MRSC Inquiries
Information Technology
Information Technology - E-Government
- May a county or city use a digital signature to transmit official records?
Yes, however they must follow the procedures set forth in the state statutes.
RCW
19.34.010(4) provides that electronic signatures may be used for "official
public business to provide reasonable assurance of the integrity, authenticity,
and nonrepudiation of an electronic communication." RCW
19.34.231 authorizes a city or county to become a licensed certification
authority for purposes of providing services to local government. The local
government agency must adopt an ordinance authorizing the use of digital
signatures.
The procedures to obtain certification are outlined in Ch.
19.34 RCW. Note that the statute provides that a "private key" (used
to create a digital signature) in the possession of a local government agency
is exempt from public inspection and copying. See RCW
19.34.240.
- Is there a requirement that all interlocal agreements must be posted on the city web site?
No. There is a requirement related to this in RCW 39.34.040, as amended in 2006, which provides that, prior to its becoming effective, an interlocal agreement must “be filed with the county auditor or, alternatively, listed by subject on a public agency's web site or other electronically retrievable public source.” So, posting of the agreement on the agency’s website is an alternative that is now available. The requirement before was that all interlocal agreements had to be filed with the county auditor. Posting on a web site is an easier way to comply and not a new burden.
Information Technology - General
- Request for sample Year 2000 vendor contract language.
The caller requested contract language requiring that a new computer-aided
dispatch system be Year 2000 compliant. We obtained the following language
from the Washington State Department of Information Services Web site:
Year 2000 Compliance Warranty (required term) Vendor warrants fault
free performance in the processing of date and date related data including,
but not limited to calculating, comparing, and sequencing by all Equipment
and Software provided pursuant to this Contract, individually and in
combination, when used in accordance with the product documentation
provided by the Vendor. Fault free performance shall include the manipulation
of this data when dates are in the 20th or 21st centuries and shall
be transparent to the user. Failure to comply with these Year 2000 requirements
shall entitle Purchaser to a refund of [(three (3) times the total purchase
cost as liquidated damages) OR (the initial license fee, prorated over
the useful life of the Equipment, defined by the parties as _____ (__)
years)]. Vendor has no liability for any failure to comply with this
provision that is caused solely by failure of an interconnected third-party
product to be Year 2000 compliant.
[Department of Information Services Note]: Hardware, firmware, and
software must be Year 2000 Compliant by different dates depending upon
the specific application involved. If the goods being procured under
the contract involve calculations of future dates (e.g., give entitlement
to client for five (5) years from date) it is necessary that all products
involved in processing be Year 2000 compliant immediately. However,
if there are no date calculations involved, the agency may wish to include
a provision above which states that the products must be compliant by
a specified date in the future.
- Request for sample information technology strategic plans.
Here are links to several information technology strategic plans from
Washington and out-of-state jurisdictions:
- City
of Bellevue, Enterprise Strategic IT Plan and Program Update, 2005-06
- Information Technology Strategic
Plan, Kitsap County, 2001 (
555
KB )
- Washington
State Department of Information Services Strategic Plan and Operating
Budget, 2003-2005
- City
of Watsonville (CA), Information Technology Master Plan, 2002
(1.96
MB)
- City
of Boulder (CO), Strategic Technology Plan, 2002 (236
KB)
- City
of Mesa (AZ), Information Technology Strategic Plan, 2002 (292
KB)
- City
of Des Moines (IA) Strategic Technology Plan, 2002 (143
KB)
In addition, the following sample plans are available
for loan from our library:
- Information Technology Strategic Plan and Governance Process, City
of Bellevue, 1998
- City of Kennewick Information Systems Plan, 1998
- Information Management Plan for the Town of Friday Harbor, 1997
- Strategic Information Technology Plan, City of Kirkland, 2001
- Information Technology Strategic Plan, Kitsap County, 2001