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 Phase 5 Modernization
As 2024 winds down, it continues to ramp up at ITS, especially as we prepare to welcome two new agencies as part of Phase 5 Modernization in 2025. Our teams are actively working with the folks at both Juvenile Corrections and Idaho State Police to complete discovery activities, understand technical requirements and needs, and prepare for onboarding upwards of 25 new employees next June. With the completion of Phase 4, we are working to build upon those successes and explore opportunities to improve processes as we move forward.
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Digital Government Summit
In September, Idaho hosted its second Digital Government Summit. With 262 attendees representing cities, counties, and statewide agencies and offices, feedback has been tremendously positive. That number represents a large jump in attendance from 212 in 2023.
The event fosters communication about cybersecurity, digital identity, AI, government collaboration, and other topics with colleagues, leaders, and vendor partners statewide.
State agencies represented Idaho as part of various panel discussions, and I want to thank everyone who participated.
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Cybersecurity Outreach
Recently, I participated in the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce The Metro Minute virtual series. It was a 30-minute conversation about cybersecurity and what is being done to safeguard the state’s digital landscape. Topics included emerging threats and collaborative efforts to educate Idahoans across the business and government realm. While the topic of cybersecurity is everywhere, it’s more critical than ever that education and awareness are at the forefront of everything we do.
As always, if you have questions about cybersecurity or any of the other initiatives ITS is leading, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me directly.
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Citizen Engagement
In addition to multiple communications projects internally, we are assisting several agencies with updating and redesigning their websites as part of the citizen engagement experience. The following agencies have reached out to us to us for guidance and support:
- Division of Human Resources
- Department of Administration
- Office of Group Insurance
Recently, ITS supported the development of the new State Public Defender and Office of Group Insurance websites. The goal of each projects is to provide a streamlined customer-centric experience. It also helps agencies avoid the typical pitfalls of state sites that turn into file repositories that aren’t relevant or helpful for the public.
Our team will also update the Training, Idaho Technology Authority, and Intranet Resource sites as part of this effort.
State Web Templates for WordPress
ITS has developed new state web templates for agencies that incorporate Americans with Disabilities Accessibility Act (ADA) features and other brand enhancements. We are excited to roll them out, and they are being incorporated into new websites already, including the Office of Group Insurance (OGI), which recently launched their revamped site.
ITS will host a brief, internal and external Teams learning session about the templates, including their use and where to access them. This session will be recorded and be open to customers that would like to participate. More information will be shared with your agency IT liaisons about this opportunity.
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Canva Update
It has been several months since ITS provided an update on the use and access of Canva. Canva is an online graphic design tool for users to create visual content. ITS disabled access to the application for state users due to a security risk involving how the company uses personal information.
Since that time, ITS has identified a couple options for users moving forward:
- Canva enterprise licenses
- Adobe Express
ITS will reach out to agency IT liaisons in the next few days with a brief survey to gauge interest in Canva and Adobe Express. Thank you for your patience as we have worked to offer a secure, cost-effective solution for our customers.
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Election Day Support
Power outages, cyber threats, protests, bad weather, and other events at polling stations could potentially disrupt the ability of citizens to safely participate in the Nov. 5th general election.
Under leadership provided by the Secretary of State’s office, local, state, and federal agencies have teamed up to support the response of potential disrupting incidents.
We are proud that multiple ITS teams have been participating in those efforts. Lessons learned during the primary election earlier this year are now being implemented to get ready for November.
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IDWR Partnership with AppDev Team
The ITS Application Development team worked closely with the Idaho Department of Water Resources (IDWR) to unveil a multi-faceted, online tool that is saving hundreds of hours every year for both well drillers submitting construction applications, and IDWR staff that reviews them.
The application collects information on the proposed well, including exact coordinates taken from a GIS-powered map where the user selects the drilling location with a click or tap on the map.
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ITS Leads Crucial Upgrades in ISLD Handheld Project
In the ever-evolving landscape of Idaho's IT modernization, each phase sees the integration of new technologies, people, and practices. For the Application Development team, this means managing applications from a diverse mix of programming languages, versions, and architectures, each developed with unique coding styles and practices.
This often results in custom applications arriving in various stages of completion such as Idaho State Liquor Division's (ISLD) new handheld project. These handheld devices are essential for inventory management across state liquor stores, forming a crucial part of ISLD's enterprise resource planning infrastructure.
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Traffic Management Partnership
During every phase of IT Modernization, ITS picks up a whole new set of adventures and challenges. The Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) has been a great partner through modernization, and one of the more complex challenges that came over with ITD was the implementation of vendor Parson’s iNET system (Intelligent Networks, Smart Mobility Platform).
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Cybersecurity Focus of the Month: Situational Awareness
Situational Awareness (SA) is a concept of understanding current trends, events, and results. SA is critical for leadership to make timely and accurate decisions. On Nov. 5th, ITS joined a team of federal and state agencies to enhance the Idaho Secretary of State’s (SOS) SA for the 2024 election. ITS enhanced the SOS SA through statewide network status updates and monitoring cyber threats. Additionally, ITS gathered real-time nation-state cyber threat tactics and techniques which is being used to enhance Idaho’s security posture.
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Cybersecurity Statistics of the Month:
Cyber crime in Idaho
The Gem State is constantly ranked near the top of many popular polls and lists, but the FBI Cybercrime Annual Report is a good list not to be in the top 10.
On the overall ranking of losses per state, Idaho ranked 34 with a total loss of $50,631,580. California took the number one with a total of $2,159,454,513.
Nebraska with the closest population is 40th with a total loss of $40,581,244 and Utah is 23rd with a total loss of $132,257,035.
In the category of “Complaints per Capita” Idaho ranked 41st with 114 complaints per capita. The District of Columbia was number one with 555. The FBI defines complaints as an individual filing a complaint. In some cases, an individual may file multiple complaints.
While it is good to see we don’t have the same problems that other states have, seeing the astounding amount of money that was scammed from Idahoans is staggering. This is the motivation for ITS and our partners to practice the principles of Situational Awareness.
For more information, please see: https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/CRR_Resource_Guide-SA_0.pdf
Cybersecurity Shoutout of the Month: Idaho State Historical Society
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The Cybersecurity team would like to thank the Idaho State Historical Society (ISHS) for inviting us to speak at their yearly all-staff meeting in October.
Brian Reed and Sam Montiel presented a slide show “Don’t Be a Cyber Meme” that was created by Jerred Edgar. The presentation was followed by a lively question and answer session where staff were able to ask ITS about work and personal cybersecurity concerns.
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ITS Accounts Receivable
ITS has had some challenges with collecting intercompany balances due from customers. We have significant accounts receivable balances owed to ITS from other state agencies. This is the sole source of cash that funds operations. Our goal is to assist agencies in addressing these past due balances which in turn allows ITS to pay suppliers.
Please reach out to the ITS Financial Services team (itsfinancialservices@its.idaho.gov) so we may assist you with any questions regarding Intercompany Billing. The following are some links to SCO Luma Intercompany Billing knowledgebase articles and quick reference guides (QRGs) that you may find useful.
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Did you miss a previous edition? Check out the archive for all previous ITS newsletters.
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