ASSEMBLY STANDING COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL OPERATIONS ASSEMBLY STANDING COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT, ANALYSIS, and INVESTIGATION LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION ON GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION

New advances in information technology may make it possible to achieve significant increases in government efficiency, fiscal responsibility, and openness while providing better services and reducing regulatory burdens. This hearing will examine how New York State's agencies and municipalities are currently using advances in information technology and how such advances can be used to create jobs and serve the public more efficiently and more responsively.

Please see the reverse side for a list of subjects to which witnesses may direct their testimony.

Persons wishing to present pertinent testimony to the Committee at the above hearing should complete and return the enclosed reply form as soon as possible. It is important that the reply form be fully completed and returned so that persons may be notified in the event of emergency postponement or cancellation.

Oral testimony will be limited to 10 minutes' duration. In preparing the order of witnesses, the Committee will attempt to accommodate individual requests to speak at particular times in view of special circumstances. These requests should be made on the attached reply form or communicated to Committee staff as early as possible.

Twenty copies of any prepared testimony should be submitted at the hearing registration desk. The Committee would appreciate advance receipt of prepared statements.

In order to further publicize these hearings, please inform interested parties and organizations of the Committee's interest in hearing testimony from all sources.

In order to meet the needs of those who may have a disability, the Assembly, in accordance with its policy of non-discrimination on the basis of disability, as well as the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), has made its facilities and services available to all individuals with disabilities. For individuals with disabilities, accommodations will be provided, upon reasonable request, to afford such individuals access and admission to Assembly facilities and activities.

1. How are New York State agencies, other states, and municipalities currently using information technology to make government more transparent and accountable to the public? Is it working? Does it save tax dollars? What difficulties and barriers have such adaptations encountered?

2. Does New York have a plan, such as an "open data" plan, to make government data more readily available?

3. What steps can New York State take to become a national leader in using information technology to promote transparent and accountable government?

4. Are there simple and affordable data standards or practices that New York should adopt?

5. What basic package of feedback and outreach tools do you think New York State needs to be considered a leader? What would the cost be to acquire such tools?

6. What are New York State agencies, other states, and municipalities doing to stay abreast of the rapid changes in information technology? Are there barriers or difficulties unique to governmental bodies that affect their ability to adopt new technology to governmental purposes?

7. Is there an optimum point in the development and refinement of new technologies at which it is both efficient and practical for government to adopt such technologies? To what extent is it valuable for the private sector to experiment with a technology before a governmental entity invests in it?

8. How should government introduce new technologies to ensure that all its residents across the entire spectrums of age, income, education, and technological sophistication and in rural, urban, and suburban communities are well served?

I plan to attend the following public hearing on The State's Information Technology Infrastructure to be conducted by the Assembly Committees on Governmental Operations and Oversight, Analysis, and Investigation, and the Legislative Commission on Government Administration on November 18, 2011.

I plan to make a public statement at the hearing. My statement will be limited to 10 minutes, and I will answer any questions which may arise. I will provide 20 copies of my prepared statement.

I will address my remarks to the following subjects:

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

I do not plan to attend the above hearing.

I would like to be added to the Committee's mailing list for notices and reports.

I would like to be removed from the Committee's mailing list.

I will require assistance and/or handicapped accessibility information. Please specify the type of assistance required:

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________