Aligning leadership across IT and the Executive Branch
Massachusetts ranked 2nd in the country.
- Massachusetts ranked second in the nation for exemplary leadership for the Administration’s enterprise approach and continued investment in technology services.
- The survey commended the Commonwealth for the development of its Statewide IT Roadmap for FY23-25, which serves as a guide for statewide planning processes in identifying immediate needs as well as medium to long-term investments in IT and cybersecurity that should be considered by the Commonwealth.
Constituent/Customer-Centered Mobile and Digital Services
- EOTSS’ Mass Digital team also received recognition from CDG’s survey for its efforts to better serve constituents by developing digital policies and guidelines, which established a process for creating, testing, and improving constituent-facing websites by intaking feedback using web analytics.
- Among those digital policies, EOTSS published the first version of the Massachusetts website domain policy in 2021, which explains how the executive branch should use official government domains. Beyond Mass.gov, the domain policy requires all state government websites to solicit feedback from their users. The CDG recognized that this domain policy has proved impactful for platforms like that of the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission in 2022.
- Also highlighted in the survey was Mass Digital’s successful launch of My Vax Records, a tool for residents to access their vaccination records, including a digital COVID-19 vaccine card.
Cybersecurity
- Massachusetts was commended for its collaborative, enterprise approach to addressing cybersecurity with the implementation of its cybersecurity incident reporting and response framework, which clarifies the roles of executive branch staff.
- EOTSS’ unified Security Operations Center (SOC) was also highlighted as part of the Commonwealth’s collaborative approach to address cybersecurity.
- CDG also highlighted that the EOTSS Secretary develops cybersecurity and enterprise risk management policies and strategies in collaboration with the CISO/Chief Risk Officer and Chief Privacy Officer, as well as maintaining the Enterprise Information Security Policies and Standards.
IT Investment
- The Executive Office for Administration & Finance (A&F) and EOTSS monitor IT budgetary spending and IT capital spending throughout the year. More specifically, the IT Investment Advisory Board (IIAB), chaired by the Secretary, reviews capital programs monthly and tracks program/project progress reports quarterly. All agencies are required to submit annual reports on IT procurements of more than $200,000 and IT project spending of more than $250,000 for approval by the EOTSS Secretary.
- Along with investments in cybersecurity, a significant investment has been the multi-year effort to migrate Commonwealth business applications and systems from on-premises data centers to public and private cloud environments. To date, EOTSS has led the migration of almost 400 Commonwealth applications and platforms to the cloud services model, allowing the Commonwealth to decommission aging and end-of-life state data centers.
Resilience and Recovery
- Recent enterprise technology Disaster Recovery/Continuity of Operations efforts included the completion of most workstreams in the Modern Workplace Program (MWP) that deployed new laptops equipped with Windows 10, the Office 365 suite, and other collaboration tools across the enterprise to promote data security, collaboration, and ensure the continuity of constituent services.
- On the climate planning front, EOTSS has worked with EEA to build and support the Commonwealth’s online climate change resource clearinghouse. The site provides data, maps, and links to the state’s coordinated climate change planning efforts.
Continuous Innovation
- EOTSS develops emerging technology strategies largely through the collaboration of the Chief Technology Officer’s Enterprise Architecture Center of Excellence and the Architecture Review Board to advise secretariat CIOs on emerging technology solutions for their unique business-case needs.
- Beyond EOTSS work with Executive Branch agencies, the Commonwealth’s quasi-public agency Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech) and its Innovation Institute provide programs in support of business formation and growth in the state’s technology sector. In particular, MassTech launched the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Jumpstart Program for Greater Boston in 2020, partnering with Northeastern University, Boston University, and Tufts University to assist 18 small- and medium-sized businesses in Massachusetts in deploying cutting-edge AI tools and techniques to help enhance their businesses and drive product development.
Connected Infrastructure
- EOTSS has realized significant milestones of the One Network initiative. One Network is a cross-secretariat program aimed at folding all secretariats and agencies into a single core network operated by EOTSS. The core network serves as the foundation for all Commonwealth information services including e-mail, data center operations, network communications, business applications, and internet service.
- Another priority is to deploy a new cloud-based enterprise-managed voice solution to all executive branch agencies – establishing and managing one unified communications solution for the enterprise.
Additional Resources
Contact for Massachusetts' 2022 Digital States Survey
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