Department of Information Technology
At a Glance
DIANE S.
WALLACE, Chief Information Officer
Established - 1997
Statutory authority - CGS Sec. 4d
Central
office -101 East River Drive
Number of employees - 328
Recurring operating expenses –
General Fund - $16.1 million
Technical Services Revolving Fund - $39.8 million
Organizational structure - Office of the Chief Information Officer, Business
Development Divisions I, II and III, IT Security Division, Network and
Distributed Systems Division, Operations Division, Architecture and Standards
Division.
Mission
DOIT was created in 1997 to make
the State of Connecticut a leader in the effective use of information
technology to improve government operations and services.
Spam Control
To accommodate the exponential increase in spam e-mail, DOIT continues to adjust settings and deploy new systems to minimize spam while ensuring critical e-mail is not blocked. The amount of spam e-mail blocked daily by DOIT has increased twelve-fold. In 2004, DOIT blocked 10,000 spam e-mails per day. In 2005, DOIT is now blocking an estimated 120,000 per day.
Connecticut Education
Network
The Connecticut Education Network is currently in its final phase of deployment with a goal of 100 percent deployment by the start of the 2005 school year. In 2004, traffic on the network doubled and 64 additional connections were provided to local K-12 districts. As of January 2005, 162 CEN connections were in place in 93 cities and towns. In August 2005, the final 55 connections are planned to be made.
Health Insurance Portability
and Accountability Act Compliance
DOIT
continues to oversee the state’s compliance with the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996, which establishes federal
policy for security of electronic health care transmissions and privacy
protection for medical information and medical records. In 2004 and 2004, DOIT
completed and published eleven HIPAA policies which define how the State is
interpreting the HIPAA regulations, and trained and 3000 employees have
completed training through the DOIT Learn Center web site.
CT.gov Portal
Grows in Size and Traffic
In 2003, DOIT launched CT.gov, the new state Internet portal. To date, DOIT has migrated 38
agencies to the portal with 10 added between August 2004 and August 2005. 16
agencies with more than 40,659 files are currently in the conversion process.
The CT.gov portal received 13.9 million visits between July 2004 and July 2005,
up from 7.9 million during the same time period the previous year. Site
visitors viewed pages on CT.gov 116.9 million times during this time period and
downloaded more than 11.02 million documents.
Statutory
Responsibility
DOIT was created to:
§
Make the State of Connecticut a leader in the effective
use of information technology.
§
Build
the statewide information infrastructure for state agencies and citizens.
§
Direct the development of IT
systems to meet the common business and technology needs of multiple state
agencies.
Organization
Office of the Chief
Information Officer
The Office of the Chief Information Officer sets executive policy and direction, manages internal and external communications, legislative affairs, and policy and regulation development. The office is also responsible for Freedom of Information compliance and facilities management. The agency’s affirmative action officer is also a direct report to the Chief Information Officer.
Business Development I, II
and III
The Business Development Divisions work in partnership with client agencies to help meet short term requirements, such as procurement processing and service needs, and meeting long term needs, including identifying and helping to develop new applications to solve business problems. Each division serves a set of agency clusters, including Regulatory, General Government, Healthcare/Human Services, Education, Safety/Judicial, and Government Administration.
Administration
The
Administration Division is responsible for human resources, financial services
and billing, legal affairs, employee development training and procurement. This
includes Personnel and Training, Statewide IT Procurement, Telecommunication
Billing and Order Processing, Fiscal Services and the Office of the Legislative
Counsel.
Network and
Distributed Systems Division
The Network
and Distributed Systems Division provides network, desktop and
telecommunication services statewide, including networking and desktop support,
including e-mail and messaging services. In addition, they manage local, wide
and metropolitan area network support, the DOIT Help Desk and the state
telephone attendants. The team is responsible for telecommunication system
design, facilitation, planning and implementation.
IT Security
IT
Security is responsible for supporting Homeland Security and Emergency
Management Initiatives, Business Continuity Planning Processes, Disaster Backup
and Recovery Procedures, Network and Host Intrusion Monitoring, Security
Incident Response, IT Investigations, Security Assessment and Risk Analysis
Processes, Security Policy Development, Security Awareness and Training and
Data Access Procedures. IT
Security is responsible for Disaster Backup and Recovery, Business Continuity
Planning, Firewall responsibilities and Proxy Administration.
Operations
Operations
is responsible for maintaining the infrastructure that supports IT functions
today, including the Data Center, Mainframe support, and Unix and Intel servers
support. Operations will also is responsible for storage management and
database support.
Architecture and
Standards
The
Architecture and Standards works closely with client agencies to identify
standards that achieve a more cost-effective and updated technology portfolio
in the State of Connecticut. The Architecture Team also includes a new Vendor
Management function to disseminate information about new products and services
in the marketplace in a meaningful way to the IT staff.
Improvements/Achievements
2004-05
DOIT provided desktop support services to more than 1100 state employees in 13 state agencies. These agencies consist of DOIT and 12 smaller agencies in multiple locations without adequate IT staffing or resources.
DOIT’s Desktop Services staff responded to more than 1300
service calls over the past year, including assisting with agency hardware and
software installation, upgrades, and maintenance, licensing renewals, patch and
anti-virus management, e-mail and troubleshooting.
Help Desk
In
fiscal year 2005, the DOIT Help Desk processed 23,100 calls for assistance from
client agencies.
The
DOIT Help Desk has been working on continuous improvement efforts, with
each ticket created going through a review process to ensure ticket
accuracy and completion.
A
new escalation process was put in place to improve customer service by ensuring
the appropriate resources are working on the incident and by providing agency's
with updates on progress and problem resolution.
The
Help Desk is planning to launch the newest release of their problem management
tool by the 2nd quarter of 2006. This upgrade will automate some of the
manual processes currently in place allowing the Help Desk to provide improved
customer service.
Telecommunication Savings and Service
DOIT is
continuing to work with agencies to reduce the volume of directory service
calls, which cost the state more than $400,000 over an eighteen-month
period. Usage has already been decreased by an average of
10,000 calls per month. DOIT has published online directory services
for agencies to use and is in the process of completing and deploying
customized, electronic reports to agencies to monitor and curtail usage.
From
July 2004 to July 2005, DOIT planned and executed network optimization
strategies for eleven state
agencies is resulting in annualized savings of more than $430,000 per
year. Network optimization activities
include a review of existing services, determination of service
level requirements, technical and financial comparison of available
options, and implementation.
New telecommunication
contracts are offering more favorable rates for state telecommunication
services. In three service areas alone- cellular phones, toll free lines, and
data transmission lines - cost savings exceed $1.1 million
3055 cellular phones were
migrated to lower cost plans available under the new contracts for annual cost
savings of $634,200.
The new rates
being billed for 1642 toll-free lines and the consolidation to a single vendor
has resulted in annual savings of $336,000 based on average usage of 1.217
million minutes per month.
Costs have been reduced
by 57 percent, or $700 per line per month, for Integrated Services Digital
Network (ISDN) Primary Rate Interface (PRI) Lines. These lines provide high
speed transmission for voice, video and data. In addition, costs have been
educed for the Digital Trunking T-1 Lines. Total cost savings total more than
$180,000
1774 calling cards were removed from active use for
an estimated savings of $10,800 per year. In addition, DOIT removed unused spare telephone lines (DCOSS) for savings of
more than $8,000 per year.
Procurement Activities
DOIT
executed 109 complex procurements for client agencies for information
technology goods and services. These procurements include Invitations to Bid,
Requests for Proposals, Requests for Information, and Statements of Work.
For
fiscal year 2005 Procurement processed 951 purchase requisitions valued at
$72.2 million of technology goods and services both for DOIT and client
agencies.
DOIT successfully negotiated a one-year extension of the
Pre-Paid Inmate Calling Service pilot which is being tested at facilities
within the state correctional system. The pilot was implemented in compliance
with HB-6569. The program is an alternate to the current collect-call system,
enabling calls to be placed at a significantly lower cost.
DOIT’s
paperless procurement system has been upgraded to provide internal customers
with paperless workflow and external customers enhanced reporting features and
workflow improvements. Full implementation is scheduled for August 2005.
Core CT Conversion
DOIT
successfully migrated its employee time and attendance system to the Core-CT
platform
LINK System Upgrades
DOIT
continues to assist in the upgrade of LINK, the statewide-automated child
welfare information system which is used by over 1,500 Department of Children
and Families social workers and case managers.
The eventual goal is a web-based browser system that enables social
workers and case managers to perform entry and other work remotely, improving
productivity and reducing backlog.
Automated Fingerprint
Identification System
The Department of Public
Safety’s (DPS) new Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) was
formally launched. This new system, hosted at the Department of Information
Technology’s (DOIT) Data Center, boasts significantly upgraded capabilities. In
addition, a network upgrade was completed of all DPS trooper barracks to support the new AFIS application. These
upgrades were expedited and completed far ahead of normal installation time
frames.
Online Boiler Inspection
System
DOIT
facilitated the procurement and implementation of a new online boiler
inspection system for the Department of Public Safety Division of Fire,
Emergency and Building Services. The
system tracks the inspection of, insurance status, certification, repairs,
invoices and reports on 40,000 boilers and water heaters in Connecticut. The
new system was launched in 2005.
DOIT
is working with DPS to procure an additional online system to track
inspections, certifications, repairs, invoices, and reports on 15,000
elevators, tramways, escalators, and electric walkways in CT.
Connecticut Fire Incident
Reporting System
DOIT
developed an online application for the Department of Public Safety Division of
Fire, Emergency and Building Services to make information provided by 310 fire
departments available 24/7 via the Internet.
This system has been completed and is scheduled to be launched in the
summer of 2005.
Sex Offender Registry
Upgrades
DOIT
is working to assist the Department of Public Safety with enhancements to the
existing Sex Offender Registry (SOR) system. These enhancements include a
server upgrade, improved hardware and software, and training. The upgrade will
also provide access to remote agency locations. DOIT is also working to assist
DPS in interfacing with the National Sex Offender Registry in conjunction with
the U.S. Department of Justice.
Connecticut Electronic Disease Surveillance System (CEDSS)
DOIT
is providing hosting services for this new system for the Department of Public
Health. The system is replacing a paper-based disease surveillance
system with a web-based system enabling secure, web-based or
electronic message submission of laboratory reports and public health
intake/referral information that meets CDC standards. The system will be
launched in 2005.
HIPAA Compliance Gains
DOIT
completed and published eleven HIPAA policies that define how the State is
interpreting the HIPAA regulations.
The
HIPAA Learn Center utilized last year
for HIPAA Privacy training utilized this year for Security training. DOIT developed and launched an overview
training course and made this available to 12,000 State employees through our
website. To date 3,000 employees in 5
agencies have utilized the Learn Center for HIPAA security training.
DOIT
completed technical evaluations of the networking infrastructure at nine
agencies. These evaluations included servers and endpoint devices associated
with HIPAA-impacted application systems at those agencies. DOIT identified remediation gaps and
agencies developed detailed plans containing solutions and timeframes. 2 of the 9 agencies have completed their
remediation plans and others are in-process.
DOIT
completed implementation of 25 intrusion prevention devices for HIPAA Impacted
agencies
Core-CT
DOIT continues to provide technical support for Core-CT
- the overhaul of the state’s core financial and human resource systems.
DOIT is co-leading this initiative along with the Office of the State
Comptroller, the Department of Administrative Services, and the Office of
Policy and Management.
During the last 12 months, a new Storage Area Network
(SAN) solution was implemented for Core-CT.
Also, significant progress was made in testing or developing disaster
recovery and business continuity procedures.
Centralized
E-Mail Deployment Continues
The
gradual statewide deployment of a uniform e-mail system continues throughout
the executive branch. DOIT’s goal is to
eventually replace the variety of e-mail systems running throughout the
executive branch with a centralized system. To date, users in 14 agencies have
converted to the Exchange System. An additional 13 agencies are in the process
of converting.
TOPOFF3 Cybersecurity
Exercise
DOIT organized and executed a comprehensive
cyber-security exercise with the Federal Department of Homeland Security.
Spanning over two days, the exercise simulated real-life security incidents
and tested the integration of inter- and intra-governmental actions
related to a large-scale cyber-attack synchronized with a terrorist weapon of
mass destruction attack. Participants included
the Department of Transportation, Department of Public Safety, University
of Connecticut, City of New Haven and the Connecticut Education Network.
The exercise tested
processes and provided important lessons in multi-agency coordination and
communication integration.
TOPOFF3
DOIT
provided key technical and communications support to the Federal TOPOFF
Exercise held in New London, Connecticut in April 2005. DOIT provided round the
clock staffing of the State Emergency Operations Center, communications
staffing for Joint Information Center in New London and setup
temporary emergency communication centers in response to simulated
incidents. In addition DOIT provided 24 x 7 coverage at the
Venue Control Cell, where all TOPOFF activities were monitored and controlled.
Finally, DOIT provided key assets for the planning of the exercise, including
staffing, support communications and logistics.
TOPOFF3 Geospatial Lab
DOIT,
in cooperation with the Governor's Interim Geospatial Council, coordinated a
geospatial emergency management portal system and geospatial laboratory at the
State Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The system was the first of its kind
in the nation using data from state, federal and local agencies and was
used extensively for decision support and reporting for the duration of the
TOPOFF3 exercise. The physical lab was staffed around the clock for the
exercise and provided onsite geospatial technical assistance at the State EOC.
Enterprise Architecture
Domain Team Operations Manual
DOIT’s
Enterprise Architecture Domain Team Operations Manual was selected for
inclusion in the National Association of Chief Information Officers’ Enterprise
Architecture Toolkit.
Concord Upgrade
DOIT provided intensive technical support for the overhaul of the
Concord Business Registration System for the Office of the Secretary of the
State. The overhaul project goal is designed to reduce backlog, processing and
image retrieval time.
This
multi-tiered system, which processes more than 500,000 documents per year, is
hosted at the DOIT Data Center. It operates on a new, modern platform designed
and created by DOIT using new technologies to provide load balancing and fault
tolerance.
Connecticut Education
Network
The
Connecticut Education Network (CEN) was formally connected with the North East
Research and Education Network (NEREN), one of the nation’s first Regional
Optical Research and Education Networks.
NEREN is a high-speed state-of the art infrastructure that will link all
of Connecticut’s K-12 and higher education institutions to international
research and education resources.
Cybersecurity
DOIT hosted a cyber-security seminar attended by 85
IT security officials from 20 municipalities, four federal agencies, eleven
state agencies and higher education institutions. In addition, professionals
from five hospitals and several private Connecticut businesses were in
attendance. The seminar was targeted to IT managers, data and network security
personnel, and other state and municipal professionals that play a role in
information security. The seminar was sponsored by the National Cyber Security
Division of the federal Department of Homeland Security, DOIT and the
Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security.