National Association of Legislative Information Technology
NALIT 2007 Professional Development Seminar
Springfield, Illinois
NALIT Executive Committee Meeting Minutes
September 28, 2007
The NALIT Executive Committee meeting was held at the Stratton Building at the Illinois State Capitol Complex, on Friday, September 28, 2007, at 4:00 p.m.
The meeting was called to order by Gary Schaefer, Chair.
Executive Committee Members Present: Gary Schaefer, Chair; Gary Wieman, Past Chair; Duncan Goss, Vice Chair; Linda Pittsford, Secretary; Dave Larson, Craig Nakahara, and Jenny Wilhelm (via conference call).
Executive Committee Members Absent: Paul Schweizer, Kelly Stallings, and Mark Wenda.
NALIT Staff and Members Present: Pam Greenberg, NCSL Staff; Jim Greenwalt, Lorie Johnson, Ann McLauglin, Tim Rice, and Sharon Crouch Steidel, NCSL Staff Chair.
The Chair declared that a quorum of the Executive Committee was present.
Meeting Agenda:
Review director and committee appointments: Gary Schaefer asked if there were any questions or comments on the appointments of directors, committees created, or committee assignments. He stated that his appointments were posted on NALIT’s website. No comments were raised, so there was no further discussion.
Discuss phone number and e-mail addresses on NCSL website for NALIT officers, directors, and committee members: Gary Schaefer asked if there were any objections to posting e-mail addresses and phone numbers on NALIT’s “public” website. After discussion and concern that this may increase spam or vendor calls, the consensus from the committee was that members would prefer to not have this information readily available on the NCSL or NALIT’s public website.
Discuss partnership request by Jeff Griffith, Senior Advisor, Global Centre for ICT in Parliament: The committee reviewed each item of the e-mail sent by Jeff Griffith. (See Attachment 1.) Sharon advised that Bill Pound indicated NCSL has no concern with NALIT entering into a relationship with Global Centre for ICT. These types of relationships can be beneficial to both parties. However, neither NCSL nor NALIT can commit or dedicate resources to this relationship, as initially requested by the Global Centre. At a minimum, NALIT can provide links to our website. Gary Schaefer will request a draft of the memo of understanding from the Global Centre to review and revise as necessary before formally responding to the partnership request.
Discuss having a joint meeting with National Legislative Program Evaluation Society (NLPES) in Hawaii in 2009: NLPES has invited NALIT to participate in a joint PDS in 2009. After initial cost estimates, it appears that the cost of attending (e.g., airfare, hotel, etc.) is comparable to other PDS locations. Concerns were raised about whether the location will limit attendance. After discussion, a motion was made by Dave Larson, KS, and seconded by Duncan Goss, VT to hold the PDS in Hawaii in 2009. The motion carried unanimously.
Discuss NALIT IT Survey and FOIA concerns: The NALIT survey has been hosted on Virginia's equipment since its implementation. The NALIT survey committee has been working on updating this survey for the past year in conjunction with Virginia IT staff. Based on Virginia law, a concern about whether this information is subject to FOIA has been raised. If this is accurate, we will need to consider an alternative host site. Sharon will pursue a more definitive answer from Virginia and get back to the executive committee.
Having no further business, the Executive Committee meeting adjourned at 5:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Pittsford, NALIT Secretary
- Memorandum of Understanding. The Centre proposes a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NALIT and the Centre affirming the mutual objectives of the two organizations in supporting legislatures through the effective use of information and communication technologies (ICT). The Centre further proposes that in the MoU NALIT and the Centre also agree to collaborate whenever feasible and mutually beneficial on a variety of approaches to achieving these objectives. This would include such activities as conferences, seminars, newsletters, technical assistance, and the creation of national and international networks of members, officers, staff, and ICT experts. The MoU would not be intended in anyway to affect the total autonomy of NALIT, but rather to express a mutual willingness to cooperate on activities when it would be valuable to both organizations.
- Webpage on State Activities. The Centre asks NALIT to consider playing the lead role in maintaining the portion of the Centre’s website that covers developments in North America, specifically focusing on US state legislatures. (http://www.ictparliament.org/northamerica/) To avoid this becoming a significant additional burden, the Centre proposes that this page contain short statements with links to existing online NALIT publications, news reports, etc. In the future, NALIT may wish to contribute a brief semi-annual or annual article that summarizes developments in state legislatures that would be of particular interest to other countries
- Network of Experts. The Centre proposes that the executive board encourage NALIT members to join the Centre’s ICT network of experts and to contribute their knowledge and experience through this forum. The Centre is planning to use the forum to share views on specific ICT issues such as challenges in managing ICT in a legislative body, interactive technologies, cooperative software development, etc.
- Conference Planning. The Centre asks that NALIT consider assisting the Centre in planning a session or track for the forthcoming World eParliament Conference in 2008 and/or 2009. The Centre is mindful that NALIT holds its own conference in the fall and would make every effort to avoid a conflict in schedules. The collective knowledge of the members of NALIT is extensive and a conference session or track organized by NALIT would be a major contribution and would be of substantial benefit to many developing countries.
- Conference Attendance. The Centre would be pleased to send an invitation to all NALIT members either directly or through the executive board to attend the 2007 International Workshop and World eParliament Conference to be held in Geneva 10-12 October. The Centre would welcome the guidance of the executive board regarding how best to send the invitations. Because the Centre’s funds must be focused particularly on developing countries, we regret that no money would be available for travel for attendees from developed countries such as the United States. The final agendas for the Workshop and Conference will be ready for distribution shortly.
- Survey Advice. The Centre would very much appreciate any comments and advice you may wish to offer, either collectively or individually, on the 2007 Global Survey on ICT in Legislatures. Please see the following three attachments: the cover letter, the cover to the survey, and the survey itself. The English version is online now; the Spanish and French versions will be ready shortly. The survey will be repeated annually and will be extended to regional and state legislatures in 2008. Should any NALIT members wish to complete some or all of the survey for this year, the Centre would set up accounts to enable them to take it online and would provide summary results to the executive board for whatever uses it deemed appropriate.
Our deepest thanks to the NALIT board for considering these proposals.
Best regards.
Jeffrey Griffith
Senior Advisor
Global Centre for ICT in Parliament
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