Ms. Carter asked the Council to review the Telecommunications Workgroup report that was revised based on feedback from COTS in March. Ms. Carter stated that the Voice Over IP Workgroup would be meeting on the same day as the Telecommunications Workgroup to make travel easier. At the last meeting, the Voice Over IP Workgroup heard a presentation from Virginia Tech and started the process of obtaining a dedicated resource on voice over IP at the end of the month to write the report and recommendations of the Workgroup. Communications Workgroup Ms. Hughes reported that the Communications Workgroup met Friday, November 3. Two COTS members, Cheryl Clark and Gerry Pacyna, serve on Advisory Committees, which research technology issues and provide expertise to the legislature.
More members can get on advisory committees, usually through letters to agency heads.
Ms. Hughes said the Workgroup also discussed the importance of communicating with our constituencies. She urged COTS members to communicate the work of COTS to their audiences, keeping in mind that most audiences are non-technical. Ms. Hughes also issued a challenge to communicate better with constituencies, and have a presentation from a COTS member at each future meeting on communication efforts. The University of Virginia publishes an online newsletter quarterly that highlights technology initiatives that impact the University of Virginia community. The Fall 2000 newsletter was devoted to the work of COTS and contained feature articles on COTS initiatives and Workgroups.