DTS is currently working with Adobe to offer Sign to state agencies. More information on the how to access Sign will be coming soon. You can see details on the Sign product offering here. 

For an information technology project to be successful, it’s necessary to stay within budget, on time, and within scope. But it’s even more important to ask yourself: Does this project really add value to our business?

Our problem today is that we start projects too quickly, often without the customer & IT really understanding the true business problem they are trying to solve. This results in improper project requirements, and therefore increasing the scope of work, reworking, and delays on project deliverables.

Both DTS and the Agencies are caught between meeting technical requirements as defined by the customer and ensuring the customer’s core problem is addressed. The right solution is often realized far into the project design & development as more discussions occur about the requirements and their connection to the overall goal, but this is often too late.

DTS’s resolution to this conflict is through a better engagement with the Agencies upfront, which would change their value proposition all together from being a technical service provider that is cheaper and more convenient to being a solutions business partner that helps consult and solve the true business problems. The Engagement Model is a three phase analysis process where DTS business resources facilitate discussions with Agency experts & key contacts to ultimately determine the solution direction both in terms of process & technology.

DTS is working to implement the Engagement Model statewide, including internal DTS projects. If you’d like more information on the Engagement Model, please reach out to your IT Director.

Public and private organizations from across the country are coming together as members of the Great Outdoors Month® Council to help all Americans Escape the Indoors and celebrate the educational, economic, health and social benefits of active fun outdoors.

Governor Gary Herbert has identified outdoor recreation as indispensable to increasing economic opportunity in Utah, especially in the more rural areas of the state. To support the statewide and national celebration of the great outdoors, Utah’s Department of Technology Services and it’s technology partner, Utah Interactive, remind people to visit Utah.Gov to access convenient online services that make enjoying the outdoors even easier.

“Utah is fortunate to have five amazing national parks, as well as our 44 beautiful state parks,” said Eugene Swalberg, Public Affairs Coordinator.“ This is the perfect time to celebrate Great Outdoors Month and enjoy these treasures. The State Parks Website makes preparing for these experiences quick and convenient.”

The Utah state parks website captures the beauty of Utah’s public lands and helps visitors find vital information about the parks. Residents can also access online services on the website, including: annual park pass sales, youth off-highway vehicle and personal watercraft education courses, campground reservations, event registration interactive and off-highway vehicle maps.

While in the outdoors, the Hunting and Fishing iPhone and Android apps help visitors get the most from their adventures. The mobile apps give Utah’s outdoor enthusiasts a resource for wildlife events, licenses, permits and communicating with the Division of Wildlife Resources.

The Department of Technology Services (DTS) now provides a Docker environment. See more here. This shared environment hosts container applications based on Docker software technology. Docker automates the deployment of applications inside software containers. It works by wrapping a piece of software in a complete file system (i.e., container). That container contains everything needed to run the software, including code, runtime, system tools, system libraries—basically anything that can be installed on a server. This guarantees that the software will always run the same, regardless of its environment. It is both innovative and economical and will save time in deploying and building applications.

AGRC’s Utah Reference Network (TURN) was recently highlighted in the American Surveyor Magazine. View the article here.

The TURN GPS Network serves Utah and some areas of surrounding states with 95 sensors. A GPS network is a high-precision global navigation satellite system (GNSS) providing real-time corrections and data for post processing. A GNSS network consists of permanently located GPS receivers, installed across an area, that generate real-time, high-accuracy GPS positioning. Basically, all of the permanently installed GPS receivers send their data to a central system via the internet. This central system analyzes the input and adjusts and corrects the data to provide the most accurate locations, usually down to centimeter level. Our networks use the Trimble PIVOT VRS Platform. The generated data is sent from the GPS receiver to the GPS reference network through a wireless connection using the Networked Transport of RTCM via Internet Protocol (NTRIP).

Final Agency Bill charges for FY2019

By July 3, 2019 your Agency Bill will be processed for the June 2019 charges.  There will be an additional invoice amount added to June charges that will be processed by July 12, 2019 to invoice for Period 13 on Application Maintenance and miscellaneous billing adjustments. Please make sure you send any credit requests or adjustments for services billed through period 12 needing to be made to your Agency Bill to dtsbilling@utah.gov by July 9, 2019.

Final Weekly Direct Purchases for FY2019

We will process Weekly Direct Purchases until July 15, 2019. Please make sure DTS has received ALL FY19 invoices by July 5, 2019 to give us enough time to process invoices for our final weekly billing. Invoices received by the July 5th deadline with an approved Purchase Order will be guaranteed to process in time for the final FY19 Direct Purchase billing. Starting July 15th, ALL invoices will be processed in FY20 and it will be the Agency’s responsibility to accrue the expenses in the correct Fiscal Year. Invoices can be emailed to dtsaccountspayable@utah.gov.

Telecomm

The telephone inventory report was sent to your department on May 17, 2019.  Please take the time to review your list. As previously communicated, any changes that needed to be reflected for FY2019 should be submitted by June 3, 2019 in order to provide adequate time to complete by June 30^th. Changes that need to be reflected in FY2020 should be submitted by July 5, 2019. When submitting the order, please reference on the order if the changes need to be reflected in FY2019 or FY2020.

ELCID Table Update

If you have any changes, concerns, or new ELCIDs that you want to add to your existing information, please contact the FINET Helpdesk with those questions.  FINET will have the ELCID table closed to changes until July 1st, so you may need to contact Finance on changes as FY2019 year-end close approaches.  Please notify DTS Billing of any changes to ELCIDs made in FINET so that you can be sure that we are billing the correct one.

The DTS Billing Department is dedicated to improving our processes in order to make your experience with us as smooth and efficient as possible. We are committed to giving you excellent customer service, so your detailed feedback is always welcome. 

In accordance with UCA 63F-1-204, each executive branch agency must submit an agency information technology plan to the chief information officer on an annual basis. The IT Plan helps DTS plan resources for the upcoming year, based on agency needs. DTS analyzes the IT Plan to determine the impact to costs, operations, and services provided. DTS also uses the IT Plan to ensure compliance with the State’s overall IT strategy and potential areas for coordination among agencies.

It is imperative the agencies provide an accurate and detailed IT Plan to DTS in order to maintain services provided. Please work with your IT Director to submit your FY2020 IT Plan by June 1.

Here is the DTS Procurement FY19 Year End Newsletter.  To ensure delivery and proper billing for FY19 products and services procured through DTS, please see the newsletter for important deadlines.

Every year, DTS selects a few groups or individuals as the recipients of the Awards for Excellence. It’s our chance to recognize the excellent efforts of DTS employees. We had some fantastic nominations this year, and we have a few winners this year. Each winner receives $500, and the overall winner will attend an award ceremony with the Governor. 

Thank you to everyone who took the time to submit a nomination. All submitters will receive a small award from Mike Hussey. 

We appreciate everything DTS employees do. Congratulations to our winners! 

We have selected the Rubrik team as the overall winner.

The team introduced to DTS hosting a new method of backing up and restoring both physical and VM (virtual machine) servers called Rubrik.

Over the last year, the team has changed the culture within DTS server operations with regards to backups and restores.  In the past, to do a full bare metal restore of a server would take many days. System administrators can now restore servers within minutes, which was never possible in the past. This has saved countless hours in time and overtime. What used to take the time of many sysadmins, can now be done by a handful of DTS employees.

The state began phasing out Tivoli over the past couple of years. Working with an external auditor, DTS estimates a cost savings for FY18 of $287,640 for the backup environment. This number does not include additional cost avoidance/savings on equipment that was not renewed in FY18. DTS has been able to pass this savings onto the State agencies by lowering the backup/storage rate.

We also select some winners for the DTS Awards for Excellence. This year, we have 3 winners.

First, is Joseph Sharp. In 2018 Joseph officially became the lead of the Shared Development Services User Experience team.

He displayed notable leadership and encouraged collaboration when he led an effort that resulted in a new level of efficiency in DTS development projects. It required engaging with various developers and testers to create a shared library of react.js tools that have automated tests running against the code so that not only could this code be utilized in multiple projects it was already tested.

He inspired a shared vision among work groups, led by example, displayed exceptional problem solving skills and continuously made efforts to improve the WordPress website development process. He championed this effort within his own team and engaged with security and hosting to streamline the development and go live process. His WordPress sites are now the standard by which DTS measures if a WordPress website can be cloud hosted.

Joseph continues to create an environment that fosters collaboration and motivates staff to make improvements. More often than not when you walk into his workspace his team is gathered around a whiteboard problem solving and learning together. In addition, he created a website that allows all of DTS – Shared Development Services to share in his react library, knowledge and lessons learned.

Next, we have selected the Unemployment Benefit System team at Workforce Services.

2018 marked a significant technological milestone as the team completed a significant IT modernization of the Unemployment Benefits System or “CUBS”.

In 2012, DWS was notified their current software product was end-of-life and the new product would take their annual maintenance from $147,000 to $738,000. DTS responded by offering to build a new web-based solution utilizing open source .NET technology incurring $0 in annual licensing costs, saving DWS more than $7 million over 10 years. This new solution would modernize CUBS into a fast, efficient and more easily maintainable solution.

DTS development staff utilized an innovative, agile approach implementing modular application deployments, all while simultaneously maintaining the legacy system without any disruption to normal business activities. In fact, all of this was accomplished as the Unemployment Insurance Division received national accolades for leading the nation in quality and efficiencies every year from 2012 to the present.

83% of all initial claims and 99.5% of all weekly claims are now filed online without any worker interaction; accounting errors have been reduced; case management has been simplified; automated eligibility decisions with less errors has been seen; technological advancements in fraud detection and prevention have been realized; and a new public facing website was launched.

DTS delivered the finished product for just 25% of comparable RFP’s in other states undergoing similar modernization efforts. This was truly a big win for DTS, DWS and the State of Utah.

And finally, we have selected the Temporary Medicaid Benefit team at Health.

This highly dedicated group of DTS employees worked tirelessly to create a way for hospitals and clinics to determine temporary Medicaid benefits for the patients they serve.  This Presumptive Eligibility Portal (PEP) allows designated hospital and clinics to make an eligibility decision, help to fill out a full Medicaid application, and pass that information electronically to the Department of Workforce Services.  The portal asks questions in an easy to understand dynamic format that populates the needed forms in the background.

The result is a faster and more efficient way to help vulnerable populations gain access to needed healthcare in these settings.  The system has proven to eliminate some common mistakes made previously and added some logic to simplify the process.

From the earliest “napkin” project drawing, the team found creative solutions to allow multiple types of entities to use the portal in their various roles to issue the temporary Medicaid benefits.  Providers have embraced this new technology, the quality of the decisions has increased, and we are better able to track the overall program metrics.

We are already thinking of new and innovative ways to make future enhancement we were previously unable to do, like issue a “real time” benefit, provide a medical card, and even directly input all of the information to the eligibility system.

The Project Team demonstrated outstanding public service and went above and beyond to produce a working portal within a tight budget and timeframe.  They successfully created something new from the simple idea to automate the existing process into a better way to serve our providers and their patients.

Voting is now open for the 2019 StateScoop 50 Awards. The annual StateScoop 50 Awards honor the best and the brightest who make state government more efficient and effective. These awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of state leaders and acknowledge their tireless efforts to make a positive impact in the government IT community and in public service.

DTS continually strives to improve processes and support our customers in the highest manner possible which often includes changes. We are pleased to announce that Amie Hughes is now the IT Director assigned to the Capitol Preservation Board, and Scott Wolford is the IT Director assigned to the Utah Office of Tourism. Both Scott and Amie are committed to forging strategic partnerships all while making IT as efficient as possible by understanding the different agencies’ needs and bringing technology as an effective resource.

Google has announced that it is replacing the old Classic Hangouts with a new Google Hangouts Chat. Classic Hangouts will no longer be available in October 2019.

The new Chat is now available in your Google Apps button.

Individual direct messages sent from Classic Hangouts or Hangouts Chat can be viewed and replied to in the other app.

Please note: Group conversations in Classic Hangouts or Hangouts Chat can’t be viewed or replied to in the other app. Group messages are separate between the two apps. You should recreate any group conversations you want to continue in the new Hangouts Chat.

Please contact the DTS Help Desk if you have any questions or need assistance transitioning to the new Hangouts Chat. DTS contact information can be found at dts.utah.gov by clicking the Get Help link.

The eighth annual Maps on the Hill (MOTH) event, hosted by the Utah Geographic Information Council (UGIC) and AGRC, was held on March 7, 2019, at the Utah State Capitol to showcase the work of the local GIS community and build awareness of GIS-related issues in Utah. The MOTH event consists of GIS professionals creating maps and presentations to tell a story using GIS. Participants set up easels, large maps, and monitors in the capitol rotunda to inform viewers about the participants’ chosen subject matter.

As one participant commented, the MOTH event “highlights the diversity of how GIS and cartography are used in Utah.” This was evident, as the event featured 34 unique map submissions from a variety of local organizations, including Salt Lake County, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Utah Division of Emergency Management, and others. The maps’ subject matter was as diverse as the range of presenters, featuring information on the Transcontinental Railroad, flood risk in Utah, Lake Bonneville, Utah’s homeless population, and many other subjects.

With the diversity of subjects and presenters, the MOTH event also shows the unique skill and craft involved in telling a story using GIS tools. As another presenter stated, “Everyone thinks they can take photos and use maps now with their phones, this highlights the skill it takes to make maps and collect data to be used in maps. It’s not as simple as most think.” The presenters were all well aware of this challenge, and their efforts were recognized with “Best Map” awards. The winning maps were the Utah Geological Survey in first place; Salt Lake City Public Utilities in second; and the Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil, Gas and Mining, in third.

The awards are a great way to call attention to particularly effective map presentations, but it’s equally important to draw attention to the GIS field, in general, through this event. Presenters participated for multiple reasons, such as “because it’s important to be a part of the Utah GIS community,” and because “we felt it was important to have a presence so others could learn what we do, and vice-versa.”

The 2019 MOTH event was a success, and thanks to constructive feedback from the MOTH presenters, we’re hoping to make the event even more successful next year. Thanks to all the presenters and attendees of the event.

To see the map book calendar and photos of the event, visit the AGRC MOTH page.

Bike Utah is looking for the help of GIS experts throughout the state to track all family-friendly bike paths, lanes, and trails completed since May 2017 as part of the 1,000 Miles Campaign.

About the 1,000 Miles Campaign

The 1,000 Miles Campaign is part of Governor Herbert’s Life Elevated 2020 plan and aims to “develop 1,000 miles of family-friendly trails and bike paths over the next 10 years in order to provide and promote active connections to school, work, and outdoor recreation in urban and rural communities throughout the state.” Bike Utah is honored to be the nonprofit partner designated to carry out the implementation of the campaign.

Read more here. 

TURN GPS provides real-time high precision centimeter positioning. As some reference stations within the network move slightly over time due to earth’s crustal displacement, the stations’ positions must be updated periodically to maintain accuracy.

Accordingly, the coordinates of 14 GPS stations will be updated on April 1, 2019, because their positions have exceeded the 2.5 cm variance limit. The new positions were determined by collecting 24 hours of raw GPS data from January 1, 2019, to January 2, 2019, and the data was processed using OPUS Projects holding 21 published CORS constrained.

See more here. 

We recently made changes to the procurement process for Microsoft and Adobe products (MLA software). 

Additional required fields have been added to the MLA software requests to ensure that the software is getting to the right user on the right machine in a timely manner. Providing correct information when placing orders is imperative to ensure that software isn’t installed incorrectly, to avoid any delays in getting the software, and to ensure correct tracking/allocation of software.

Please see the following for further information and instructions:

Verizon private network service provides for access to the State network via the Verizon cellular network. Users with Verizon air cards are connected by Verizon directly to the Verizon services router on the State network and have access to the internet and web-based services. Agencies can also request firewall rules to allow additional access to internal State resources. All traffic is encrypted between the air card and the Verizon services router. There is no additional charge for Verizon private network service beyond the cost of cellular service.

You can see more here. 

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

The 8th Annual Maps on the Hill event, supported by the Utah Geographic Information Council (UGIC) and AGRC, will be held on March 7, 2019 from 9:00 am to noon (setup begins at 8:00 am). This event is an excellent opportunity for students and professionals to share maps, mapping tools, and mapping projects with elected officials, fellow practitioners, and the public.

Who should participate: Individuals: Anybody who makes a map through their work or education.
Organizations: An organization that has worked on multiple mapping projects.

Display Types: You can present hardcopy maps, interactive digital maps (you’ll need to provide a means to show it on a computer or monitor), or both. UGIC can provide electrical outlets (extension cords), tables, and easels, although bringing your own easel is encouraged, if possible. You can request these items on the registration form. We can direct you to an inexpensive resource for printing and mounting your map on a foamboard if you don’t have the tools to do it yourself.

The focus of the event is interesting maps or map technology projects that are applicable to a wide audience. While displays can be on any appropriate topic, presentations that may be of interest to decision makers are strongly encouraged. Marketing of specific products and services is discouraged.

Questions? Contact UGIC info@ugic.org.

The new 2018 high-resolution Google imagery (6” pixels) is available through AGRC’s Discover server¹! Updated areas (map below) include what Google calls the “Salt Lake and Logan blocks,” which make up most of the Wasatch Front urban area (i.e., Brigham City, Weber County, Davis County, Salt Lake County, and Utah County). The Salt Lake block was flown 9/11/2018 and the Logan block was flown 9/15/2018. Read more here. 

In an effort to ultimately consolidate and organize as much State GIS data as possible, AGRC has been gathering information about SGID data layers managed by AGRC, and we are now reaching out to state agencies to collaborate about agency-specific data layers. Read on to get the full scoop on this effort. Read more here. 

A travel shed is the set of all the destinations that can be reached from a location within a specified time budget. Travel sheds are valuable both for visualizing and analyzing residents’ access to key services, but also for defining service areas for businesses and other service provider locations, such as schools, transit stations, hospitals, and fire stations.

Geographic information systems (GIS) software can compute and display travel sheds using a set of techniques called network analysis. We’re all somewhat familiar with the power of network analysis as, behind the scenes, it’s what makes the basic navigation apps on our phones work. And, of course, network analysis algorithms are completely dependent on having high-quality GIS data, which forms a digital model of the real world travel “network.”

Read more here…

Check out the DTS Procurement Newsletter December 2018  for general information on procurement and telecom orders. 

DTS has added two new product descriptions, which are services currently being offered to customer agencies. 

Enterprise Monitoring

Enterprise monitoring is an application used to verify that hardware devices (e.g., servers switches, netops, UPS, etc.) and software products, applications, and services provided by the State of Utah are working correctly and are available. It is also used to gather information about the above items for the purpose of reporting statistics and providing context for troubleshooting.

Enterprise Backups

Enterprise Backups is a system that backs up virtual servers in the VMware environment and/or physical servers using an agent. Whole servers can be recovered using the VMware snapshot backups, or individual files and folders can be restored. A copy of each backup is sent to on-site cloud storage, and files older than thirty days are on cloud storage only.

We have updated the DTS Products/Services and Exceptions list. The list shows items that agencies must purchase through DTS, and items that do not need DTS approval for purchase. 

DTS is participating in a State Teleworking Initiative, which is meant to reduce facility costs, increase employee retention, improve air quality, and provide additional work opportunities in rural Utah. A pilot project is currently underway at the Capitol State Office Building. You can see more info here.

State of Utah Teleworking Initiative

In addition DTS has developed a Digital Workplace and Mobility Reference Guide. See it here. Historically, the traditional office work environment has been device and/or location centric in its implementation. With the onset of virtualization and cloud technologies, however, the traditional office workspace is undergoing a paradigm shift from a location-centric computing model to a user-centric computing model. The State of Utah is in the front line of this shift, and at the Department of Technology Services (DTS) we are exploring digital workplace solutions in order to assist State agencies that want to make this transition.

This guide first explores the current workspace environment and then discusses the three digital workplace options under consideration by the State: work from home, mobile work, and free address/hotelling. This document also lists several tools, including communication/collaboration tools like Gmail, file-sharing tools like Google Drive, and screen sharing tools like Bomgar, that agencies can use to ensure a smooth transition to digital workplaces and make the most of those alternatives once a transition is made.

In addition to presenting various tools for agencies, this document also provides the Department’s response to questions that agencies may have as they learn about digital workplaces. Several areas of potential concern are addressed, including questions about security, phones, and computer issues. Overall, this document is meant to provide a high-level summary of the topic of digital workplace solutions for State of Utah executive branch agencies. Additional, more detailed, information will be provided as needed.

The 2018 DTS Annual Report is now available here. The report highlights a few major accomplishments from 2018, a few initiatives for 2019, Emerging Issues, and Awards. 

On November 7, 2018 at 10:00am, DTS is changing the Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) provider.  This could impact your Android device that is state-owned, or personally-owned that connects to state systems. Prior to the change we recommend that you backup your android device and once the backup is complete, verify that it contains all your needed data.

The newer the version of the Android Operating System (OS), the less likely there will be any noticeable impact. Android devices on Motorola and Samsung with the newest Android operating system (OS), which currently includes versions 9.0 to 7.0, are unlikely to see any impact. Devices with Android OS version 6.0 or less will be more likely to be impacted.

There are four scenarios that could possibly occur when the change is made, depending upon the version and flavor of the Android OS on your device:

1. Nothing will happen to the device.
1. This is the most likely result with the current or newer OS’s.
2. Nothing will happen until the device is rebooted.
1. Upon reboot, a work profile folder will be created on the device. The work profile separates work data and applications from personal data and applications.
3. A work profile will be created on the device.
1. The work profile separates work data and applications from personal data and applications.
4. The device will factory reset followed with the creation of a work profile.
1. This is more likely with the older OS’s.
2. Unless backed up, data and applications may be lost.
3. The device will need to be re-enrolled into AirWatch. The steps for enrolling a device can be found at https://dts.utah.gov/mdm-mobile-device-management and clicking Android Device.
4. The entire device will become a work managed device, meaning there will be no separation between work and personal data and applications.

There are options for lessening the impact to devices with an older and unsupported Android OS. They are:

• Upgrade the device (Strongly recommended).
• This keeps the device at the latest supported OS, which also gets the latest security updates.
• You or your agency have responsibility for upgrading the device.
• Backup the device (Strongly recommended).
• You have responsibility for backing up the device.
• See attachment for general guidelines for Android device backup. Please refer to your Android manufacturer’s support site for more specific instructions.
• If employee owned, remove the Airwatch agent from the device.  
• This should only be done if you do not want to upgrade your personal device to a supported OS.
• This would avoid the possible impact. However, the potential impact becomes a possibility again if the agent is re-installed.
• The device will be unable to access state resources, such as UWDN.
• If assistance is needed in removing the Airwatch agent from the device, please contact the DTS customer support help desk (see below).

This change is not expected to affect iOS devices (iPhones or iPads).

Please contact the DTS Help Desk if you have any questions or need assistance. DTS contact information can be found at https://dts.utah.gov by clicking the Get Help link.

DTS stepped up efforts on Election Day last week. Hosting, security, network, and development teams worked late into the night to ensure the State’s Elections systems were up and running with no issues. 

This is the first year we had the opportunity to utilize the new Utah Cyber Center. The Cyber Center is a central location for DTS, Public Safety, Attorney General’s office, and other government employees to share intelligence and tactics, and respond to events in a more coordinated fashion. We were able to monitor Elections systems statewide and ensure and threats were thwarted before becoming an issue. 

Here is some of the media coverage we had from the Cyber Center on Election Night:

GovTech

Deseret News

Fox 13

ABC4

Great job DTS team! 

AGRC has awarded Aero-Graphics, Inc. (AGI) to acquire 10,450 square miles of LiDAR Elevation data. The LiDAR will be a combination of USGS Quality Level 1 (QL1), 8 points per square meter and Quality Level 2 (QL2), 2 points per square meter depending on the area. The acquisitions have begun and will continue throughout the year. The acquisitions will be completed in 2018 and project deliverables are scheduled to be completed by June 30, 2019.

Keep Reading

As the State of Utah moves closer to NG911, GIS data providers will soon be required to adhere to national standards set forth by the NENA and the UCA 911 Division (section 6 of ref 1). It can be daunting navigating these standards and best practice documents, so the intent of this article is to demystify the relevant information and lay out a road map of where we are going.

Keep Reading

DTS has recently updated the FY19 and FY20 rates. You can see them here. 

The DTS Rate Committee met in September to approve updated rates for FY19, and proposed rates for FY20. The new rates will now be approved by the Governor’s Office and Management and Budget, and ultimately approved the Utah Legislature during the next Session in March. 

Utah Code 63F-2 established the Data Security Management Council in the 2015 general session. Utah Code 63F-2-103 explicitly requires the council chair to prepare an annual report that addresses:

• a summary of topics the council studied during the year
• best practice recommendations for state government
• recommendations for implementing the council’s best practice recommendations

You can view the full report here.

DTS has recently published the FY2018 Financial Statements. You can see them here. 

We have posted a new page with a list of current Goals and Projects. Here you will find a prioritized list of the technology innovations, goals, and directions DTS is currently working on to help State of Utah agencies achieve their business objectives.

Goals and Projects

The FY2020 DTS Rate Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept 11, at 1:00 p.m. in Capitol room 250. We will be discussing rate changes for the upcoming year. You can see more info here. 

In accordance with UCA 63F-4, the Department of Technology Services has been accepting proposals to implement a new information technology innovation designed to result in a greater efficiency in a government process or a cost saving in the delivery of a government service. Proposals must be for a new technology not previously in use or a substantial adaptation or modification of an existing technology.

DTS has $150,000 available in Fiscal Year 2019 for innovation projects. Two projects were recently approved for funding by the Technology Advisory Board:

• Empirix “Hammer” IVR Testing Application DTS Voice operations would use this application to script out all of the testing that agencies must do in preparation for our yearly Genesys upgrades. This application has the capacity to interact with an IVR as well as ensure it is receiving appropriate feedback from the IVR. We would use this to automate our annual testing that agencies perform to reduce the one month testing period performed by the agencies themselves to potentially a single week.
• Voice Enabled State Services  Use voice-enabled digital assistants to make voting information more accessible to Utah citizens and, ultimately, increase engagement in the voting and political process. Official voting information is currently available to Utah citizens through the vote.utah.gov website. We propose that this information be made available through Amazon Alexa devices and Google Assistant devices. The new voice-enabled digital assistants would provide a voice-based user interface design and natural language processing, along with machine learning and artificial intelligence cloud services. The voice assistants could answer simple questions, as well as provide resources to answer more complex questions, more effectively and efficiently than users looking up information on their own. This would also help other agencies save time since they’d, hopefully, be fielding fewer calls about voting questions.

DTS will begin working on these projects. We are excited to see efficiencies from these innovative ideas.

There is still approximately $20,000 available for additional projects in FY19. See more information here. 

In accordance with UCA 63F-1-204, each executive branch agency must submit an agency information technology plan to the chief information officer on an annual basis. The IT Plan helps DTS plan resources for the upcoming year, based on agency needs. DTS analyzes the IT Plan to determine the impact to costs, operations, and services provided. DTS also uses the IT Plan to ensure compliance with the State’s overall IT strategy and potential areas for coordination among agencies.

You can view the final FY19 IT Plan here. Thank you for providing an accurate and detailed IT Plan to DTS. Please contact your IT Director with any questions or feedback.