Open Forum November 2005
Vol. 19 No. 2
Serving New York's State/Local Government and Corporate IT Leadership
Farewell!
On behalf of all of those at the state and local levels of government involved in the management of New York State's information, The NYS Forum wishes to express sincere gratitude for the leadership provided by James Dillon over the last four years.
Through the CIO Council created by Jim Dillon, New York's IT leadership and staff have been very much involved in the forging of new initiatives aligned with the NYS IT Strategic Plan.
The NYS Forum, its committees and membership have enjoyed a close working relationship with Jim and the CIO Council Committees as, together, we've pursued the realization of the state's plan. That plan and the enterprise level initiatives launched under Jim's leadership represent bold steps for New York State that will benefit all of us for some time to come.
Every year The Forum recognizes an individual whose work has definitively contributed to the overall improvement of government information services in New York State. In recent years public sector IT has become far more complex requiring integration across statelevel agencies and with the local level. Moreover, government IT operations have become a likely target of external threats requiring a much higher degree of coordination and creative leadership. In today's fiscal environment, all of these challenges become even more difficult. All that is to say that The Forum's Annual Award for Excellence in Government Information Services has taken on new meaning in this complex and dynamic environment we operate in. Achieving "excellence in government information services," as judged by one's peers, is no small accomplishment.
In 2003, Jim Dillon was presented with the Award for Excellence in Government Information Services for his creation of the CIO Council and draft of the State's first Strategic Plan.
We Wish you well!!
Gregory Benson, Jr.
Executive Director
NY Observes National Cyber Security Awareness Month
Webcast Draws Wide National Participation
Congress approved the resolution introduced by New York Representative Sherwood Boehlert, Chairman of the House Science Committee and declared October as National Cyber Security Awareness Month. With that, the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA, a not-for-profit group composed of government agencies and technology firms) stimulated a wide range of state and local events. Congressional action may have been fostered by several recent studies (Gartner, Pew, et al) that have concluded that e-commerce in particular, and Internet use in general, suffer from the constant news of identity theft, security breaches, and criminalization of the Web. TechWeb reported on October 7th that 30 states signed similar proclamations.
In New York, Governor George Pataki was instrumental in the planning of several events conducted on October 19th and 20th. Central among those was the all day Cyber Security Awareness Conference which focused on how to keep children safe while using the Internet. The event featured an opening keynote address by Governor Pataki followed by workshops for parents, educators, legislators and law enforcement officials.
Workshop content focused on:
In addition to the conference, a national webcast entitled Protecting Our Children on the Internet was offered and consisted of a play entitled Cyber Smart in Cyber Space geared toward the 4th and 5th grade age levels in which actors performed a cyber security-related skit and children were allowed to interact. The play used content from CyberSmart, an organization dedicated to teaching secure, responsible and effective Internet and computer use. The play was a fun and interactive way for children to learn more about cyber security and how to be careful in using computers and the Internet.
The CyberSmart curriculum (available at: www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/curr_over/) covers: how cyberspace works; not sharing private information; keeping passwords safe; feeling comfortable communicating in cyberspace; what junk mail and viruses are; and cyber manners/etiquette.
Over 80 school districts were active participants in this webcast and children from over 38 states also participated. In all, the webcast reached 5,437 participants.
The NYS Forum was involved with these Cyber Security Month events and worked in conjunction with the NYS Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination.
None of the events could have been held without the generous contributions of time and resources by:
CTG's XML Testbed Project
Part Two
This article is part two of a three-part series, in which CTG has committed to keep Forum members up to date on the progress of its XML Testbed project. In last month's issue, Derek Werthmuller, director of technology services at CTG, provided Open Forum with an interview to give members a better understanding of XML and its advantages, and how it became central to this new Testbed project at CTG.
Project Overview
In partnership with the Governor's Office of Employee Relations (GOER) and the Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO), CTG is working with five New York state agencies to examine the benefits as well as the challenges of using XML technology for Web site management. CTG developed a Testbed model to provide the agency teams with a unique collaborative environment in which to learn and explore the implications of XML as a Web management framework. The Testbed structure allows the agency teams to obtain technical training, work toward agency-defined practical goals, and experiment with new work processes in a safe setting. At the same time, it gives CTG the research opportunity to examine the impact this new framework may have on each organization.
The Testbed is structured in two phases. In the first phase, the five agencies participate in hands-on workshops, training, organizational analysis, and business development activities. In addition, during this phase CTG is collecting data through multiple research methods such as semi-structured interviews, surveys, and analysis of relevant documents.
The first phase concludes on January 25, 2006 with formal presentations by the agency teams of their XML-based Web site prototypes and business cases. The participating agencies will detail the organizational and policy strategies developed by their team for implementing a new Web site management approach. CTG will also discuss the sharable library of XML technical resources that it is developing as part of the project. More logistics about this presentation will be in the December Open Forum, along with on-line registration information.
In the second phase of the Testbed project, CTG will work to produce a set of practical guidelines and case studies that draw on the experiences of Testbed participants. These products will provide lessons learned and best practices that will guide others working to improve the management, performance, and value of their Web sites using XML. It is anticipated that these guides will be available sometime in late spring of 2006.
Project Status
The Testbed project began with a kick-off meeting in July, 2005 for the five selected agencies to discuss their proposed projects. The five agencies are NYS Department of Civil Service, NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal, NYS Higher Education Services Corporation, NYS Office of Cultural Education, and NYS Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence.
Over the course of the summer, each agency team took part in three types of training. The first was a two-day Building a Business Case: Making Smart IT Choices training, which furnished the groundwork for one of the Testbed deliverables - creating a business case. As part of this training, participants were given hands-on experience working with various analytical tools to assist them in collecting and examining data within their own agencies to craft their business cases.
In the second training, each Testbed participant attended a one-day Introduction to XML/XSL. This training provided the participants with a working knowledge of XML, an understanding of how to structure an XML document for the prototype, and instruction on using XML style sheets for presenting their XML content. Participants also had the option to attend an Advanced XML/XSL one-day training class designed for the more experienced coder. Each training gave the participants the chance to work directly on their own content and prototype within a lab environment.
The third training focused on the complex skills needed to manage a Web development project. This training went through the fundamental steps for breaking down their individual prototype projects into manageable phases with goals, milestones, and objectives. In addition, the agency teams participated in a panel discussion with Brenda Breslin, PMP (NYS Office for Technology), Mike Donovan (NYS Office of the CIO), Nancy Mulholland, PMP (NYS Workers' Compensation Board), and Diana Pinto, PMP (NYS Thruway Authority) on how project management practices can help mitigate the risk associated with IT innovations. As each team moves forward, these skills will be crucial in helping them to measure the performance and successes of their projects.
In conjunction with the training, the agency teams have also actively engaged in hands-on workshops where they have the opportunity to discuss their progress, receive feedback, and advance their work in both large and small group settings. At each workshop, participants also hear from a variety of expert presenters from different state agencies and industry. The topic areas covered by speakers to date include organizational change, project management techniques to help mitigate risk and overcome barriers, XML in a Microsoft environment, Information Architecture, as well as how individual agency and private sector organizations have successfully implemented XML architecture for content management.
Ongoing external support is also provided by CTG staff through meetings or phone conversations with individual teams or sub-teams to address specific questions or issues encountered while working on their prototypes or business cases. Commenting on the breadth of the Testbed activities, one participant said, "CTG is not just working with us to investigate the use of XML as a Web management framework, they are also helping us to improve our skills in analysis, public speaking, project management and communication."
At this point in time, the Testbed participants have started to transition from 'learning' to 'doing.' Each of the project teams have successfully completed the 'training' portion of the Testbed process and are now working to apply these skills to their actual prototypes. Some teams have started to develop XML style sheets, while other teams have actively investigated various programming techniques and domain specific XML schemas and standards. In addition, the teams have created and refined project goals, Stakeholder Analyses, Work Breakdown Structures (WBS), and Task Plans for their prototypes and business cases. They are now using the WBS and task plans to guide them in completing their work.
At this halfway point in the Testbed, the agencies are gaining a fuller understanding of how XML will make a difference in their workload. At a recent workshop, one participant remarked, "The thing about XML transformation - if you do it once, and you get it right, you are done, and that's exciting!"
In the December Open Forum, we will talk about how the teams are progressing toward their final goals, and some of the preliminary lessons CTG staff are beginning to draw from the experiences of the Testbed participants. For additional details on the project, please visit CTG's Web site at: http://www.ctg.albany.edu/projects/xmltb.
National Webcast Planned for December
Those are just some of the topics that will be addressed at the December 15th Cyber Security Webcast.
As mentioned in the lead article of this issue of Open Forum, the October 20th National Webcast initiative session, held in conjunction with New York's First Annual Cyber Security Awareness Conference, Protecting Our Children On The Internet, was a huge success! For those who have not viewed it, the session consisted of a play entitled, Cyber Smart in Cyber Space, geared toward 4th and 5th grade age levels. The archived webcast will be available soon at: www.cscic.state.ny.us/msisac/index.html. Prior webcasts have had international audiences totaling in the thousands and the number of viewers continues to grow. The US Department of Homeland Security, through its Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) have launched a joint partnership to develop a series of national webcasts which will examine critical and timely cyber security issues. Embracing the concept that security is everyone's responsibility, these webcasts are available to a broad audience to help raise awareness and knowledge levels.
The National Webcast Initiative is a collaborative effort between government and the private sector to help strengthen our Nation's cyber readiness and resilience. Vendor sponsors offer their services at no cost to government, to help develop and deliver the webcasts. The National Webcast Initiative was launched in June, 2004, with the first session - Cyber Security: The Three Things You Should Have Done Yesterday and The Three Things You Should Do Today, conducted on June 22. The webcasts are designed to provide participants with quality information in an interactive format so that the attendees receive timely and practical advice that can be applied immediately.
This initiative is coordinated by the NYS Office of Cyber Security and Critical Infrastructure Coordination and the New York State Forum's Security Committee. Registration information will be coming soon.
Project Management Upcoming Events
November 16 - The State of Project Management - Highlights will include: Introduction of Project Management into Organizations; Growth of the Importance of Project Management; The Acceptance of Project Management in Information Technology; The Escalating Demand for Project Management PMP's; Results of PMI's Thought Leadership Research; The Relevance of Project Management Certification; and The Future Acceptance of Project Management.
Pre-registration for this event is required at www.nysforum.org.
December 7 - Project Portfolio Management (PPM): Supporting the PPM from the Staff (PMO) Level - Following up on the CIO Council event, a panel of PMO representatives from various agencies will discuss supporting the PPM process, facilitating the organizational decision-making for project selection, publishing project metrics used in managing the portfolio, using the appropriate tools and identifying synergies with the Annual Technology Plan process.
January, 2006 - The New Business Case Template - This session will focus on developing an effective Business Case for a project and how it relates to the Annual Technology Plan process as well as how a Business Case should be used to ensure early identification of intergovernmental impact on projects.
Bookmark The Forum's online Calendar at: www.nysforum.org and visit us often for a complete listing of committee meetings and special events.
Executive Committee
Officers
Chair, Cecelia Hamblin, Dept. of Labor
Vice-Chair, Leigh Favitta, Dormitory Authority
Sec./Treas., Diane Taylor, Office of the State Comptroller
Members
James Bell, NYS Senate
Walter Bikowitz, OGS
Thomas R. Bodden, Assoc. of Towns of NYS
JoAnn P. Bomeisl, Insurance Dept.
Vivian Conboy, Dept. of Taxation & Finance
Teri Daly, OFT
Sharon Dawes, CTG
Michael Donovan, OCIO
Stanley France, Schoharie County
Robert Freeman, Dept. of State
Jeffrey S. Grunfeld, OSC
Christine Haile, SUNY at Albany
Roman Hedges, NYS Assembly
Karl Kelly, DMNA
Robert G. Kelly, DHCR
Kim S. McKinney, NYSLGITDA
Nancy Mulholland, Workers' Comp. Board
Eugene Pezdek, DEC
Joanne Riddett, Thruway Authority
Franklin Slade, Dept. of Civil Service
Timothy Spencer, DOB
Victor Stucchi, HESC
Staff
Editor
Gregory M. Benson, Executive Director
Design & Production
Rebecca J. Buchner, Executive Assistant
Milena Ivanova, Technical Coordinator
Editorial Office
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