Online Government Task Force Charter

1. Introduction

The Chief Information Officer has established the On-Line Government Task Force to chart the immediate future course of on-line government in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. On or about May 30, 1997, the Task Force shall report to the CIO on:

a) the Commonwealth's operational needs for on-line government functions;
b) the legal and policy requirements for such functions, with particular emphasis on the need for authentication, integrity, confidentiality, and non-repudiability;
c) currently available and near-term technologies performing such functions;
d) central services that could promote the growth of on-line government;
e) the state of current technical and legal efforts in the Commonwealth, other states, the federal government, and other countries;
f) specific technical and legal information that could support agencies that are implementing or evaluating on-line government functions;
g) suitable candidates for pilot projects for evaluating on-line government solutions.

2. Operational Needs for On-line Government

The Task Force should explicitly identify the Commonwealth's range of operations that could be performed better or more efficiently using on-line technologies. The Task Force should identify online government projects that are being implemented now and are planned or desired in the short term by agencies. The Task Force should identify and categorize the types of government functions that are ripe for networked automation. The scope should extend to both Internet and intranet communications.

3. Legal and Policy Requirements for On-line Government

The Task Force should identify and categorize the functionality needed for on-line government functions to comply with business, legal, and policy requirements. Specifically, the Task Force should evaluate requirements for authenticity, integrity, confidentiality, and non-repudiability of network communications, with particular emphasis on the suitability of PKI technologies.

4. Current Technology

The Task Force should assess the current and near-term state of the technology available to meet the business, legal, and policy needs of the Commonwealth. This includes testing or demonstrating relevant technology. This effort should result in a narrative and/or a matrix that represents a thorough evaluation of current offerings by PKI and other vendors, as well as an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of these solutions.

5. Central Services for Promoting On-line Government

Given the business, legal, and policy requirements, and the technologies available to meet them, the Task Force should identify key central services, particularly PKI services, that would promote the use of on-line technologies by state agencies.

6. Standards and Guidance for Agencies

The Task Force should develop specific standards and guidance for agencies that wish to implement on-line government solutions. The emphasis should be on concrete, practical advice that can materially assist agencies that have advanced to the point of implementing an on-line government operation. In addition to this specific guidance, the Task Force should also develop information and advice for agencies that wish to evaluate the benefits of on-line technologies. This and/or other material should also serve to give agency management the information they need to appreciate and support on-line technologies.

7. Pilot Projects

As a result of identifying business needs, legal and policy requirements, available technologies, and the appropriate central role for the state, the Task Force should propose suitable candidates for pilot projects for evaluating on-line government solutions.

8. Members of the PKI Task Force

Membership in the task force is open to any public entity in the Commonwealth. Anyone interested in joining the task force or receiving more information should contact Dan Greenwood at dgreenwood@state.ma.us or 617.973.0071. The current members are: