[Adopted 4-25-2017 ATM
by Art. 23]
Because a wide range of technologies play an increasing role in the lives of the Town's citizens and the work of its employees, the Town needs a coordinated approach to their adoption and use. As more fully described in the remainder of this Article VIII, this article establishes a committee that will be responsible for creating a rolling five-year Strategic Plan for the Town's technologies across all government entities, and will ensure consistent interpretation and execution of that plan. The Committee will work in collaboration with the various government entities that use/propose technologies. It will report on the plan to the Town Meeting and advise Town Meeting on proposed expenditures for technology.
A.
There shall be a Municipal Technology Committee ("MTC"), which shall
consist of five voting members and the nonvoting ex-officio members
identified below.
B.
Each voting member shall be a resident of the Town and shall not
be a Town officer or employee. Each voting member shall have significant
relevant professional experience and knowledge of one or more of the
technologies used, or proposed to be used, by the Town.
C.
The voting members shall be appointed as follows: two by the Select
Board, two by the School Committee, and one by the Library Board of
Trustees.
[Amended 11-1-2021 STM
by Art. 2]
A.
Voting members shall be appointed for three-year terms. The initial
appointments shall be two members for three years, two members for
two years, and one member for one year, so as to establish overlapping
terms. For subsequent appointments, the appointing authority shall
request that the MTC review the qualifications of prospective appointees,
but the final determination of who is selected shall rest with the
appointing authority.
B.
Any voting member who shall remove from the Town, resign, or die
shall cease to be a member. When notified that any voting member has
failed to faithfully discharge his duties, or has failed without good
cause to attend at least three-quarters of the full MTC meetings held
in any six-month interval, the respective appointing authority shall
promptly give notice, hold a hearing and determine whether such member
shall be removed from the MTC. In any case of a vacancy in the voting
membership, the respective appointing authority shall, within 30 days,
appoint a replacement for the balance of the unexpired term.
C.
Regular ex-officio (nonvoting) members may be appointed as follows:
one each by the Select Board, the School Committee, the Library Board
of Trustees and the Board of Health ("boards"). Regular ex-officio
members serve at the pleasure of their appointing authorities, and
may be nonresident Town officers or employees. They shall be the persons
most responsible for technology used by their respective board.
[Amended 11-1-2021 STM
by Art. 2]
D.
Additional ad-hoc ex-officio (nonvoting) members may be added by
the boards, but only with the consent or by the request of a majority
vote of the MTC. Such ad-hoc members serve at the pleasure of the
appointing authority and of the MTC on a temporary basis for so long
as needed by the business of the MTC. They may be nonresident Town
officers or employees.
A.
The members shall select, from among themselves, a Chairman and a
Secretary. The MTC shall promulgate such rules of procedure as may
be reasonable and useful for its efficient operation, and may from
time to time amend these rules by a majority vote of the members.
These rules shall specify that nonvoting members have the right to
full participation in all deliberations, except as may be restricted
by applicable law. No amendment to the rules shall be considered without
prior notice to all members.
B.
The MTC shall ordinarily and preferentially meet in the Town, but
may conduct meetings, investigations or inspections within the scope
of its duties and authority anywhere, subject to standard Town travel
budgets and policies.
C.
The MTC may appoint from its own membership subcommittees and delegate
to them such of its powers as it deems expedient.
D.
All reports and recommendations of the MTC made to the Town shall
be voted by a majority of the voting members of the MTC, but this
shall not be construed to prevent recommendations by a minority nor
to discourage full participation by the nonvoting members.
A.
Subject to available funding, the MTC shall have the authority to
engage consultants (paid or volunteer) ("consultants") when its membership
does not include the expertise necessary to evaluate specific projects.
The MTC may direct consultants to act to investigate and/or to report
to the MTC on technology and/or its use, proposed use, or discontinuance
in the Town. When the MTC determines that a consultant reasonably
requires the assistance of a technology manager to complete a task
assigned to him by the MTC, the MTC shall deliver a request for assistance
to either the technology manager or to the technology manager's supervisor.
All reasonable requests for assistance shall be approved by the technology
manager's supervisor. The MTC may accept a reasonable alternative
approach suggested by the technology manager or the technology manager's
supervisor. The MTC may not delegate its powers to consultants.
B.
The MTC shall have no permanent staff, but the Town Administrator
shall provide reasonable administrative support.
C.
The Town Administrator and ex-officio members shall provide reasonable
access to other employees as may be requested by the MTC. Such access
shall be subject to the approval of the affected employees' direct
supervisor(s).
The MTC shall have a budget for consultants and other expenses.
It shall submit its projected expenses to the Town's regular budget
process. Any expenditures from its budget shall require a majority
vote of the MTC, and be subject to the Town's policies for such expenditures.
Unless otherwise agreed or budgeted, expenses attributable to ex-officio
members shall be paid by their respective appointing authorities.
Expenses attributable to voting members shall be paid from the MTC
budget.
A.
The duty of the MTC shall be to recommend and document an overall
technology strategy for the Town and to proactively lead the Town's
development and implementation of this strategy.
B.
Further, the MTC shall proactively advise the boards, other Town
entities, the Town Administrator, and their designated employees ("technology
managers") responsible for purchasing and utilizing technologies used
to provide Town services.
C.
In this Article VIII, "technologies" include, but are not limited to: information technology/data processing equipment and software, computer networks, voice/FAX systems, intelligent building control systems, SCADA, mobile computing technologies (e.g., cellular telephones, tablets and laptops), radio communications, audio-visual technologies, emergency communications and future technologies as they arise.
D.
In this Article VIII, the phrase "Town entities" includes any Town board, committee, or agency of Town government, or subsidiary organization of any of these, whether statutory, elected or appointed, that uses or proposes to use technologies; and/or which expends or proposes to expend funds for technologies and/or related services.
A.
The MTC shall, as more fully described in the entirety of this Article VIII, address matters of technology in the Town, including but not limited to: information delivery; ensuring access to communications technology; increasing the efficiency of transactions involving the Town; and ensuring the effective deployment of infrastructure for the Town's operations and the Town's citizens.
B.
The MTC shall work to ensure that all Town entities utilize technology
in a common, effective and cost-effective manner for the benefit of
the Town, its operations and its residents.
A.
Technology managers shall notify the MTC when any plan for adopting,
discontinuing, expanding or reducing technologies is being formulated
and shall provide the MTC with the opportunity to participate in the
development of such plans and to obtain and budget for any necessary
consultants. All such plans shall be timely submitted to the MTC for
final review and comment prior to committing to their implementation.
These reviews shall consider and identify: consistency with the Strategic
Plan, opportunities for efficiencies and improved service, and impact
on other Town entities and the Town's citizens. The MTC may consider
and identify other relevant issues and related matters during these
reviews. These reviews shall be documented and considered by the technology
managers and their respective boards or Town entities, which shall
provide the MTC with their final plans and any subsequent changes
thereto.
B.
Notwithstanding the preceding subsection, the MTC's rules of procedure
may specify an exception process for emergencies significantly affecting
service delivery and/or criteria that set a threshold for reviewing
such plans. The MTC shall use reasonable judgment in establishing
such process and/or criteria so as to balance operational efficiency
with execution of the Strategic Plan.
C.
The MTC shall have the authority to inspect and review, in conjunction
with the technology managers, any of the Town's technology-based processes,
systems and operations to identify progress and issues with implementing
the Strategic Plan. The MTC shall provide reasonable notice prior
to such inspections and reviews.
D.
The goal of all MTC inspections and reviews shall be to provide significant
insight and advice that will improve consistency with and implementation
of the Strategic Plan and which may provide for the successful implementation
of projects.
A.
The MTC shall provide strategic planning and advice to the technology
managers, the boards, other Town entities and the Town Administrator.
In conjunction with the technology managers, the MTC shall maintain
a rolling five-year Strategic Plan ("Strategic Plan") for the Town's
technologies, which shall be accessible to the public. The MTC may
report on the Strategic Plan to Town Meeting.
B.
The Strategic Plan shall consider, but is not limited to:
(1)
Capital requests for technologies, taking into consideration the
goals of maximizing efficiency and cost effectiveness, removing unnecessary
redundancy, and ensuring, to the extent reasonably possible, the compatibility
of each request with other existing or proposed systems;
(2)
The specifications to be considered for information and communications
systems and other technologies when constructing or renovating Town
facilities;
(3)
Matters relating to information technology policy, specifically with
reference to issues of security, privacy, risk, future technology,
legal or regulatory requirements and the provision of government services
to the public through information technology; and
(4)
How to stimulate and support the development of appropriate technology
initiatives and activities that may increase communication and information
exchange within Town entities, between Town entities and its residents,
and among Town residents.
C.
In developing and maintaining the Strategic Plan, the MTC shall,
to the maximum extent feasible, integrate its processes with those
of any Town entities that have or develop a strategic planning process,
for technology or otherwise. As may be agreed between such Town entities
and the MTC, the MTC may participate in the Town entities' planning
processes in order to maximize efficiency of all planning processes
and to realize consistency with the Strategic Plan.
A.
The MTC does not have the authority to direct or require that a technology
manager, board or other Town entity make (or not make) a specific
technology-related decision.
B.
The MTC shall not interfere with the School Committee's development
or choice of instructional methods and curriculum nor with its selection
of instructional materials, but the MTC shall have the same duties
with respect to infrastructure planning and noninstructional systems
as it does for the other boards and Town entities. The MTC may report
to the School Committee on technology issues and trends that may affect
education, but such reports shall be informative, and shall not be
binding on the School Committee.
C.
The MTC may meet with other governmental agencies to discuss opportunities
for interoperation, efficiencies or other synergies. However, the
MTC does not have the authority to commit the Town to pursue such
opportunities, which authority rests with the boards, other Town entities,
and/or their designees.
A.
From time to time, as may be necessary, the MTC shall report to the
boards on major technology issues affecting the Town and its citizens,
including its progress toward completing the Strategic Plan.
B.
From time to time, as may be necessary, the MTC shall report to the
Town Meeting on its activities, the Town's technology needs, and progress
toward completing the Strategic Plan.
C.
The MTC shall review and consider all matters included within the
articles of any warrant for a Town Meeting hereafter issued that involve
a material expenditure of funds for technology and/or involve significant
changes in technology that affect Town services. The MTC shall, after
due consideration of the subject matter in said articles, report thereon,
in print or otherwise, such information and recommendations as it
shall deem best regarding such matters. The Moderator shall solicit
the recommendation of the MTC for each such article prior to general
discussion of and vote on the article at Town Meeting. The MTC shall
use reasonable judgment in establishing the threshold for issuing
these recommendations.
B.
The section headings and numbering of this Article VIII are for convenience and shall not be construed to modify the interpretation of the article.
C.
In this Article VIII, the masculine forms (including "his," "he," and "him") are used inclusively to refer to any person regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
E.
In this Article VIII: The word "will" is to be interpreted as descriptive of an outcome or process and not as an imperative; the word "shall" is to be interpreted in the imperative sense of "must" or "is required to"; while the word "may" is to be interpreted in the permissive sense of "optionally," or "has discretion whether or not to."
