2016 Techwire Year in Review, Part 1

What will this year be remembered for? When the dust settles, 2016 could be a tipping point for innovation in California government, as new ideas, new leaders and new approaches began to make their imprint on the state’s technology landscape. Here’s a chronological review of the year’s biggest headlines from January, February and March that could have an impact in the future.

January

Online Features Should Streamline Hiring for State Jobs

The California Department of Human Resources launches the first public-facing components of the Examination and Certification Online System, a multiphase project that’s eliminating back-end legacy systems and moving the state to an automated, modern architecture that offers improved online functionality to the public and internal users.

California Starts Planning for Health Benefit Exchange System Rebid

California begins to plan for the reprocurement of CalHEERS as day-to-day management of the system moves to the Office of Systems Integration. The multifaceted California Healthcare Eligibility, Enrollment and Retention System (CalHEERS) project includes the public-facing Covered California Web portal that allows state residents to shop for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. From the project’s inception through June 2017, the state estimates it will spend a total of $864 million on CalHEERS for development and implementation, and maintenance and operation.

Lawmakers Join State Tech Caucus

The state Legislature’s Technology and Innovation Caucus introduces two dozen members. Many members of the bipartisan, bicameral caucus spoke of their wishes to see greater hands-on computer science and technology courses for students, which they said could ultimately lead to opportunities for high-paying jobs.

February

California Department of Technology Vows Cybersecurity Changes

The California Department of Technology acknowledges the state’s cybersecurity has fallen short and vowed to work with lawmakers to make needed changes. During a joint legislative hearing at the Capitol six months after the state auditor released a scathing report of California’s cybersecurity readiness, state officials testified that the department had either partially completed or completed all the auditor’s recommendations. Gov. Jerry Brown requested $1.6 million in
his state budget for the department to conduct more frequent risk-based audits and hire 11 new positions.

California Ranked No. 2 Among States for IT Procurement

State rankings compiled from a yearlong survey and assessment by the Governing Institute place California among the top states for IT procurement, trailing only Virginia. Massachusetts, Minnesota and Georgia round out the top five.

Augmented Reality Coming Soon to California Government

Augmented reality will soon transform how constituents interact with their government and how California’s public-sector workforce does its job, says a leading expert on smart cities. Gregory Curtin, founder and CEO of Civic Resource Group, says during remarks at a conference in Sacramento that augmented reality software and devices are on the market now in products like HoloLens and Magic Leap, and there are already “profound” use cases for the technology in the public sector.

March

California CIO and CISO Leave Positions

Carlos Ramos steps down from his role as state chief information officer and director of the Department of Technology, positions he’s held since June 2011. Under Ramos’ leadership, the department launched its own private cloud in 2014 and created a new IT project approval process and Project Management Office in 2015. He also led the state’s technology organization through the governor’s 2013 Reorganization Plan, in which the California Technology Agency became the California Department of Technology and launched a new Statewide Technology Procurement Division.

Michele Robinson, California’s chief information security officer, also announces she is no longer serving in the position. Robinson served as the state’s top IT security official since 2013, directing the Office of Information Security within the Department of Technology. The move comes two weeks after an oversight hearing where Robinson faced pointed questions from California lawmakers about a scathing 2015 audit that questioned the state government’s cybersecurity readiness.

California Is Considering Agile Approaches for State Payroll System, Controller Says

The State Controller’s Office says it will consider using agile methodologies if it restarts work on a new state payroll system. Chris Maio, chief of information systems in the State Controller Office’s Personnel and Payroll Services Division, says the payroll system project will go through the Department of Technology’s new project approval life cycle process introduced last year. While the state’s current payroll system is old, the agency is using manual workarounds to accommodate newer workloads.

Security Operations Center to Monitor DMV IT Systems

The California Department of Motor Vehicles builds an in-house Security Operations Center to detect and thwart cyberattacks directed to its network and information systems, an acknowledgment that the DMV’s data is a prime target for hackers. The Security Operations Center became operational in 2016.