SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 2723

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 16, 2021

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 2723 (1R), with committee amendments.

      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.  As amended, the bill clarifies that each plan submitted by an agency is to describe how the 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 through the adoption of commercial cloud computing 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 is to make its plan available to the public electronically through a link displayed on its website, except that the bill, as amended, clarifies that an agency may redact such information as necessary to address cybersecurity concerns.

      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.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

- clarify that the Chief Technology Officer is authorized to request that any agency submit a plan in accordance with section 4 of the bill;

- clarify that each plan submitted by an agency in accordance with section 4 of the bill is to describe how the agency will improve the provision of digital services by enhancing the delivery of digital services through the adoption of commercial cloud computing services;

- remove subsection c. of section 4 of the bill, which subsection required each plan submitted pursuant to section 4 of the bill to 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;

- clarify the requirement for each agency submitting a plan in accordance with section 4 of the bill to make its plan available to the public electronically through a link displayed on its website, by providing that an agency may redact such information as necessary to address cybersecurity concerns;

- clarify that the Chief Technology Officer is to review the plans submitted pursuant to section 4 in collaboration with the Chief Innovation Officer for the State of New Jersey; and

- make technical corrections.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      There is currently no fiscal information available for this bill.