“Our strategic plan provides clear direction for enhancing the state’s business processes with technology to best serve the citizens of Hawaii ... We will continually refresh it as we move forward to account for lessons learned and changes in technology.”
– Douglas Murdock, Chief Information Officer, State of Hawaii
It is now law for the State of Hawaii to maintain a current IT Strategic Plan.
Thanks in large part to the advocacy and support of the THG coalition, HB531 HD1 SD1 was passed by the Legislature in May and has since been enacted into law (Act 238, SLH 2019) with the governor’s signature on July 2. Link to Act 238 here.
“This important bill recognizes that our state must keep pace with ever-evolving technology to have an active role in shaping the future of government services and data in Hawaii,” commented THG Executive Director Christine Sakuda in the state’s news release. “We applaud Gov. Ige for signing HB531 and reaffirming his prioritization of an ‘effective, efficient and open government.’ ”
Legislators wisely require the state’s IT Strategic Plan to be refreshed every midterm to promote continuity of services, regardless of transitions from one governor’s administration to another, to ensure leaders and state employees have the modern resources necessary to do their jobs in service to our communities.
Act 238 requires the state chief information officer (CIO) to update the state’s IT Strategic Plan every four years, with the first update to be completed in advance of the 2021 regular legislative session. In passing the bill, the Legislature found that periodic updates to the plan are vital both to stay current with constantly evolving technology and to fully maximize available modern resources for increased effectiveness, efficiency, and transparency in state government.
The Legislature also found that regularly updating the plan will promote continuity of services irrespective of the state’s governing administration.
In the plan, IT Strategic Priorities reflect seven key focus areas “necessary to take full advantage of the state’s investments and attain long-term success.” They are:
- Partner for Successful Outcomes — Shape the partnership between government lines of business and IT by creating a standard framework to ensure successful outcomes.
- Expand Statewide Cyber Security Strategy — Expand the statewide cyber security strategy to protect the state’s IT infrastructure and constituent data through adoption of cyber security industry best practices across the state’s IT systems.
- Enhance the Value of State Data — Maximize the value of state data by designing, implementing and governing state systems for data stewardship, sharing, and public use.
- Optimize Enterprise Systems — Optimize ETS enterprise systems to leverage the state’s investment in centralized IT services.
- Extend IT Portfolio Governance — Extend the state IT Governance Model to better align the state’s functions with resources and ensure the state follows industry best practices and garners the full benefits of its investments.
- Implement Dynamic and Sustainable IT Operations — Implement dynamic and sustainable IT operations to ensure business systems are up-to-date and ready to support the current and future needs of business users and citizens at all times.
- Digital Workforce Development — Establish a continuous learning culture and growth mindset to modernize how we work and enable the state to develop and sustain the digital workforce needed in a constantly evolving IT world.
Read more about these seven focus areas beginning on Page 3 of the plan.
