Technology Innovation Fund Guidelines

Revised 2/18/2002

I. Description of Fund

The Louisiana Technology Innovation Fund (The Fund) was created by SB 1253/Act 481 of the 1997 Regular Legislative Session. The Fund is a dedicated fund created in the State Treasury that requires annual appropriation by the legislature. The Fund is appropriated by the legislature and administered by the Commissioner of Administration.

The Fund is created to be an incentive to accelerate the implementation of electronic government and to encourage state agencies to pursue innovative and creative approaches using technology to provide needed citizens services more cost-effectively and efficiently.

The Fund allows agency technology innovators to compete for dollars on a year round/on-going basis. Dollars are provided for agency proposals proposing that cost-savings, additional revenue generation and/or better service delivery would be realized. The Fund is not to be used to replace or offset appropriations for on-going technology expenditures and operations.

II. Purpose of Fund

The Information Technology (IT) Innovation Fund provides "seed" money for up to twenty-four (24) months for innovative, single or multi-agency projects. The fund furnishes a mechanism to identify and initiate cost-effective technology innovations in state government. It operates like the equivalent of a venture capital fund in the private sector - allowing agency innovators to compete for available funding. It will be available to fund projects that, at a minimum:

1. demonstrate innovative use of technology to dramatically improve/reengineer work processes or link across programs and agencies;
2. promise substantial benefits to the public such as improved information dissemination and increased timeliness or quality of service; or
3. promise substantial benefit to one or more agencies or programs through lower operating costs.

III. Eligibility for Obtaining Funds

In accordance with guidelines established by the Louisiana Technology Innovations Council (herein after referred to as the Council), the monies in the fund shall be granted when funding has not otherwise been provided for the following:

1. The procurement of information technology systems and services.
2. The procurement of telecommunications systems and services.

IV. Funding Priorities

The Louisiana Technology Innovations Fund (LTIF) supports innovative and exemplary projects that can serve as models for using information technology in state government. Every project supported by the LTIF should be a significant demonstration of how information technologies can be used to extend valuable services and opportunities to all aspects of government--government to citizens, government to business, and government to government. In addition, the development of an advanced information technology infrastructure depends upon the contribution of a wide variety of skills, ideas, and perspectives. Therefore, LTIF-supported projects should, to the greatest degree possible, reach out to citizens, businesses, and other government entities to catalyze partnerships that help build a digital state government.

Innovative projects can encompass, but are not restricted to: a demonstration of a cutting edge technology, a new application of a proven technology, a creative strategy for overcoming traditional barriers to improving services, a new configuration of existing information resources, or the use of IT in a unique setting. An LTIF project should offer new and practical insights into the use of information technology. The LTIF emphasizes the application of technology to meet the public's needs, and not simply on the use of the technology. Therefore, each project should identify specific problems or needs being served, use the technology to offer a concrete solution, and produce measurable outcomes.

An LTIF project is more than simply adding technology to address a problem, or incrementally modifying an existing process. Projects are expected to apply technology creatively and, in so doing, bring about meaningful changes in how services are provided and in the relationships between the government entity and its partners and clients.

Projects that would receive a high priority are:

• Interactive Web-enabled initiatives that are user friendly, and extend services to the public, businesses, or other government entities
• Collaborative partnerships between and/or among agencies
• Improvements to the state's technology infrastructure
• Innovations that could serve as a model to be used by others
• Provide opportunities to extend services to under-served areas.

Projects that would not receive a high priority are:

• Continuation or enhancements to existing systems
• Incremental upgrades or technical evolutions of existing environments
• Intra-departmental solutions with limited scope of effect
• Those that emphasize technology that may be new to the Proposer, but are in use in other departments
• Those where the agency cannot demonstrate adequate support to maintain the implemented solution
• Those that are research and development oriented with loosely defined users
• Those that depend on unproven technology

V. Criteria for Consideration

1. Better Service Delivery - Provide substantial benefits to the public such as increased/improved information dissemination, increased/improved timeliness or quality of service delivery, or reduced burden.
2. Cost Savings - Provide substantial benefit to agencies or programs through lower operating costs.
3. Revenue Generation - Assist agencies in more timely and increased collection and deposit of revenues into the state treasury.
4. New and/or Innovative Use of Technology.
5. Return on investment/demonstrated results within 24 months.
6. Demonstrates Best "Business" Practices.
7. Feasibility of Project.
8. Consistency with agency strategic information technology plans and when an overall state plan is adopted, consistency with state plan.
9. Consistency with Overall Agency Goals and Objectives

VI. Procedures for Submitting Applications

Applications must be submitted as follows:

· Chairman of the Louisiana Technology Innovations Council (7 Copies)

· Commissioner of Administration (1 Copy)

· Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget (1 Copy)

· Office of Planning and Budget (1 Copy)

· Legislative Fiscal Office (1 Copy)

· Copy of the request in electronic format (MS Word) to the Chairman of the Council at this e-mail address.

All applications submitted must use the Standard Proposal Format -- See Proposal Format. Note: When submitting a proposal by overnight mail or hand delivering it, the proposal should be sent to the designated individuals at these addresses. Proposals must be submitted along with a cover letter signed by the Secretary, Undersecretary (or their equivalents) and the Project Manager.

A. Proposal Forms will then be reviewed by the Office of Planning and Budget to insure funds have not already been provided for such technology and returned to the Division of Administration (DOA) within 5 working days following receipt of the proposal.

B. Proposal Forms will then be reviewed and assessed in accordance with the process established by the DOA for functionality, technical specifications and applicability of proposed hardware, software, and contracted services to help ensure the successful completion of the proposed project. The assessment must be returned to the Commissioner of Administration within 10 working days of the assignment to appropriate staff.

C. All Proposal Forms and the assessment and reviews will then be provided by the Commissioner of Administration to the Council for it's consideration at least 15 calendar days prior to the next regularly scheduled Council meeting.

VII. Proposal Requirements

1. Narrative justification must be included with the Standard Proposal Form providing a description of the Innovative Technology requested, how it will be used, and what benefits will accrue to the state or its citizens as a result of its implementation.
2. A cost/benefit analysis must be provided showing the return on investment.
3. A five year long-range plan for the use of the proposed new technology must be provided by the proposing entity.
4. A detailed explanation of agency, interagency, departmental, or interdepartmental savings, revenues, or efficiencies which will occur due to the application of the proposed new technology.
5. A detailed explanation of how the proposed new technology will be integrated with existing technologies.
6. A detailed explanation of how the success of the project will be measured.

VIII. Criteria for Evaluation

Each proposal is rated on the following topics:

1. Compliance with Funding Priorities
2. Benefits to be achieved
3. Innovativeness
4. Multi-agency application or portable to other agencies
5. Completeness of the project design
6. Implementation plan with related timeline and milestones
7. Accountability/Demonstration of Auditable Results
8. Benchmarking partners and/or Best Practice references

IX. Proposal Awards and Limits

The approval of proposals and award of dollars will be made by the Council. The Council is composed of five individuals as follows:

1. The president of the Senate, or his designee.
2. The speaker of the House of Representatives, or his designee.
3. The commissioner of administration, or his designee.
4. An undersecretary or deputy secretary of a state department, appointed by the governor.
5. A member of the Council of Information Service Directors, appointed by the governor.

1. Proposals will be ranked in priority order by the council and awards will be made in the order of the established priorities.
2. Awards will be limited to one million dollars ($1,000,000).
3. The Council may review and adjust the amount of any award as it deems necessary.
4. The Council reserves the right to reject any or all proposals.
5. Upon approval of an award, the Commissioner of Administration will be notified of the Council's action and the Commissioner will adjust an agency's interagency means of financing and associated expenditure categories to accurately reflect the amount of the award. The Commissioner of Administration will immediately notify the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget and the Legislative Fiscal Office.
6. The amount of the award shall be designated and reserved from the fund for the duration of the project to ensure implementation.
7. The Council reserves the right to recommend revocation of funds for any projects that experience significant departure from the agreed upon proposal, changes in scope, benefits, or other major factors inhibiting the successful completion of the proposed project.
8. All application proposals that are approved and awarded funds shall be subject to a performance audit by the Commissioner of Administration and/or the Legislative Auditor.

X. Progress Reporting

1. Award recipients shall provide progress reports at each scheduled milestone date submitted in the original proposal. Such progress reports shall indicate progress attained for that milestone. Any slippage in schedule and actions employed to get back on schedule must be reported to the Council.
2. A final project report shall be provided no later than 90 days after completion of the project. This report should provide a post-implementation review of the project identifying any pitfalls encountered, best practices employed, benefits achieved or to be achieved, and recommendations to other agencies considering the use of such technological innovation.
3. For the first three fiscal years following implementation, the agency will monitor and report the extent to which the performance goals, as required by Section VII above, are being met.
4. Continued annual reporting of benefits achieved through the use of the technology is encouraged via the agencies budget reporting process.
5. Progress reports under Paragraph A and the final report under Paragraph B, under Section IX, shall be submitted to the Commissioner of Administration, the Louisiana Technology Innovations Council, the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget, the Office of Planning and Budget, and the Legislative Fiscal Office.