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ITS Quarterly Newsletter - Nov. 2025
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 This fall has been a whirlwind of activity around ITS. Beyond the workload and continuous deliverables, we also moved into a new building on the Chinden Campus. Additionally, how is it possible that Thanksgiving is next week?! I am so thankful to all our customers and partners at Idaho agencies that we have an opportunity to serve every day.
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AI Rollout and Coverage
AI continues to garner attention and interest across Idaho. I don’t anticipate this momentum slowing down. Recently, ITS and its AI efforts were featured on KTVB and the coverage was positive.
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Digital Summit
I want to thank each of you that attended the Digital Government Summit. ITS hosted this summit in conjunction with our partners at e-Republic/Gov Tech.
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Cybersecurity Awareness Month
Idaho Governor Brad Little proclaimed October Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
Idaho state employees, as well as our partners from cities, counties, federal, and the private sector, work hard every day to protect Idahoans from the constant attempts from malicious actors trying to exploit us for financial gain or disrupt our lives.
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ITS New Home
After months of planning and anticipation, ITS employees officially moved into our new home in Building 4 on the State of Idaho Chinden Campus and we couldn’t be more excited.
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Privacy and Accessibility in Idaho
Recently, Gov Tech profiled Idaho and its accessibility and privacy efforts at ITS.
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Supporting ISP’s New CAD/RMS Launch
Idaho State Police (ISP) is preparing for one of the most significant technology upgrades in its history: the launch of a new Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) and Records Management System (RMS), provided by Tyler Technologies.
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UEM Team Highlights
The Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) team has made significant strides in modernizing the state’s IT infrastructure, with a sharp increase in Windows 11 deployments. As of April 11th, the team successfully transitioned 5,097 devices to Windows 11. Just six months later, that number has nearly doubled, reaching 10,025 devices as of October 14th.
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Rocky Mountain Laserfiche Users Group
The Idaho Laserfiche User Group began in 2013. The goal being to bring Idaho Laserfiche Users together to share ideas and best practices, as well as to encourage and establish a network of supportive Laserfiche afficionados across the state.
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AppDev AI Lunch & Learn Series
The ITS Application Development team has kicked off a new AI Lunch & Learn series. Coordinated by AppDev Manager, Tom Brown, the series is designed to help staff explore AI thoughtfully balancing excitement about new tools with the practical realities of governance, security, and long-term maintainability.
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ITS successfully launched the new Tax Commission website: myschoolchoice.idaho.gov in early October. The site was designed and built internally by Makena Herb and Kristin Bartz on behalf of the Governor’s Office, Division of Financial Management and the Tax Commission.
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Datacenter Upgrades
In my nearly 20 years of service with the State of Idaho, I have never witnessed a project so well managed, planned and executed as the UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) replacement project.
With planning starting in 2023, the initial approach to this work was to completely shut down the datacenter for an entire long weekend.
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(L-R): Sean Parrish, Ron Stewart, David Christensen, Cheryl Dearborn, Michelle Santurro, Marcus Gee, Michelle Cobler
VoIP Team Completes Several Projects
Recently our VoIP team completed several project missions to modernize telephone services that have resulted in significant technology improvements and cost savings. The most recent migrations were for the Idaho Youth Challenge Academy (IDYCA) facility in Pierce, Idaho and the Department of Lands to all offices statewide.
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Opportunities & Initiatives
As Idaho prepares for potential budget shortfalls, achieving state objectives will require a strategic blend of collaboration, creative thinking, and targeted cost reductions. By working across agencies and with local partners, reimagining how services are delivered, and focusing cuts on low-impact areas, the state can continue to drive progress.
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Quick Thinking Restores Critical Link at IDJC
A sudden and unexpected network outage at the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections (IDJC) headquarters last month could have brought critical operations to a standstill for weeks. Instead, thanks to the swift action and creative problem-solving of the Network Operations team, full connectivity was restored in just one business day.
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ITS Supports 2025 Election Security
On Election Day, ITS played a critical role in safeguarding the integrity of the state’s electoral process by participating in the Idaho Secretary of State’s Election Security Group (ESG). ITS provided advanced monitoring tools and cybersecurity services to support secure and uninterrupted elections across the state.
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