IT Governance Arrangement

Federated/Hybrid

Central IT Office

Agency for Enterprise Information Technology (AEIT)
The Agency for Enterprise Information Technology was created within the Executive Office of the Governor in July 2007 with the Governor and Cabinet intended as the head of the agency.

AEIT has the following duties and responsibilities:

• Develop and implement strategies for the design, delivery, and management of the enterprise information technology services established in law.
• Monitor the delivery and management of the enterprise information technology services as established in law.
• Make recommendations to the agency head and the legislature concerning other information technology services that should be designed, delivered, and managed at the enterprise level as defined in s. 282.0041(8).
• Plan and establish policies for managing proposed statutorily authorized enterprise information technology services, which includes developing business cases that, when applicable, include the components identified in s. 287.0574; establishing and coordinating project-management teams; establishing formal risk-assessment and mitigation processes; and providing for independent monitoring of projects for recommended corrective actions.
• Not earlier than July 1, 2008, define the architecture standards for enterprise information technology and develop implementation approaches for statewide migration to those standards.
• Develop and publish a strategic enterprise information technology plan that identifies and recommends strategies for how enterprise information technology will deliver effective and efficient government services to state residents and improve the operations of state agencies.

In the course of its duties, AEIT is required to ensure participation and representation of state agencies and the Agency Chief Information Officers Council established in s. 282.315.

Office of Information Security (OIS)
Part of AEIT, OIS is responsible, in consultation with each agency head, for coordinating, assessing, and recommending minimum operating procedures to ensure an adequate level of security for data and information technology resources.

State CIO

State CIO
Re-established in 2008, the State CIO reports to the Governor and the Cabinet. The State CIO also acts as the executive director for AEIT.

Roles of other agencies in state IT management

State Agencies
State agencies propose their own technology budgets to the Governor as part of their overall annual operating budgets. The bill seeking to abolish the central IT office (SB1494), which was ultimately vetoed by the Governor, would have required "each affected agency to develop an internal technology control process to discipline the execution of its technology investment. The process of governance and accountability applies to agency technology activities and is based upon increasing state budgetary investment. This bill provides legislative intent of the importance of establishing a management control process that aligns state agency information technology needs with their individual jurisdictional requirements.” Each individual agency is also responsible for procurement of its own IT. Today the state agencies continue to control their own IT management, although efforts are underway to provide more enterprise-wide standards and support.

Governor and legislature
As in most states, the Governor has the power to make budget recommendations to the legislature, but the legislature makes the funding decisions. The Florida legislature also has a Technology Review Workgroup to provide recommendations about the IT portions of agencies’ annual budgets and plans.

Coordination Mechanisms

CIO Council
The Council is structured to enhance communication among the agency CIOs by identifying and recommending efficient best practices among state agencies; it operates independently of AEIT, although the State CIO is a participating member. The Council serves as an educational forum for enterprise information technology planning and management issues and builds consensus using workgroups and committees that develop policies and resolve planning and management deficiencies. Its key principles are cooperative planning between state government entities and maximizing information sharing for the public access.

The Council includes the CIOs of all state agencies and the CIO of the State of Florida. It also includes a CIO selected from each of the legislative branches, the State University System, the Florida Community Colleges System, the Supreme Court for the judicial branch, the Public Defender’s Office, and the State Attorney’s Office.

The Council is led by a Steering Committee that is responsible for setting the meeting agenda, establishing the annual goals, listing the expected deliverables, and reporting on their outcome for the following year. The members of the committee are the CIO Council chair, vice-chair, Department of Management Services Deputy Secretary for Technology, and six members of the Council appointed by the chair.

Technology Review Workgroup
The 1997 Legislature created the Technology Review Workgroup (TRW) in s. 216.0446, F.S., to provide analysis and recommendations regarding agency funding requests for information technology projects. The TRW also provides legislative oversight of strategic information technology projects that have been specifically identified in the General Appropriations Act. The TRW reports its findings and recommendations to the Legislative Budget Commission.

The Workgroup has a dedicated staff of research, legislative, and administrative analysts, who are supervised by the staff director.

Planning Document

Agency for Enterprise Information Technology, Operational Work Plan 2008-2009
As part of its incremental approach to redeveloping a central IT organization, the Florida Legislature requires AEIT to provide an annual operational work plan. This work plan outlines the agency’s progress in meeting its goals and tasks, which are statutorily defined by the legislature. Although it does not provide guidance for statewide IT policy, it does outline the roadmap for Florida’s emerging development of enterprise IT governance strategies.