GTA Update - Sep-Oct 2020

Update newsletter

Sep-Oct, 2020 | Vol. 12, Issue 5

State CIO's column

A "can't-miss" event for Georgia's government IT community

For public-sector IT organizations in Georgia, one of the perennial markers of the fall season is the Georgia Digital Government Summit. This year is no exception. But of course, 2020 is an exception, in so many regards. It probably comes as no surprise then that this edition of the summit will be virtual - another first in a year full of firsts.

Won't that change its flavor? It will. We won't be bumping elbows in the vendor trade show area. We won't gather in the main conference room to hear speakers. That doesn't suit this exceptional year. But be assured, summit organizers have devised other ways to ensure the event continues to bring you the learning opportunities that keep so many of us participating year after year.

The summit will comprise three two-hour sessions spread across two days, October 8 and 9. Day 1 will be anchored by a timely keynote address, Off Balance and In Control. In those remarks, author Dan Thurmon will demonstrate how to turn disruptive events into opportunities for positive outcomes. Dan will also discuss building confidence while surrounded by change, and taking purposeful actions.

As always, sessions will be geared toward both IT and business leaders. Additional segments as noted below will examine new issues, technologies and regulations.

How the Crisis Has Changed Us: Teri Takai, Co-Director, Center for Digital Government
Framework for the Near Future: Phil Bertolini, Co-Director, Center for Digital Government
Dawn of a New Decade: Dustin Haisler, Chief Innovation Officer, e-Republic
Wellbeing Amid Disruption: DeAngela Burns-Wallace, Chief Information Technology Officer, State of Kansas

You can look forward to Do I Really Look Like That, a session by communications expert Anthony Huey. He’ll offer tips for making the camera your friend in this age of video conferencing. And in virtual fashion, we’ll recognize projects chosen for honors in this year’s GTA-sponsored Technology Innovation Showcase.

There's no charge for summit attendance for Georgia public-sector employees. I hope you’ll register online if you haven’t already. We have much to discuss. The summit is always beneficial. This year, when state and local government IT organizations are so heavily called on to support government services, the event may be even more valuable than ever. I look forward to your participation.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Calvin Rhodes

State Chief Information Officer

GTA Executive Director

The right services in the right amounts: a GETS mainstay

Focus on consumption management is nothing new in GETS circles. It's foundational to the state’s approach to the IT shared services program. And it continues to be top of mind, not just for agencies that rely on GETS technology services, but also for GTA as program administrators and for vendor partners as providers of those services.

The rationale is simple: Empower state agencies to manage the IT services they use and the funds they spend on those services. GTA routinely works with GETS agencies to ensure they have the information, the options, and the levers at hand to help right-size their spending on IT services according to industry-based best practices.

Not surprisingly, any time state government faces new budget pressures, renewed scrutiny of spending choices follows. So, managing IT expenditures gained an urgency this spring as the pandemic led to a sharp decline in state revenues, and agencies were asked to significantly reduce their budgets. To help agencies meet their targets, GTA reduced GETS administrative charges from 8.52 to 5 percent. And, in coordination with GETS service provider Unisys, GTA quickened a transition from custom server rates to less expensive standard server rates. Charges for storage were also trimmed in a further step to promote savings for agencies.

A recently developed quick reference guide for agencies includes cost-reduction strategies and instructions for each GETS service category. [Check with your Agency Relationship Manager (ARM) for more information.] Agencies have received help using GETS tools that make tracking service consumption easier. And, GTA is following up on money-saving suggestions submitted by agencies, broadcasting the ideas via agency forums. Additional plans for generating savings lie ahead for ongoing consumption management, a backbone of the GETS program that delivers the IT services agencies rely on.

Clarifying the broadband picture: mapping it statewide

Bringing broadband access to rural areas challenges Georgia and many other states. Even before identifying funding sources, or introducing grant programs and the like, it’s critical to understand where the broadband service needs are. And in the face of an ongoing pandemic, those broadband access needs have become more acute.

The Georgia Broadband Deployment Initiative, started in 2018, addresses access in our state. Senate Bill 402 called for securing current and precise data for all 291,000 census blocks in Georgia. That was data the state didn’t have. Elected officials wanted to know how many Georgians were without broadband service. Answering that entailed exploring how many homes and businesses all across the state have access to high-speed internet.

Now, the picture is clear, thanks to a tremendous mapping effort led the Department of Community Affairs (DCA). Partners GTA and the Carl Vinson Institute of Government at UGA contributed, as did other agencies and providers. The entire state has been mapped, showing who has access to broadband and who doesn’t for more than five million locations.

What magnitude of challenge does the map reveal? Ten percent of those five million locations have no broadband access. (See the Georgia Broadband Map on DCA’s website.) And while the map doesn’t correct any broadband service deficiencies, the state now has data that can aid in the delivery of services to Georgia residents. The map brings greater transparency to the internet marketplace, giving communities and providers information they can use to better direct their efforts.

At its outset, the Broadband Development Initiative targeted increased economic opportunities in rural Georgia. That motivation persists, and now a pandemic has powerfully illustrated how crucial internet access can be to work and education. The broadband map has only grown in relevance. (DCA also provides a map helping Georgians locate the closest free public Wi-Fi.) The broadband access enhancement push continues.

Briefly ...

Cyber alertness and readiness hinge on training, and training continues for employees of Georgia’s executive branch agencies. As directed by the state’s Cybersecurity Board, the following cybersecurity awareness training segments are to be completed by employees by September 30: 1) “Avoiding dangerous attachments,” 2) “Data protection and destruction,” 3) “Avoiding dangerous links” (video), and 4) “Fake OneDrive emails steal logins” (attack spotlight). These third quarter requirements of the state’s 2020 cybersecurity awareness training plan are expected to be followed in the fourth quarter by additional mock phishing exercises designed to keep employees on their toes.

The GETS Service Desk team has introduced a new, more robust virtual assistant. It gives those seeking support from the Service Desk an additional path for getting the information and help they’re after, with round-the-clock availability and no waiting. The virtual assistant is accessed from the GETS Portal’s landing page, https://login.gets.georgia.gov. On strength of machine learning built into it, the “Chat with IT” assistant grows even more capable with use, adding to its repertoire of answers as it fields a wider range of questions.

In data center operations, needs change. These days, there’s less demand for floor space and physical servers. More server virtualization and expanded cloud computing. For the state’s north Atlanta data center, it all adds up to adjustments. To ensure the state’s data center approach aligns with the changing landscape, a consolidation project is afoot. It’s a serious undertaking, with a goal of shrinking the physical computing footprint by more than two-thirds for the GETS enterprise by December 31, 2021. Agencies with applications hosted at the facility will be kept closely involved and informed.

A mainframe-based software product called ViewDirect has left the building. It had been used by the state since the late 1980s to collect and securely distribute reports of all types from many agencies. Age and increasing costs of ViewDirect led the state to look elsewhere for solutions for secure file sharing – the main utility for most agencies. More than 85 agencies were shifted off ViewDirect, including the State Accounting Office, by far the heaviest user of the product. It was a complex untangling, and a step forward for the state’s IT enterprise.