KRS § 42.720 — KY Code / Title VI / Chapter 42 / Section 42.720
42.720 Legislative findings
Status: in_force

42.720 Legislative findings.

The General Assembly finds and declares that:

(1) The establishment of the position of the executive director of the Commonwealth

Office of Technology, appointed by the secretary of the Finance and Administration

Cabinet with the approval of the Governor, as the Commonwealth's single point of

contact and spokesperson for all matters related to information technology and

resources, including policies, standard setting, deployment, strategic and tactical

planning, acquisition, management, and operations is necessary and in keeping with

the industry trends of the private and public sectors;

(2) The appropriate use of information technology by the Commonwealth can improve

operational productivity, reduce the cost of government, enhance service to

customers, and make government more accessible to the public;

(3) Government-wide planning, investment, protection, and direction for information

resources must be enacted to:

(a) Ensure the effective application of information technology on state business

operations;

(b) Ensure the quality, security, and integrity of state business operations; and

(c) Provide privacy to the citizens of the Commonwealth;

(4) The Commonwealth must provide information technology infrastructure, technical

directions, and a proficient organizational management structure to facilitate the

productive application of information technology and resources to accomplish

programmatic missions and business goals;

(5) Oversight of large scale and government statewide systems or projects is necessary

to protect the Commonwealth's investment and to ensure appropriate integration

with existing or planned systems;

(6) A career development plan and professional development program for information

technology staff of the executive branch is needed to provide key competencies and

adequate on-going support for the information resources of the Commonwealth and

to ensure that the information technology staff will be managed as a

Commonwealth resource;

(7) The Commonwealth is in need of information technology advisory capacities to the

Governor and the agencies of the executive cabinet;

(8) Appropriate public-private partnerships to supplement existing resources must be

developed as a strategy for the Commonwealth to comprehensively meet its

spectrum of information technology and resource needs;

(9) Technological and theoretical advances in information use are recent in origin,

immense in scope and complexity, and change at a rapid rate, which presents

Kentucky with the opportunity to provide higher quality, more timely, and more

cost-effective government services to ensure standardization, interoperability, and

interconnectivity;

(10) The sharing of information resources and technologies among executive branch

state agencies is the most cost-effective method of providing the highest quality and

most timely government services that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive;

(11) The ability to identify, develop, and implement changes in a rapidly moving field

demands the development of mechanisms to provide for the research and

development of technologies that address systems, uses, and applications; and

(12) The exercise by the executive director of the Commonwealth Office of Technology

of powers and authority conferred by KRS 42.720 to 42.742, 45.253, 171.420,

186A.040, and 186A.285 shall be deemed and held to be the performance of

essential governmental functions.