SENATE STATE GOVERNMENT, WAGERING, TOURISM & HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE

 

STATEMENT TO

 

SENATE, No. 2723

 

with committee amendments

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

DATED:  NOVEMBER 15, 2021

 

      The Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism, and Historic Preservation Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 2723.

      As amended, this bill, titled the “21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act,” requires the Office of Information Technology and agencies in the Executive Branch of State Government to provide citizens with a modern, digital experience by updating the platforms through which these agencies provide services to business and members of the general public.

      The bill requires each Executive Branch agency to submit, within one year following its enactment, an information technology modernization and improvement plan to the Chief Technology Officer for the State of New Jersey.  The plan shall describe how each agency will improve the provision of digital services by leveraging data analytics and related tools to ensure an effective rendering of all publicly facing websites on mobile devices, increasing the use of data analytics to improve website operation, enhancing the delivery of digital services, and digitizing government processes and workflows.

      The bill also requires the plan to outline a process to be utilized by the agency to ensure that each agency website intended for public use is mobile-friendly and accessible by persons with disabilities within one year following the submission of each agency’s plan.  Each agency’s plan is to be developed within the limits of fiscal and other resources available.  Each agency shall make its plan available to the public electronically through a link displayed on its website.

      The bill requires the Chief Technology Officer to consult with the Chief Innovation Officer in conducting certain responsibilities.  The bill adds the following responsibilities to the role of Chief Technology Officer:  to consult with the New Jersey Information Technology Project Review Board to evaluate the feasibility of using artificial intelligence and machine learning by State agencies to provide public services and the development of data analytics capabilities to enable data-driven policy development by State agencies; and to promulgate a set of metrics to assess each agency’s implementation of a modern digital experience.

      The amendments make this bill identical to Assembly Bill No. 2614.

 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The amendments proposed:

      (1)  provide a definition for cloud computing services;

      (2)  include that the information technology modernization and improvement plan will outline ways to improve wireless connectivity Statewide, including underserved urban and rural communities, as well as recommendations to expedite the implementation of the necessary infrastructure for wireless connectivity;

      (3)  provide for an annual evaluation of the feasibility of using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and commercial cloud computing services, as well as other emerging technologies; and

      (4)  develop a process to promulgate, and update no less than every other year, a set of metrics to assess each State agency’s implementation of a modern digital experience, which shall be reevaluated every three years.