IT Governance Arrangement

Federated/hybrid

Central IT Office

Commonwealth Office of Technology
The Commonwealth Office of Technology (COT) is based in the Finance and Administration Cabinet. Under the 2005 Reorganization Executive Order, all IT personnel and organizations were aligned to report to the executive director of COT. All IT contracts and purchases were transferred to COT and are subject to COT review and approval. COT has the following general responsibilities:

• Overseeing shared IT infrastructure resources and services;
• Developing and implementing statewide IT applications;
• Establishing IT policy and standards;
• Strategic and tactical IT planning;
• Assessing, recommending and implementing IT governance and organization design; and
• Establishing partnerships and alliances for effective implementation of IT projects.

The offices under COT provide services throughout the state government and coordinate the IT work of all state agencies. COT is organized into three sub-offices:>

• Office of Infrastructure Services is responsible for day-to-day technical support and operation of executive branch IT resources, including overseeing shared IT infrastructure resources and services, such as large-scale computing, server hosting, IT security, data and voice communication networks, and phone systems.
• Office of Enterprise Policy and Project Management is responsible for long-term capital IT planning and project management of IT work within the executive branch.
• Office of Application Development is responsible for IT project management, consulting, and development for executive branch applications.

State CIO

State CIO and Commonwealth Commissioner of Technology
The State CIO is appointed by the Secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet and reports directly to the Secretary and the Governor. The State CIO also acts as the commissioner of COT. As part of his or her duties, the State CIO is responsible for ensuring that all major IT efforts are consistent with the strategic direction for IT and the Enterprise Project Management Framework. The State CIO is authorized to approve a project, recommend that remedial action be taken to ensure a project is structured for success, or may recommend that a project be deferred due to potential risks or limited availability of resources and notifies the requesting agency, the Office of the state Budget Director, and the Finance and Administration Material and Procurement Services in writing. In addition, the State CIO has final approval authority for all actions, modifications and exceptions to the state enterprise standards.

Roles of other agencies in state IT management

State Agencies
State agencies are responsible for the effective deployment and management of all IT to meet cabinet business needs and must comply with enterprise-wide IT strategies, standards, and management practices.

Participation in the IT Governance Model for the Commonwealth
Agencies create their own project proposals; however, these proposals are under the purview of the Finance and Administration Cabinet. Any IT project proposal has to be approved by the agency CIO; upon his or her approval, the proposal is forwarded to the Cabinet, where it is reviewed by the State CIO as part of an internal process. After a project is approved, the agency must submit quarterly Enterprise Project Status Reports to the State CIO.

Finance and Administration Cabinet
The Cabinet approves all IT hardware purchases above $1,000 and any software and maintenance purchases above $50,000. The Cabinet’s Office of Material and Procurement Services handles requests for procurement to determine appropriate method. COT receives and reviews agency requests internally as part of the Cabinet; requests are not submitted to them separately.

Coordination Mechanisms

Commonwealth Technology Council
The Council was formed from cabinet and agency information technology officers (ITOs) and assists the State CIO in targeting and delivering IT resources for maximum business value for the Commonwealth. It provides comments and recommendations on policy, direction, planning and legislation; works to identify opportunities and conduct joint planning for shared services implementation, sourcing, investments, and cost recovery; and provides stewardship for other state IT programs and projects. 

Enterprise Architecture and Standards Committee (EAS)
The EAS Committee is composed of multiple agency representatives who are supported in their work by several domain technical workgroups that present recommendations to the Committee for consideration. It is chaired by the State CIO, supports the enterprise perspective for governance, and defines architectural direction, maintains IT standards, recommends revisions or new standards to the State CIO, and reviews business case exceptions from agencies. The EAS supports the technology vision and principles of the Commonwealth's Strategic Information Technology Plan and promotes migration to enterprise solutions for reduced complexity and increased support.

Kentucky Wireless Interoperability Executive Committee
The Executive Committee was created to address communications interoperability, a homeland security issue that is critical to the ability of public safety first responders to communicate with each other by radio. The Executive Committee advises and makes recommendations regarding strategic wireless initiatives to achieve public safety voice and data communications interoperability.

Kentucky Geospatial Board
The Board advises the State CIO on issues relating to geographic information. It establishes policies and procedures to assist state and local jurisdictions in leveraging geographic information technology for improving public administration. Its knowledgeable membership promotes awareness, training, and education, as well as working to create partnerships for the purpose of data sharing.

Information Technology Advisory Council (ITAC)
TAC advises the State CIO on approaches to coordinating information technology solutions among libraries, schools, local governments, and other public entities. Members come from local government, education, the legislature, and include citizens and private sector representatives. It provides a forum for discussion of emerging technologies that enhance electronic accessibility to publicly funded sources of information and services. 

Enterprise emphasis

In all publications on the COT Web site, the state of Kentucky puts strong emphasis on the need for an enterprise approach to IT on a statewide level in order to take advantage of consolidation. Kentucky seeks to make technology investment decisions from an enterprise perspective and not that of a single cabinet or agency. This enterprise focus is supported through statute and the organizational structures in state government. The Commonwealth has the foundation for an enterprise approach to IT with a relatively strong shared infrastructure (e.g., enterprise architecture and standards, Kentucky Information Highway, consolidated data center, enterprise electronic mail, virus protection), but policy, planning, and budgeting issues must be resolved to address cost-effective and non-duplicating investments in IT.