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This week I will discuss the interim charges issued to the House Committee on Technology. Interim charges are the issues that the Speaker asks committees to study during the time between regular legislative sessions in order to make recommendations for legislation for the following legislative session. The charges are good indicators of what legislation the legislature will take up during the next session. Legislators rely on public input when crafting legislation, and it is important that they hear from people during the interim.
House Committee on Technology
• Examine the public's accessibility to government services and agencies through the use of mobile applications and online services.
• Study the feasibility of an integrated identity management program (IIMP) for state agencies. Examine best practices in the deployment of technology to safeguard state data and programs, limit fraudulent or unauthorized access to state hardware and software, and develop a secure state digital infrastructure. Determine potential savings to the state and make further recommendations on the implementation of IIMP that encompass both logical and physical security.
• Study whether abuses in the patent system interfere with the goal of expanded opportunity and innovation for Texas businesses and whether actions by the state can address any such abuses.
• Evaluate Texas's competitiveness with other states in recruiting and cultivating the software industry, including entertainment software; fostering economic development; and creating potential new jobs. Examine current incentives and regulations and whether these assist or hinder the expansion of the entertainment software industry in Texas.
• Review state regulatory and tax policy to ensure that investment in technology infrastructure, goods, and services is unfettered and that Texas is able to capitalize on innovation to fuel additional job growth, business expansion, and investment.
• Monitor and review the efforts of the Department of Transportation’s (TxDOT) Texas Technology Task Force (TTTF). The TTTF shall study emerging transportation, communication, and computing technologies and determine physical infrastructure and system components that TxDOT or other state departments would need to provide to enable selected technologies.
The House Committee on Technology can be reached at 512-463-0794. For more information on these charges or any other matter of state government, please contact my office by writing to P.O. Box 2910, Austin, TX 78768-2910 or by emailing me at larry.phillips@house.state.tx.us. My district office phone number is (903) 891-7297.