Sponsored by:
Senator STEPHEN M. SWEENEY
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
Senator SHIRLEY K. TURNER
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
"21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee on November 15, 2021, with amendments.
An Act concerning the modernization of State government websites, supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes, and amending P.L.2007, c.56.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) This act shall be known and may be cited as the "21st Century Integrated Digital Experience Act."
2. (New section) The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. Ensuring New Jersey's global leadership position in technology and electronic government requires an approach that narrows the growing gap between the digital demands of citizens and the methods by which the government provides digital services to New Jersey.
b. The enhancement of citizen-facing digital experiences can change the paradigm for the delivery of government services and dramatically reduce the cost of government operations.
c. Many State websites are not equipped to provide an enhanced experience to the growing number of citizens who access government services through a mobile device.
d. Government lags far behind the private sector in providing a modern, seamless, personalized, and consistent digital experience that provides useful information and services to citizens, businesses, and other stakeholders.
e. The implementation of modern customer service experiences, such as citizen-centric design, comprehensive self-service capabilities, and uniform mobile rendering will be key to facilitating the transition to from an analog, paper-based government to a digital government that delivers information and government services in an efficient and effective manner.
f. Transitioning from paper processes to adaptive and intuitive digital forms would significantly improve government services.
g. All State websites should be accessible to individuals with disabilities.
3. (New section) As used in 1[this act] P.L. , c. (C. )(pending before the Legislature as this bill)1:
"Agency"
means any of the principal departments of the Executive Branch, including the
Department of the Treasury, and any division, office, board, bureau,
commission, authority 1,1 or entity therein or allocated thereto to comply
with the provisions of Article V, Section IV, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey
Constitution.
1"Cloud computing service" means a service that enables on-demand self-service network access to a shared pool of configurable computer resources including, but not limited to, data storage, analytics, electronic commerce, streaming services, mobile services, electronic mail, and document sharing and editing, which can be rapidly provided and released with minimal management effort or cloud computing service provider interaction.1
"Information technology modernization and improvement plan" or "plan" means the plan prepared by each agency pursuant to section 4 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
4. (New section) Not later than one year following the date of enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), 1and every year thereafter,1 each agency shall develop and submit to the Chief Technology Officer and Chief Innovation Officer for the State of New Jersey an information technology modernization and improvement plan. The plan shall1:
a.1 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 1through the adoption of commercial cloud computing services1, promoting the use of intuitive and adaptive electronic forms (1[HTML-5] HTML Living Standard1), utilizing electronic signatures, and digitizing government processes and workflows 1[. The plan shall] ;
b.1 outline a process to be utilized by the agency to ensure that each State 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 1[. The plan shall] ;
c. 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; and
d.1 be developed within the limits of fiscal and other resources available to the agency. Each agency shall make its plan available to the public electronically through a link displayed on its website.
5. Section 12 of P.L.2007, c.56 (C.52:18A-230) is amended to read as follows:
12. The Chief Technology Officer, in consultation with the Chief Innovation Officer, shall:
a. be authorized to establish the internal organizational structure of the Office of Information Technology in a manner appropriate to carrying out the duties and functions, and fulfilling the responsibilities, of the office;
b. be authorized to coordinate and conduct all information technology operations in the Executive Branch of State Government, including agency technology operations;
c. be authorized to draft and establish Service Level Agreements with each department and agency in the Executive Branch of State Government;
d. be authorized to review and analyze the results of the Statewide Information Technology Assessment Study; [and]
e. be authorized to enter into agreements, in accordance and consistent with applicable law, regulations, and existing contracts, with private and public entities or individuals to effectuate the purposes of sections 6 through 16 of P.L.2007, c.56 (C.52:18A-224 through C.52:18A-234);
f. in consultation with the New Jersey Information Technology Project Review Board, evaluate 1on an annual basis1 the feasibility of using artificial intelligence 1[and] ,1 machine learning 1, and commercial cloud computing services, as well as other emerging technologies,1 by State agencies to provide public services and the development of data analytics capabilities to enable data-driven policy development by State agencies; and
g. 1develop a process to1 promulgate 1, and update no less than every other year,1 a set of metrics to assess each 1State1 agency's implementation of a modern digital experience1. The set of metrics shall be reevaluated every three years1.
(cf: P.L.2013, c.253, s.44)
6. This act shall take effect immediately.