many projects and partnerships we have conducted over the years in New York State.

Nassau County
SC9
eGovernment

One aspect of Nassau County's eGovernment initiative is PATHHS, an internet tool that assists county citizens in determining eligibility for many of the County's health and human services programs. PATHHS is accessible from a residence, library, school; anywhere that internet access is available.

NYS Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination
SC1

The New York State Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination (CSCIC) is responsible for leading New York State's efforts regarding cyber readiness and resilience; coordinating the State's cyber incident response team; monitoring the State's networks for malicious cyber activities; coordinating the process by which State critical infrastructure data is collected and maintained; and leading and coordinating geographic information technologies.

CSCIC has built strong relationships between and among the public (federal, state, and local) and the private sectors to best ensure our State's cyber readiness and critical infrastructure and geographic information systems coordination. CSCIC oversees the NYS Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Coordination Program, which reduces costs and redundancies of both State and local government by coordinating the development and distribution of statewide GIS data and program activities. CSCIC Director chairs the activities of a Public/Private Sector Cyber Security Workgroup, which is taking proactive steps to foster collaborative partnerships and information sharing across sectors and organizations. The Director also coordinates a Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC), focusing on facilitating communication among States , local governments and U.S. Territories regarding cyber and/or critical infrastructure readiness and response efforts.

NYS Department of Motor Vehicles
SC3
History of the License/ID in NYS

Over the past 20 years, the use of driver licenses has expanded from a license to drive to proof of identity. Banks require it to cash a check, stores ask for it as proof of age, and the airlines demand it before one boards a plane. Now, the NYS Enhanced Driver License (EDL) adds the privileges of a limited use passport. With expanding uses, comes a new set of problems. ID fraud can be perpetrated through: presenting false documents; counterfeiting or modifying a license; obtaining multiple licenses; and, internal fraud.
Continuous improvements have been made to increase the identification integrity of the driver license. From digital images to overt, covert, and forensic security features, NYS License/ID is regarded as one of the most secure identification documents in the country.

The latest driver license/ID document security features include machine readable technologies including a 2D barcode, an RFID tag, and a passport likeVIZ (OCR readable zone), as well as machine detectable features such as ultraviolet ink. Newly installed document authentication workstations scan the machine-readable zones of documents for identity information; using white light, infrared light and ultraviolet light to confirm the presence of security features. Modernization of the DMV databases further extends the value and integrity of the driver license/ID.

From bad drivers trying to avoid sanctions, to dishonest people that use driver licenses/IDs to steal identities, maintaining the one driver, one license and validating that a person is who they say they are before issuing a identification document has benefits that extend the license document well beyond its use as evidence of privilege to drive.

NYS Department of Transportation
SC5
NYSDOT Web Site and 511 Traveler Information Portal

The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) unveils its newly designed NYSDOT.gov web site which offers a more intuitive and customer-friendly presentation of the Department's core initiatives. The fresh design provides a more logical site structure that highlights the programs and services of the Department. NYSDOT continues to be committed to providing the most relevant and current information possible to the citizens of New York and beyond. To that end, look for many more exciting web based offerings to be introduced in the coming months.

NYSDOT will soon provide to the public a new 511 Traveler Information portal website. The release is part of NYSDOT's implementation of a 511 Traveler Information phone number and website for traveler information and incident information via an easy to remember, three-digit number. E-alerts currently available through SEMO's NYAlert system will be expanded upon for transportation incidents under this initiative as well. While the phone system will provide users with incident information for any multiple modes of travel in New York State, as well as direct connections to transportation providers, a more comprehensive list of information and resources will be available on the web, including a statewide transit trip planner that incorporates transit, and intercity bus and rail schedules. An interactive Google-based map will be presented for traffic and transit conditions, which allows the user to select the display of incidents and closures, planned and unplanned events, construction, weather conditions, highway cameras, travel speeds and border wait times when available. A travel links and ride share page will provide users with interactive maps to locate bicycling, carpool, vanpool, and park and ride resources in NYS to ease travel and commuting in the state.

The new 511 site will provide a wealth of travel related information in support of meeting NYSDOT's mission of ensuring those who live, work and travel in New York State have a safe, efficient and environmentally sound transportation system.

NYS Forum
SC13

The NYS Forum is a unique organization that supports the ongoing exchange of professional and managerial knowledge and experiences, and coordinates efforts in support of New York State's technology program priorities. We are: Public officials and state and local government organizations concerned with information management, policy and operations; Focused on sharing knowledge and building professional relationships to enhance effective application of information management in the public sector; Committed to deliver timely, content-rich programs that address priority topics and provide a place in NYS for interacting with people who can have a direct and positive impact on achieving your IT objectives. It is the mission of The NYS Forum to promote policies and practices for effective, equitable and secure use and management of information resources in NYS government at all levels.

NYS Office of Children and Family Services
SC14
Mobile Technology Pilot and Demonstration Projects

In recognition of the critical need to provide new tools to support caseworkers in field locations and to provide on-the-job mobility, the NYS Legislature appropriated $1 million in SFY 2006-07 to enable OCFS to pilot the use of portable technology by Child Protective Services (CPS) caseworkers. Based on positive pilot results, the State Legislature appropriated an additional $1 million in 2007-08, and another $1 million in 2008-09, to expand the project. OCFS brought an additional twenty-three local districts into the project in 2007-08. The total number of CPS caseworkers, supervisors and managers who have had access to portable technology since the pilot project is now nearly 1,000.

Based upon the pilot's findings, OCFS determined that the second year (the demonstration phase) of the project would focus primarily on the use of laptop and tablet PCs. The devices deployed by OCFS contained wireless cards and most of the participating local districts procured cellular broadband service to enable wireless access of these devices to the central database. The inclusion of twenty-three local districts in the demonstration project enabled OCFS to test the technology in a wide range of organizational, technical, and geographic environments.

At the end of each phase of this project, OCFS has analyzed the impact of mobile technology on caseworkers. The conclusions are that mobile technology provided a useful tool for CPS work, has improved productivity, and has facilitated a higher case closure rate. Participating caseworkers also perceived that using the portable devices helped them to stay more on top of their work, reducing job stress and increasing job satisfaction.

Transformation of the New York State Child Welfare Information System

The transformation of New York State's Child Welfare Information System (CONNECTIONS) began in 2007, following Commissioner Carrión's vision of a system that is easier to use and more efficient in design. The goal of the transformation is an enhanced support tool for the caseworker that will maximize time spent with children and families, and minimize the difficulty of administrative work. The transformation model derives form a partnership between OCFS' Business Team and Technical Team and includes quarterly, incremental changes to the current system. The project's key objectives include improving system performance from a user's perspective, and moving to a more intuitive interface using a web paradigm, which will improve usability.
There have been two quarterly improvements successfully implemented in 2008 so far. The quarterly rollouts included a number of user requested modifications, and a great deal of evolutionary "behind-the-scenes" infrastructural upgrades. The project is planned to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2010, with ten more quarterly improvements to the system scheduled.

Interactive Contract Management System

The Contract Management System (CMS) is a comprehensive web-based system used for managing contracts. The system tracks contracts from development and generation through review, approval, payment and maintenance. Overall, CMS provides a more effective, less labor-intensive contract management system.

The application's design derived from statewide standards and transactions occur based upon State-mandated practices and business rules. The system provides an interface with the Office of the State Comptroller's Central Accounting System, which includes paperless voucher processing, the on-line entry of advances, expenditures and budget modification and modules for creating custom budget and expenditure report formats. The Contract Management System was designed using the latest technology tools, thus promoting enhanced system transferability.

NYS Office of General Services
SC8

Profile to come

NYS Office of Temporary Disability Assistance
SC7
myBenefits

The vision of myBenefits is to provide a single internet portal for New York State's families and community partners to connect with benefits, services and work supports an e-government hub for human services. Ultimately, myBenefits will allow individuals and families to learn about and apply for an array of work supports, customized to fit their unique circumstances, by answering one set of simple questions online. myBenefits will tell low-income families how to go from where they are to where they want to be like a MapQuest to economic security.

NYS Office of the Chief Information Officer/Office for Technology
SC10
eLearnNY

The NYS Office of the Chief Information Officer/NYS Office for Technology (CIO/OFT) provides technology governance and centralized technology services, shapes technology policy, and coordinates statewide technology initiatives that provide effective and cost-efficient technology to New York State Government.

The CIO/OFT booth will feature the new eLearnNY, an online course authoring tool that allows New York Government entities to create, customize, and share online courses. In addition, representatives will be available to answer questions about CIO/OFT's initiatives and also the wide array of technology services including email, networking, telecommunications, helpdesk, data center offerings, and training.