In our continued effort to foster collaboration and alignment across state agencies we support, the ITS Service Delivery team hosts a monthly IT Liaison Meeting to provide timely updates, share best practices, and strengthen our shared IT ecosystem.
Led by the SDM team (Chris Seffens, Mark French, Elton Kelly, Nicole Bledsoe, Tim Gates) these meetings are held virtually through Microsoft Teams, making it easy for agency representatives across the state to attend and engage. To further encourage connection and partnership, one meeting each quarter is held in a hybrid format, hosted by one of our partner IT agencies. These gatherings rotate locations and provide an opportunity for face-to-face discussion and networking.
By maintaining regular communication and providing a structured yet flexible space for collaboration, these meetings continue to play a critical role in delivering high-quality, responsive technology services that empower every agency to better serve the public.
Hybrid meetings bring Liaisons together
We often bundle topics together that have a theme; that was the case during the July meeting. Focusing on building secure systems, we brought together topics that strengthen the state’s security posture and awareness.
The Idaho State Tax Commission hosted the hybrid gathering at the Chinden campus. Eight agencies sent 17 representatives to attend in-person, along with the entire Service Delivery Management team; online, we had 48 people attend, representing 31 different agencies.
The following topics were presented at the Liaison Meeting
Vulnerability Testing
One of the services ITS offer to agencies is Penetration Testing. In partnership with the Idaho National Guard, Sam Montiel coordinates resources from the National Guard and Boise State interns to test networks for vulnerabilities.
Phishing Assessment
ITS recently took over the campaign hosted by KnowBe4 from DHR to send emails as a test to supported agency users. Matt Aslett shared some statistics from those campaigns.
This yields a success phish rate of 4.7%. In comparison, statistics show the average for government phish rate is 17.9%, and all industries are 19.8%.
AI Framework for Responsible Innovation
AI has been making headlines, and ITS has been working framework and procedures and guardrails for AI-enabled applications. We’ve been actively engaging with state agencies to gather feedback and understand the current landscape. Based on this input, we are developing guidance to enhance privacy, security, and risk management around AI use.
Implementation Guidelines
To provide clarity and practical direction, the guidelines will assist state agencies in implementing AI systems in compliance with our established policies and standards. These guidelines will include recommended approaches for conducting risk assessments, documenting systems, implementing safeguards, and managing AI systems throughout their lifecycle—from proof of concept to production.
