J_JTC_2019A 08/15/2019 09:11:57 AM Committee Summary

Kachina Weaver, Deputy Legislative Director, Governor's Office, provided an introduction to the supplemental request from the Governor's Office of Information Technology (OIT) to create and fund a Colorado Digital Service.

Ms. Weaver was joined at the table by:

- Theresa Szczurek, Executive Director for OIT;

- David McCurdy, Chief Technology Officer for OIT;

- Kelly Taylor, Digital Services; and

- Matthew McAllister, Digital Services.

A copy of the presentation slides are provided in Attachment A. Additionally, a fact sheet was also provided to the committee (Attachment B).

Director Szczurek provided an overview of several initiatives that have been implemented at OIT to examine what is working and where changes need to be made moving forward for the various state information technology (IT) projects.

Six common factors were identified that caused major IT projects to have issues in the past:

1. not having clear executive sponsorship and governance;

2. unclear or shifting requirements or project creep;

3. incomplete funding;

4. lack of best practices being implemented because of the timeline or budget (e.g., dropping IV&V);

5. lack of dedicated resources for major elements; and

6. not following IT standards and architecture (e.g., accessibility, vendor selection).

Director Szczurek discussed the components of Senate Bill 19-169 and how they are currently in place or being implemented in current and future projects.

Director Szczurek and Ms. Weaver responded to questions from the committee regarding the need for a Colorado Digital Service.

Ms. Weaver continued the presentation regarding how the Colorado Digital Service would operate.

Mr. McAllister described what a Digital Service team is and how the same initiative has been implemented in other countries and at the federal level.

Mr. Taylor described how a Digital Service can complement the current state IT workforce.

Ms. Weaver continued the presentation by describing the impact of a Digital Service.

Mr. Taylor described the origin of the U.S. Digital Service and the work on healthcare.gov.  Mr. Taylor continued by describing the work on the pilot project to examine the HRWorks project. The individuals at the table responded to questions from the committee related to Digital Services in other states and the need for a Colorado Digital Service, how conflict of interest is managed, how other departments have handled the assistance from the Digital Service team, how Digital Service team members are recruited, and how quickly a Colorado Digital Service can be implemented.

Director Szczurek continued the presentation with a description of why immediate funding is needed through the supplemental process.

The committee requested regular updates back to the JTC regarding when recommendations from the Colorado Digital Service are implemented.

Ms. Weaver described the timeline and why this budget request wasn't made during the legislative session.

Mr. McAllister described additional private funding that may be available to help supplement the state funding.

The committee decided to continue discussing the decision about whether to recommend funding the supplemental request until the end of the agenda.

Kara Veitch, Executive Director, and Tobin Follenweider, Deputy Director, Department of Personnel and Administration, provided an overview of how the work of the Colorado Digital Service has impacted the work on the HRWorks project and the future plans for HRWorks. A copy of the presentation can be found in Attachment C.

Director Veitch responded to committee questions regarding how the Colorado Digital Service could be implemented on HRWorks now.

Mr. Follenweider continued with the presentation.

Director Veitch and Mr. Follenweider responded to questions from the committee regarding the updated project timeline and HRWorks website.

Minna Castillo Cohen, Director of the Office of Children, Youth, and Families with the Department of Human Services (CDHS), and William Chumley, Chief Customer Officer with OIT, provided an overview of the Trails Modernization Project. A copy of the presentation can be found in Attachment D.

Director Cohen and Mr. Chumley responded to questions from the committee. Loren Schmidtt, product owner with CDHS, responded to questions from the committee. David McCurdy, OIT, joined the table to respond to questions from the committee. Questions from the committee included: what the current workflow looks like for case workers; how the Trails system may interface with other systems from other departments, including the Department of Education, in the future; if there have been other system outages; what the current status of work desk tickets is; anticipation of a future emergency funding request; how releases are scheduled based on school start dates; and how the Trails system may be able to take advantage of a Colorado Digital Service.

Deb Goheen, Director of Finance and Administration with the Department of Corrections (DOC), and Richard Stewart, OIT Director of IT supporting DOC, provided an overview of the DeCORuM project, including some of the challenges and delays that have been experienced and what the future of the project looks like.

A copy of their presentation can be found in Attachment E.

Ms. Goheen and Mr. Stewart responded to questions from the committee.

Ms. Weaver, Director Szczurek, OIT staff, and Digital Service staff returned to the table to continue the discussion related to the supplemental request to create the Colorado Digital Service (CDS).

The committee voted to send a letter to the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) that recommends fully funding the supplemental request.  The committee did not consider whether the request meets the criteria to qualify for interim supplemental funding; however, the committee did acknowledge that CDS could provide immediate value to taxpayers.  Within the letter, the JTC wished to highlight the concerns that were highlighted by JBC and JTC staff, including the lack of clarity regarding the roles and responsibilities of the new positions within the CDS and not clearly defining how they would be assisting on current projects.  Additionally, the committee acknowledged that by approving this funding request, the state would be creating a new program that anticipates returning with additional requests for funding in the future.  The committee also emphasized the need to elimate the potential for conflicts of interest through the hiring process.

The JTC requested that, if the JBC approves the supplemental funding request, that the CDS provide the committee with future reports and updates regarding the work of the CDS and the impact it is having.