Delaware General Assembly


CHAPTER 488

FORMERLY

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 5

AS AMENDED BY HOUSE AMENDMENT NOS. 1 AND 2

IN REFERENCE TO THE CREATION OF A STEERING COMMITTEE ON TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY.

WHEREAS, the State is in dire need of an effective and comprehensive telecommunications system.

NOW, THEREFORE:

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the 132nd General Assembly of the State of Delaware. with the approval of the Governor, that there is hereby established a steering committee on telecommunications that shall be comprised of the following persons: four members from the Legislature, two of whom shall be appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and two appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; the Secretary of the Department of Public Safety; the Secretary of the Department of Administrative Services; the Budget Director; a representative from the Department of Public Instruction; and the Secretary of the Department of Transportation. in addition the Governor shall appoint the following persons to the committee: a representative of a major private company not in the communications business who has experience in implementing a major telecommunications system; a member of the Td-County Association; and a member of the Delaware League of Local Governments."

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the duties and responsibilities of the Committee shall be as follows:

Provide overall policy direction to State agencies and to various working groups established.

Evaluate various reports and plans produced by the working groups and make recommendations to the Governor and the General Assembly for establishment of a Statewide Telecommunications Plan.

Review and approve all developments by State agencies that impact State communications.

Approve and direct any telecommunications consultants necessary to implement policy of this Committee.

Review and rcport on existing State use of and commitments to telecommunications services and equipment.

(0 Review and report on plans for new telecommunication systems and facilities.

Analyze and project impacts on State telecommunication services of the January 1984 implementation of telephone company deregulation.

Develop and present a procedure to implement a Statewide telccommunicatin plan to Include:

A long-range and short- range planning process.

A staffing framework to develop and monitor such a plan.

A budget for such a process with recommendations as to funding sources and methods.

Recommendations as to procedures for future policy oversight and direction.

(I) Recommendations for interim actions to prevent expenditures and developments at variance to the anticipated plan.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Committee shall be staffed by the Department of Public Safety to assist it in its tasks and each agency represented on the Committee shall provide the necessary staff to produce the expected results.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that as an integral part of the Steering Committee there shall be six working groups with the responsibilities herein listed along with the following staff to assist each working group. The Chief of the Division of Communications and others, as may be required, shall serve as technical advisors to each of the working groups. In some instances more than one representative of an agency may be required to staff a working group.

(a) Planning and Policy Group who shall do Strategic Planning and Policy Development, development of a telecommunications plan, coordination with State Information Systems planning; develop a budget;

manage Systems Development. monitor economic regulatory. political and technological trends and understand user requirements. The staff to assist the group shall be the Office of Information Systems. Office of Planning systems Development. Department of Administration Services. Department of Public Safety, Department of Public Instruction. Department of Transportation. Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and a private sector representative, as may be required.

Needs Assessment Group who shall describe current system from users perspective. define current user requirements, define future user requirements and identify major issues and needs in State Telecommunications. The staff shall be comprised of representatives, as required, from all state users of Communications Service, representation, as may be required from all State providers of Communications Service. representatives. as required, from all outside providers of Communications Service.

Telecommunications Systems Data Base Survey Group who shall inventory equipment and facilities, gather network statistics. define network configuration and evaluate user installations and needs. The staff shall be the Telephone Services. the Delaware State Police Communications Center. the Office of Information Systems, the Department of Public Instruction and private telephone services, as required.

Analysis of Design Group who shall perform network simulation, network design and optimization. organizationwide PBX evaluation, network alternatives and economic tradeoffs. The staff shall be the Department of Public Safety. the Department of Transportation. the Department of Public Instruction. the Office of Information Systems, representatives of the private sector, as may be required, a consultant, if required and the Delaware State Police.

Procurement Group who shall conduct equipment and service evaluation, RFP preparation, proposal evaluation and communications facilities and equipment procurement. The staff shall be the Delaware State Police Communications Center, the Office of Information Systems, the Division of Communications, the Office of the Budget, the Controller General and the Division of Support Operations.

The Operations and Planning Group who shall do network management and control, staffing and distribution of base stations, evaluation and use of communications centers and user support and training. The staff shall be the Department of Transportation. RECOMM, the Division of Communications. SUSCOM. the Department of Public Instruction, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control. Kent COM. Delaware State Police and local governments.

Approved July 13. 1983.