InforME Board Meeting Minutes

Thursday, March 24, 2011
1:00-3:00 pm
Cross Office Building, Augusta

The meeting was called to order at 1:15.

Board Members and Attendees present:
Charles Summers 
Greg McNeal
Dean Corner 
Herb Thomson
Anne Davis
Joe Laliberte
John Forker
Cindy Butts
Chris Pinkham
Abbe Yacoben
John Martins
Dick Trahey 
Kelly Hokkanen, non-voting member

Agency Representatives 
Jim Lopotosky, OIT 
Paul Sandlin, eGov Office
Barbie Redmond - SOS

InforME Staff
Todd Tolhurst
Britton Child
Lesley McCaw
Dan Andrews
Kimberly Duplisea

I.	Bureau of Parks and Lands, Park Pass Sales security breach
•	Kelly Hokkanen explained that OIT notified InforME this morning that WGME posted a general message on their Facebook page that indicated the State of Maine’s Website had a breach involving credit card information.  This posting was of great concern as it suggested that Maine.gov had a security breach, which was not the case. The breach was associated with the park pass sales website through the Bureau of Parks and Lands maintained by InfoSpherix, and not an InforME service. It is believed that a notification letter went out this week to affected cardholders, and was brought to the attention of the media. Associate CIO Jim Lopotosky explained that the state was notified in February of the breach, and that nearly 1,000 cards were compromised between March and December 2010.
•	A board member questioned how the disclosure letter was composed.  Did it suggest that Maine.gov had a breach? Deputy Secretary of State Barbie Redmond indicated that the vendor, InfoSpherix, sent a disclosure letter to 967 users, as required by state law, and that the Department of Conservation took down the park pass sales website in February, within 24 hours of the notification by the vendor of the breach.
•	Charles Summers indicated that he is organizing a press conference this afternoon to clarify that Maine.gov is secure and was not breached.

II.	Legislative Relations
•	Secretary of State Charles Summers requested this topic be placed on the agenda. He has some concerns about the use of a lobbyist by Maine Information Network (MIN). 
•	Kelly Hokkanen explained that in November MIN hired a lobbyist, Burnstein Shur.  The lobbyist provides MIN with expertise to navigate the legislative process including committees, introducing MIN to the new administration and legislators and most importantly, monitoring the legislation that affects the portal, InforME or eGovernment.  MIN does not make political contributions to anyone nor do the lobbyists speak on behalf of InforME board.  MIN funds are used to pay for the lobbyist.  
•	A board member asked why a lobbyist was just hired now and not in the past.  Kelly Hokkanen explained that MIN did have a lobbyist in the beginning of InforME, but once the portal was established, the lobbyist was not as needed because the legislature did not hear or create many eGovernment related bills.  At this time, there are many bills in the legislature that involve online services and may directly affect the portal.
•	A board member expressed that the words InforME or Maine.gov should not be used in testimony by MIN or its lobbyist without expressed consent of the Board.  Kelly Hokkanen indicated that it would be very hard to explain MIN without mentioning InforME or Maine.gov, but that she would clarify exactly who she was speaking for.
•	A board member agreed that legislation that directly affects the portal or InforME is getting more difficult to navigate.  Kelly Hokkanen explained that the lobbyist is important because they monitor and track the bills.  A board member indicated that tracking bills and advocacy are two different things and that tracking bills can be handled by anyone.  Kelly Hokkanen explained that it is also important to have expertise about the legislative process and who to talk to.
•	Charles Summers suggested that a list of items that the lobbyist is tasked with for MIN be presented to the Board and that the Board should outline specific policies and rules as to who is the speaker for the Board and under what circumstances.  The Board agreed to form a sub-group to further examine the issue and report back to the Board at a future meeting. Board members Dick Trahey, Cindy Butts, Chris Pinkham, and Kelly Hokkanen volunteered to be part of the sub-group. 

III.	Adoption of February Meeting Minutes 
•	Motion: Joe Laliberte motioned to adopt the minutes with one modification to the attendee list.
Second: John Martins
Vote: Unanimous

IV.	Service Agreements 
•	Towns of Searsport and St. Agatha– Vital Records Service – SOW, Schedule A (VOTE)
o	Kelly Hokkanen introduced the SOWs for the towns of Searsport and St. Agatha to join the enterprise vital records ordering service. The SOW and fees are the same for every town that joins. 
o	The board questioned whether or not every town that participates needs to be approved by the board, if the SOW and fees are the same. This will be discussed later.
Motion: Cindy Butts motioned to accept the additions to the service.
Second: Abbe Yacoben
Vote: Unanimous

V.	Campground Reservations – Ongoing Resources
•	Paul Sandlin, clerk of the Board, initiated a conversation around the campgrounds project and other projects that may be similar to this.  The scale of this project is huge, but the actual application scope is growing at about a rate of 10% per year based on requests for enhancements.  The issue is that the revenue that is generated by the application is fixed at the current transaction fee rate and a relatively fixed volume of annual reservations.  The maintenance is growing at a rate that is greater than the revenue taken in for the application over a year.  The Board needs to determine what expansion is acceptable and authorize any expansion.
•	A board member asked about who owns the application.  MIN owns the application code and provides it for the state’s use under a perpetual use license.
•	A board member asked about what happens when the cost of maintenance exceeds the money that the service is bringing in on an annual basis.  Another board member commented that if the cost outweighs the revenue that the service is bringing in, then the Board needs to make the decision that some number of hours per season are allocated for the service or another alternative funding source is established (additional transaction fee, time and materials).
•	A board member suggested that the application be maintained “as-is”, and that any changes or enhancements going forward should be paid for in some way.
•	A board member indicated that we need to keep in mind the benefit, non-monetary, to the portal that an application of this scale brings and if there is any way the portal can have the foresight to know which services could potentially run into issues.  Kelly Hokkanen indicated that most of the applications operated by the portal are subsidized or free; it is important to keep an eye on the applications that were undertaken with the idea to generate revenue for the portal as was the case with Campground Reservations.  It is important to discuss the ongoing costs including the maintenance of the application and any enhancements while maintaining sustainability of the application.  
•	Greg McNeal asked that Paul Sandlin put together a list of recommendations for presentation to the Board on how to handle these types of problems and requests for maintenance in the future and to make the Department of Conservation aware of the discussion including the difference between enhancements and maintenance and that enhancements may require additional funding.  

VI.	Legislation Updates
•	Kelly Hokkanen provided a list of bills that are being tracked by MIN as potentially relevant to the portal or e-government.  Notable bills that are being tracked include a state wide business licensing service, changes to the saltwater fishing registry, confidentiality of email addresses, and limiting access to crash reports and crash report bulk data. 
•	Barbie Redmond gave an update on the InforME legislation.  It is currently with the Revisor’s Office and should be completed soon.

VII.	Service Demo: MRS Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration Filing  
•	The demo of the MRS Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration Filing was tabled until a later board meeting.

VIII.	Other Business
•	Time & Materials Report

IX.	Adjournment 3:01 P.M
•	Motion: Joe Laliberte motioned to adjourn the meeting.
Second: Abbe Yacoben
Vote: Unanimous

X.	Next Meeting Dates
•	April 28, 2011
•	May 26, 2011