* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [Technology and Innovation Committee on September 17, 2026.] [00:00:15] GOOD AFTERNOON, EVERYONE. MY NAME IS MARIO CASTILLO, CITY COUNCIL MEMBER, DISTRICT H, CHAIR OF THE TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION COMMITTEE, AND I WILL CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER AT 2:02 PM AND WITH ME ARE COLLEAGUES, COUNCIL MEMBER SALLY ALCORN AND VICE MAYOR PRO TEM AMY PECK, ALONG WITH STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER JACKSON'S OFFICE, COUNCIL MEMBER PANZELLA'S OFFICE, COUNCIL MEMBER THOMAS'S OFFICE AND COUNCIL MEMBER RAMIREZ'S OFFICE. TODAY WE HAVE TWO ITEMS ON THE AGENDA ALONG WITH PUBLIC COMMENT. IF WE HAVE ANY SPEAKERS. OUR FIRST PRESENTATION IS GONNA FOCUS ON DIGITAL GOVERNMENT ACCESSIBILITY. AND THIS IS, UH, REALLY THINKING ABOUT AS SO MUCH OF WHAT WE DO NOW AS A CITY IS DIGITAL FACING. UM, WHAT ARE WE DOING TO BE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL, UH, HOUSTONIANS AND AS WELL AS KEEPING UP WITH FEDERAL COMPLIANCE DEADLINES FOR PUBLIC DIGITAL ASSETS TO MEET LEVEL AA ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS. AND SO TODAY WE WILL HEAR FROM ANGEL PONTE, DIRECTOR FOR THE MAYOR'S OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES, DAVID OPHEIM, DIGITAL PLATFORM AND USER EXPERIENCE LEAD WITH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS, AND KYLE PANA, , DEPUTY CIO FOR IT APPLICATIONS FOR HOUSTON, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES. AND WHEN Y'ALL ARE READY TO, UH, MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE PODIUM, WE WILL BEGIN WITH OUR FIRST PRESENTATION. HELLO AND, UH, GOOD AFTERNOON, UH, CHAIR CASTILLO AND MEMBERS OF THE, OF THE, UH, COMMITTEE. UH, WE'RE HERE TO PRESENT AN UPDATE ON OUR CITYWIDE DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY STRATEGY AND OUR PATHWAY FORWARD, UH, TOWARD FEDERAL COMPLIANCE UNDER TITLE TWO OF THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, AS YOU MENTIONED, UH, MY NAME IS ANGEL NCE WITH THE DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOODS OFFICE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES. AND TODAY, UH, WE WILL SHARE HOW HOUSTON IS BUILDING, UH, AN SUSTAINABLE, ACCESSIBLE, AND TRANSPARENT DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM FOR OUR HOUSTON RESIDENTS. NEXT SLIDE. TO UNDERSTAND WHY DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY IS SO CRUCIAL TODAY, IT HELPS TO LOOK BRIEFLY AT HOW ACCESSIBILITY LAW HAS EVOLVED OVER THE LAST 60 YEARS. UH, UH, IN 1968, UH, THE ARCHITECTURAL BURIALS ACT, UH, FOCUSED STRICTLY ON PHYSICAL ACCESS TO FEDERAL FUNDED FACILITIES LIKE POST OFFICES AND COURTHOUSES. IN 1993, UH, THE REHABILITATION ACT, SECTION 5 0 4, CREATED A FUNDAMENTAL PARADIGM SHIFT BY FRAMING EXCLUSION AS IN LEGAL DISCRIMINATION AND MANDATING PROGRAM ACCESS ACROSS FEDERAL FUNDED SERVICES. WHAT THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY FOUND IS THAT, UH, ORGANIZATIONS, INCLUDING COMPANIES, TOOK ADVANTAGE OF THIS IF THEY WEREN'T RECEIVING FEDERAL FUNDING. AND SO MEMBERS OF THE DISABILITY COMMUNITY CAME TOGETHER, AND IN 1990, THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT WAS PASSED. THIS ACT EXTENDED THE CIVIL RIGHT PROTECTIONS INTO STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS, AND AS WELL THE PUBLIC SECTOR. TODAY, FEDERAL COURTS AND THE US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE EXPLICITLY, UH, RECOGNIZED THE DI UH, THE DIGITAL SPACE. OUR WEBSITES, UH, ONLINE PORTAL, UH, PAYMENT PORTALS, UH, AND INCLUDING OUR MOBILE APPS AS MODERN EXTENSIONS OF GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS. NEXT SLIDE. CURRENTLY, OUR PUBLIC WEBSITE AND MOBILE APPLICATIONS SERVE AS OUR MODERN PUBLIC SPHERE. UH, DIGITAL ENVIRONMENTS ARE THE PRIMARY FRONT DOORS OF TWO MUNICIPAL SERVICES FOR PAYING UTILITY BILLS TO VIEWING COURT DATES OR CHECKING EMERGENCY ALERTS, ENSURING THAT EQUAL, UH, DIGITAL ACCESS FOR RESIDENTS AND DISABILITIES IS JUST AS VITAL TODAY AS BUILDING A PHYSICAL RAMP LEADING TO THE FRONT DOORS OF CITY HALL. NEXT SLIDE. ON APRIL 24TH, 2024, THE US DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE PUBLISHED ITS FINAL RULE UNDER TITLE TWO OF THE [00:05:01] AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT. IT IS IMPORTANT TO EMPHASIZE WHO ENFORCES THESE STANDARDS. UM, U-S-D-O-J IS THE FEDERAL AGENCY MONITORING A TASK TO, UH, TO OVERSIGHT, ENFORCE AND AUDITING STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT COMPLIANCE. TO SATISFY THIS FEDERAL REQUIREMENT, DOJ RECOGNIZE THE WEB CONTENT ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES, WE HAD 2.1 LEVEL, A DOUBLE LEVEL DOUBLE A AS THE EXPLICIT MANDATORY TECHNICAL STANDARD, RECOGNIZING THE COMPLEXITY OF UPDATING MUNICIPAL DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE. FEDERAL ENFORCEMENT TIMELINES WERE EXTENDED, UH, FOR LARGE PUBLIC ENTITIES LIKE THE CITY OF HOUSTON. OUR FORMAL COMPLIANCE, UH, DEADLINE IS NOW APRIL 26TH, 2027. HOWEVER, OUR GOAL IS NOT TO WAIT UNTIL THE MIDNIGHT HOUR OF THIS DATE, BUT TO STE SYSTEMICALLY BUILD AN INCLUSIVE DIGITAL, UH, FOOTPRINT TODAY. NEXT SLIDE. I WANNA HIGHLIGHT, UM, HOW THE POOR ACCESSIBILITY STANDARDS ARE A KEY PART OF OUR INITIATIVE. OUR EVALUATION AND TECHNICAL STRATEGY ARE GUIDED BY THE INTERNATIONAL POOR, UH, PRINCIPLES, WHICH FORM THE FOUNDATION FOR WAG PERCEIVABLE, ENSURING THAT INFORMATION IS ACCESSIBLE VIA TOOLS LIKE SCREEN READERS AND HIGH CONTRAST OPERABLE, ALLOWING SEAMLESS NAVIGATION USING ONLY KEYBOARDS AND ASSISTIVE DEVICES, UNDERSTANDABLE, UTILIZING SIMPLE, LOGICAL LAYOUTS IN PLAIN LANGUAGE AND ROBUST FUNCTIONING RELIABLY ACROSS MODERN BROWSERS, MOBILE DEVICES, AND SCREEN READERS. THESE FOUR KEY PRINCIPLES WILL GUIDE THE CITY OF HOUSTON THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OUR DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY STRATEGY. NEXT SLIDE. IN 2024, THE OFFICE OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AND OUR CONSULTANTS CONDUCTED A DIGITAL PILOT STUDY ACROSS KEY MUNICIPAL ENVIRONMENTS, INCLUDING THE HOUSTON'S MAIN WEBSITE AND THE HOUSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY WEBSITE. THIS PILOT REVEALED THREE, UH, CRUCIAL OPERATIONAL INSIGHTS, ONE, THAT TRUE DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY IS CHALLENGING BECAUSE CONTENT MANAGEMENT IS DECENTRALIZED ACROSS MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTAL WEB MASTERS AND DEVELOPERS RATHER THAN A SINGLE TEAM. DAVID WILL TALK ABOUT HOW WE ARE MAKING CHANGES TO THAT. NOW, AUTOMATED SCANNER SCANNING SOFTWARE LIKE SITEIMPROVE DOES CAPTURE, UH, BARRIERS, BUT ONLY ABOUT 30 TO 40% OF ACCESSIBILITY BARRIERS AS CODE SCANNING CANNOT DETERMINE IF AN IMAGE DESCRIPTION MAKES SENSE OR IF A FORM IS LOGICALLY, UH, STRUCTURED. CONSEQUENTLY, REAL COMPLIANCE REQUIRES HUMAN, UH, EVALUATION, INCLUDING MANUAL SCREEN READER TESTING AND HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN REVIEWS. NEXT SLIDE. THE DIGITAL ASSESSMENT EVALUATED SMALL SAMPLES FROM TWO PRIMARY, PRIMARY DIGITAL ENTITIES. THE MAIN CITY WEBSITE ABOUT 13 PAGES WERE SAMPLED, AND THE HOUSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY WEBSITE STANDALONE. YOU MAY BE ASKING, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WCAC LEVEL A AND WEAK? A LEVEL AA? LEVEL A, FOR EXAMPLE, SERVES AS THE BASELINE REQUIRING CLOSED CAPTIONS ON ALL PRERECORDED VIDEOS SUCH AS THE CITY PROMO CLIPS OR RE OR RECORDED ANNOUNCEMENTS LEVEL AA, THE TARGET STANDARD FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT ENTITIES EXPANDS THIS REQUIREMENT TO LIVE EVENTS. ALL LIVE CA UH, WEBCASTS OF THE CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS, FOR EXAMPLE, OR PUBLIC HEARINGS, MUST INCLUDE REAL TIME CAPTIONS VIA AUTOMATED TOOLS OR PROFESSIONAL CART SERVICES. ADOPTING LEVEL AA ENSURES EQUAL ACCESS AND TRANSPARENCY FOR ALL COMMUNITY MEMBERS, WHETHER WATCHING LIVE OR ON DEMAND IN THE MAIN WEBSITE. UM, WE FOUND THAT LEVEL A REVIEW MET ABOUT 78% OF, UM, OF ACCESSIBILITY LEVEL DOUBLE A. THE MAIN CITY WEBSITE MET ABOUT 83% OF ACCESSIBILITY WITH AN OVERALL RATE OF 80%. FOR THE CITY LIBRARY WEBSITE ON LEVEL A MET [00:10:01] 72% OF ACCESSIBILITY LEVEL DOUBLE A 75% WITH AN OVERALL RATE OF 73%. HERE ARE SOME KEY TAKEAWAYS. RELIANCE SOLELY ON AUTOMATED TOOLS LIKE SITE IMPROVE, ALTHOUGH HELPFUL DOES NOT FULLY CAPTURE AND RESOLVE BARRIERS FOR USERS. RELYING ON ASSISTIVE DEVICES FORM FORMAL USABILITY TESTING AND INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES IS NECESSARY. I'M GONNA PASS, UH, NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. I'M GONNA PASS IT OVER TO DAVID. HI EVERYBODY. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS SO FAR? I KNOW WE'RE GOING TO BE COVERING A LOT OF, UH, OKAY, COOL. YEAH, JUST GO AHEAD AND, AND KEEP GOING. WONDERFUL. UM, UH, MY POSITION WITH THE MAYOR'S OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS IS THE DIGITAL, UH, PLATFORM AND USABILITY, UH, HUB LEAD. AND WHAT WE ARE DOING INITIALLY IS WE ARE BRINGING TOGETHER THE CITY'S WEBMASTERS AND CONTENT CONTRIBUTORS AND PROGRAMMERS. UH, FIRST WHAT WE DO IS WE IDENTIFY ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE INVOLVED IN CONTENT PRODUCTION AND MAINTENANCE, AND THEN WE TALK TO THEM ABOUT FIRST, WE, WE GUIDE AND INFORM AND EDUCATE TO GIVE US, UH, DIRECTION. THE SECOND THING WE'RE DOING IS WE HAVE TO MAKE AN ASSESSMENT OF HOW MANY WEBSITES THE CITY ACTUALLY HAS. AND NOT JUST THOSE WEBSITES, BUT THE THIRD PARTY PLATFORMS THAT WE'RE USING, LIKE KRONOS, FOR EXAMPLE. WE HAVE LOTS AND LOTS OF PLATFORMS THAT WE ALSO HAVE TO MAKE SURE ARE ACCESSIBLE. AND ON TOP OF THAT, WE HAVE ALL OF OUR INTERNAL SHAREPOINT SITES. SO IT'S NOT JUST PUBLIC FACING, IT'S EVERYBODY WE'RE COVERING. THE SECOND THING IS, IS WE HAVE TO RUN A, AN INVENTORY OF ALL OF OUR CONTENT. AND RIGHT NOW WE HAVE SEVERAL DISPARATE SITES. WE HAVE ABOUT BETWEEN 80 AND 90 DIFFERENT LITTLE PLATFORMS RUNNING OUT THERE BETWEEN THE THIRD PARTY SITES AND THE CITY SITES. AND IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, PUT IT INTO GROUPS. WE HAVE THE CITY'S MAIN HOUSTON TEXT.GOV DOMAIN. WE HAVE HEALTH PERMITTING, PUBLIC WORKS AIRPORT, AND THEN WE'VE GOT ALL THESE OTHER THINGS LIKE, LIKE OEM, FOR EXAMPLE, THE OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT. WE HAVE A LOT OF, UH, WORDPRESS SITES, FOR EXAMPLE. SO WE HAVE DISPARATE PLATFORMS AND PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT CONNECTED. AND ONE OF OUR BIG GOALS IS TO BRING US ALL TOGETHER SO THEY'RE WORKING, UH, TOGETHER, UH, TO IMPROVE NOT ONLY THE ACCESSIBILITY OF THE CITY, BUT THE QUALITY OF THE CONTENT. AND THEN THE THIRD PIECE OF THAT IS ONCE WE PERFORM THE WORK, WE HAVE TO DEMONSTRATE, WE HAVE TO MEASURE HOW WELL WE'RE DOING THAT. AND THAT'S AN ONGOING PROCESS THAT WILL GO ON FOREVER. BUT THAT'S A BIG PART OF, FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT, UM, ANGEL'S OFFICE DOES AND WHAT THE DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOODS, THEY ENGAGE THE FOLKS THAT WE SERVE. AND THAT'S THE BIG THING RIGHT THERE, IS ARE WE SUCCESSFULLY GIVING EVERYBODY ACCESS TO OUR PRODUCTS AND SERVICES AND, AND PROGRAMS. AND SO THAT'S THE ULTIMATE GOAL, AND THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING RIGHT NOW, IS BASICALLY BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER SO WE KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING AND WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO, TO ACCOMPLISH THESE TASKS. THANK YOU, DAVID. I WILL ALSO ADD THAT DAVID HAS BEEN A BIG PART OF ACKNOWLEDGING THAT WE WEREN'T MEETING FULLY A DA COMPLIANCE, UH, WITH OUR, UH, DIGITAL FRONT. AND SO FORMER, INCLUDING THE FORMER WEBMASTER, UM, WE LOOKED AT THE TOP 100 WEBSITES, UH, FOR THE CITY OF HOUSTON AND IMPROVED THOSE TO MEET A HUNDRED PERCENT OF A DA COMPLIANCE. UM, AND I'M HAPPY TO SAY THAT I HAVE A, A, A TEAM MEMBER, UH, IN MY OFFICE THAT USES SCREEN READER SOFTWARE, AND WE WENT THROUGH THE CITY MAIN WEBSITE. WE WENT THROUGH THE HOUSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY WEBSITE, AND WE FOUND ALMOST NOTHING OF BARRIERS. AND SO WE'RE HAPPY TO SAY THAT WE ARE, UH, TAKING ACTION NOW BEFORE WE BRING IN OTHER FOLKS TO ASSIST US. UM, ANYTHING ELSE, DAVID? NO, THAT, THAT'S IT. ALL RIGHT. WE'RE GONNA PASS THE PRESENTATION NOW. NEXT SLIDE OVER TO KALPANA ALI WITH THE HIS DEPARTMENT. GOOD AFTERNOON EVERYONE. THANK YOU, ANGEL. SO ON THIS SLIDE, UH, YOU WILL FIND ABOUT THE CITY OF HOUSTON WEBSITE REFRESHER, WHAT EXACTLY IT IS, RIGHT? SO WE, WE'VE BEEN WORKING WITH ANGEL AND HIS TEAM, UM, THINK OF IT AS THE INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADE, RIGHT? YOUR PLATFORM WHERE ALL OF THESE, UM, SITES ARE HOUSED. SO WE ARE ON AN ON-PREM. UM, WE HAVE THREE SERVERS IN A DATA CENTER RIGHT NOW, AND THE TECHNOLOGY IS OUTDATED. SO WE ARE MOVING TO A MODERN PLATFORM, WHICH IS A CONTENT MANAGEMENT SOLUTION THAT'S, UM, HOUSED IN THE CLOUD. SO, UM, THAT'S [00:15:01] WHAT THIS UPGRADE IS. AND WE'VE BEEN, UH, WORKING AND ON TIME FOR THE GO LIVE OF THIS PROJECT LATER THIS YEAR. UM, WHAT DOES THIS REALLY BRING, RIGHT? WHY ARE WE DOING THIS? THERE ARE SEVERAL BENEFITS THAT MOVING TO THIS PLATFORM BRINGS. UM, SOME OF THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS ARE ALREADY USING IT, AND WE ARE, UM, MOVING TO ACQUIA FOR THE REST OF THE, UM, ENVIRONMENT. SO SECURE AND COMPLIANT, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE, RIGHT? SO WE HAVE, UM, BUILT IN SAFEGUARDS FOR, FOR THE PLATFORM, AND WE HAVE ROLE-BASED ACCESS ON WHO GETS ACCESS TO THESE SITES AND HOW THEY CAN BE ACCESSED ALSO FROM A DISASTER RECOVERY PERSPECTIVE. WE DO HAVE AN INSTANCE SINCE WE ARE IN THE CLOUD, UM, BETTER RESIDENT ACCESS AND SERVICE EXPERIENCE. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? FIRSTLY, THE WEBSITES ARE GONNA BE FASTER, UM, AND WHEN SOMEBODY GOES ONTO OUR WEBSITES, IT'S EASIER TO FIND THINGS WITH FEWER CLICKS AND, UM, ALSO WORKS BETTER FOR RESIDENTS WITH DISABILITIES. SO YOU'VE HEARD ANGEL TALK ABOUT WE A THE WEB CONTENT ACCESSIBILITY GUIDELINES, RIGHT? SO WE ARE, WE HAVE TO MEET THOSE STANDARDS AND WE HAVE A DEADLINE. UM, THIS PLATFORM ALREADY HAS THE CAPABILITY. I MEAN, WE ARE, UM, REQUIRED TO BE AT 2.1, BUT THIS ALREADY SUPPORTS US AT 2.2. WE HAD 2.2. SO SCREEN READERS, ASSISTED DEVICES, EVERYTHING, UM, IS, IT'S GONNA COM COMPATIBLE. IMPROVED RELIABILITY. LET'S SAY WE HAVE, UH, AN EVENT, A WEATHER EVENT OR HURRICANES, THE PLATFORM CAN HANDLE HIGH VISITOR TRAFFIC AND, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF PEOPLE CAN ACCESS IT AND ANNOUNCEMENTS CAN BE MADE. UM, WE ARE NOW IN THE CLOUD, SO WE HAVE A DR SOLUTION. IF SOMETHING HAPPENS, WE CAN, YOU KNOW, MOVE ON TO THE, THE, THE DR SOLUTION. UM, MODERN TOOLS THAT EMPOWER STAFF. SO ONE OF THE BIGGEST ADVANTAGES WITH, UH, GOING TO THIS PLATFORM IS IT ENABLES TOOLS FOR CITY STAFF. UM, THE WEBSITE IS FASTER, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, IT TAKES A LONG TIME TO PUT UPDATES INTO THESE WEBSITES. EVERY DEPARTMENT HAS DIFFERENT CHANGES THAT THEY WANNA PUT ON THEIR SITES. SO THIS PLATFORM WILL ACTUALLY MAKE IT EASIER. UM, AND THERE IS A TOOL CALLED THE ACQUIA WEB GOVERNANCE, WHICH ACTUALLY HELPS IN ENABLING THE ACCESSIBILITY AND SCANNING, RIGHT? WHAT DOES SCANNING MEAN? SCANNING IS FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE, UH, GUIDELINES, RIGHT? SO IT AUTOMATICALLY CHECKS FOR THE GUIDELINES, AND IF WE ARE VIOLATING OR THEN IT'LL POP UP AND TELL US BECAUSE THE SCANS ARE HAPPENING AT A REGULAR TIME. THAT WAY WE CAN PROACTIVELY WORK ON WHAT'S NEEDED TO UPDATE OUR WEBSITES, UM, LOWER LONG, LONG-TERM COSTS. RIGHT NOW, WE ARE, WE HAVE THREE SERVERS, AND WE ARE MANAGING IT. IT'S AN OUTDATED TECHNOLOGY, BUT MOVING INTO THE CLOUD, UH, I THINK WE WILL BE ABLE TO SEE THE COST REDUCTION IN TERMS OF USERS, THE WEB MASTERS THAT ARE RIGHT NOW LOGGING IN TO MAKE CHANGES, IT TAKES THEM, UM, HOURS, I WOULD SAY, UH, TO PUT THOSE CHANGES IN. IT'S MUCH MORE EASIER ON THIS PLATFORM. SO OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME, WE WILL SEE THE COSTS REDUCED. OKAY, I'M GONNA ADD IT OVER. BACK TO ANGEL. THANK YOU, KALANA. UM, SO I WANTED TO TOUCH AS WELL ON OUR ROADMAP, UM, BUILDING STRUCTURED PROGRESS AND PROVIDE YOU WITH AN UPDATE OF WHAT HAS TAKEN PLACE. UM, IN EARLY 2024, CITY COUNCIL ADOPTED PHASE ONE OF THE A DA TRANSITION PLAN, UH, TO EVALUATE ACCESSIBILITY ACROSS FACILITIES RIGHTS OF WAY IN THE DIGITAL SPACE. UH, IN MID 2025, A SELF-EVALUATION, UH, FINDING REPORT AND TIMELINE WAS PROVIDED TO CITY LEADERSHIP. UH, IN 2026, THE CITY WEBMASTER REVIEWED, AS MATT MENTIONED EARLIER, THE TOP 100 CITY WEB PAGES, INCLUDING THE MAIN CITY WEBSITE TO RESOLVE BARRIERS SUPPORTED BY DAVID, UH, WITH THE UX UX HUB, AND MOST RECENTLY, UM, UH, WE ARE INITIATING OUR PHASE TWO GAP ANALYSIS AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT TO FINALIZE, UH, DEPART DEPARTMENTAL INVENTORIES AND STRENGTHEN OUR EXECUTION ROADMAP TOWARDS THE APRIL, 2027 DEADLINE, SUPPORTING THE, UM, THE MIGRATION. NEXT SLIDE. NOW, AS WE CONTINUE [00:20:01] EXECUTING PHASE TWO OF THE A DA TRANSITION PLAN, I WANT TO BRIEF YOU ON OUR STRUCTURED SCOPE OF SERVICES FOR DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY, UH, WITH A PRO, UH, PROJECT COMPLETION DATE TARGETED FOR A, UH, APRIL 24, 26 OF 2027. OUR GOAL IS CLEAR TO ENSURE THAT THE CITY DIGITAL MEDIA WEBSITE'S, IT INFRASTRUCTURE MEET THE DIGITAL, THE, SORRY, THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WEB ACCESSIBILITY RULE, WHILE BUILDING LONG-TERM INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY. OUR CONSULTANT WILL SURVEY DEPARTMENTS AND TEST CITY SOFTWARE, UM, ALONG WITH IT TO FIND WHERE CURRENT SYSTEMS FALL SHORT OF THE DOJ RULE. THE FINAL DELIVERABLE IS A REPORT DETAILING OUR DIGITAL COMPLIANCE GAPS. USING THE GAP REPORT, CONSULTANTS WILL MEET WITH LEGAL PROCUREMENT, IT A DA AND COMMUNICATIONS TEAMS TO BUILD A STEP-BY-STEP COMPLIANCE PLAN. AND, UH, THE FINAL DELIVERABLE IS A DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY ROADMAP. THE DEPARTMENT OF NEIGHBORHOODS AND THE CONSULTANT WILL HELP DEPARTMENTS PUT THE ROADMAP INTO ACTION. THEY WILL CREATE LEADERSHIP PRESENTATIONS, RIGHT STEP-BY-STEP GUIDES, AND HELP COMMUNICATE CHANGES TO STAFF AND TO THE PUBLIC. NEXT SLIDE. NOW BY PAIRING OUR FEDERAL A DA OBLIGATIONS WITH OUR WEBSITE MIGRATION AND STRICT WA APPEARANCE, WE ARE POSITIONING HOUSTON AS A NATIONAL LEADER IN ACCESSIBLE, TRANSPARENT, AND, UH, EFFICIENT MUNICIPAL GOVERNANCE. UH, I WANNA CLOSE BY STATING THAT I JUST CAME BACK FROM A SHORT MEETING WITH A A RP, AND DURING MY CONVERSATION WITH THEM, WE DISCUSSED OUR PLANS TO MAKE THE CITY OF HOUSTON MORE ACCESSIBLE. AND IT DAWNED ON ME THAT ALTHOUGH WE ARE INITIATING THIS TO SERVE PEOPLE LIVING WITH DISABILITIES, IT GOES FAR BEYOND THAT. THESE ARE THE PEOPLE THAT ARE WORKING WITH, THAT HAVE FAMILY MEMBERS WITH DISABILITIES. THESE ARE THE CAREGIVERS, THE MOMS AND DADS, GRANDPAS AND GRANDMAS, THE SONS AND DAUGHTERS, AND THE CAREGIVERS THAT WORK EVERY DAY TO ENSURE THAT WHEN THEY'RE WI VISITING A WEBSITE, IT'S ACCESSIBLE TO THEM THAT WHEN THEY ARE BRINGING THEM TO CITY HALL, THEY DON'T RUN INTO A BARRIER AT THE CURB THAT THERE IS A RAMP IN PLACE SO THAT THEY CAN PROVIDE TESTIMONY AND HAVE ACCESS TO FACILITIES, PROGRAM RESOURCES AND ACTIVITIES. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE, FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO PRESENT TO YOU. THANK YOU ALL FOR BEING HERE TODAY AND FOR THE PRESENTATION. UH, BEFORE WE GET TO QUESTIONS, I DO WANNA RECOGNIZE WE'VE BEEN JOINED BY VICE CHAIR MARTINEZ. WE'VE BEEN JOINED BY STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER SALINAS'S OFFICE, AS WELL AS ONLINE STAFF FROM COUNCIL MEMBER FLICKINGER, OFFICE MAYOR, PRO TEM CASTEX TATUM, COUNCIL MEMBER CARTER AS WELL. UM, YOU KNOW, SO OFTEN WE THINK ABOUT ACCESSIBILITY IN TERMS OF ACCESSING A FACILITY OR TRANSPORTATION, BUT DIGITAL ACCESSIBILITY IS SO VITAL TODAY AS MORE AND MORE OF OUR SERVICES AS A CITY ARE ACCESSED ONLINE. AND, UH, I APPRECIATE Y'ALL BEING HERE TO GIVE THIS UPDATE. AND TO, YOU KNOW, THE, THE NEWS THAT WE HAVE A ROADMAP, WE'VE GOT A PLAN, WE'VE DONE SOME ASSESSMENT, AND, AND THE WORK IS UNDERWAY. UM, ONE OF THE QUESTIONS THAT I HAD WAS AROUND THE BULLET POINT, PUBLISH AND MAINTAIN ACCESSIBLE DESIGN STANDARDS AND TRAINING. SO DEPARTMENTS CAN CREATE WCAG ALIGNED CONTENT CONSISTENTLY. SO WILL THE DEPARTMENTS THEN BE RESPONSIBLE FOR, UNDER THIS NEW PLATFORM, UPLOADING THEIR CONTENT TO REFRESH THEIR WEBSITES AND, AND THEIR INFORMATION? SORRY. UM, SO THE, UH, THE PLAN IS TO, UH, PROVIDE THE DEPARTMENT WITH, WITH DEPARTMENTS, WITH THE TOOLS THAT THEY NEED TO CONTINUE THE PROCESS. UH, WHEN OUR CONSULTANT LEAVES THE WORK, WE'RE STILL GOING TO BE RESPONSIBLE TO MAINTAIN IT. SO OUR MAIN OBJECTIVE, UH, AS FAR AS PROVIDING SUPPORT TO DEPARTMENTS IS HUMAN RESOURCES HAS, UM, AN A DA COORDINATOR, UH, SPECIFICALLY FOCUSED ON EMPLOYMENT, RIGHT? THEY HAVE A DA LIAISONS IN DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS. SO OUR PLAN IS TO, UM, FOR DEPARTMENTS TO, TO WORK WITH THEM TO, UM, UH, IDENTIFY AN A DA COORDINATOR FOR TITLE TWO LOCAL AND STATE GOVERNMENT. AND SO WHEN WE, UH, MEET WITH THEM, WE'LL PROVIDE THEM WITH THE SCHOOL TOOLS AND SKILLS THAT THEY NEED TO CONTINUE THE PROCESS IN THEIR DEPARTMENTS. GREAT. THANK YOU FOR THAT [00:25:01] CLARIFICATION. VICE MAYOR PRO TEMP PECK. THANK YOU CHAIR. AND THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION AND FOR ALL OF THIS WORK THAT'S BEING DONE. I KNOW THAT THE FOCUS IS ON CITY WEBSITES, BUT ARE WE EVALUATING AT ALL ANY OF THE OTHER APPS OR WEBSITES THAT WE'RE ASKING PEOPLE TO USE, FOR EXAMPLE, 3 1 1, UM, APP TO SEE, I MEAN, OBVIOUSLY WE CAN'T CHANGE THEIR APPS, BUT TO SEE IF THERE'S ANOTHER ACCESSIBLE MEANS FOR PEOPLE TO USE THAT MAYBE WHERE IT'S NOT ACCESSIBLE ON THESE OTHER APPS. UH, THANK YOU FOR THAT QUESTION. THE, THE PROJECT INCLUDES ANY DIGITAL PLATFORM THAT A CONSTITUENT WILL USE TO ACCESS PUBLIC SERVICES, INCLUDING APPS, UM, UH, OR OTHER WEBSITES THAT ARE SUPPORTED BY THE CITY OF HOUSTON. UH, WHEN WE THINK ABOUT ACCESSIBILITY, OFTENTIMES WE THINK IF A CITY HAS, CITY HAS A CONTRACTOR, SAY A CONTRACTOR THAT'S OPERATING A DIFFERENT WEBSITE, THAT THEY DON'T HAVE TO MEET THOSE STANDARDS. ANYTHING THAT THE CITY TOUCHES, MEETS HAS TO MEET THOSE STANDARDS. AND SO WE'LL WORK WITH THE CONSULTANT AND DEPARTMENTS TO ENSURE THAT WE IDENTIFY EVERY DIGITAL PLATFORM. GREAT. THAT'S REALLY GOOD TO HEAR. UM, AND THE HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS WAS TOUCHED UPON A LITTLE BIT. UM, CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WHAT'S BEING DONE WITH ALERT HOUSTON OR OEM TO HELP WITH ACCESSIBILITY? UH, I'LL, I'LL TOUCH A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ON IT. UH, WE, WE DO MEET WITH OEM REGULARLY, AND WE, UH, THE HOUSTON COMMISSION ON DISABILITIES HAS, UH, OR HAD AN EMERGENCY, UH, PREPAREDNESS COMMITTEE AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE MET WITH OEM CONSISTENTLY TO PROVIDE, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW TO IMPROVE THEIR WEBSITE. AND THEY'VE DONE THAT, I BELIEVE, NOW TO A HUNDRED PERCENT. UH, AND SO WHEN WE WORK WITH OEM, NOT JUST IN THE DIGITAL SPACE, WE ALSO PROVIDE THEM WITH, UM, WITH A SL INTERPRETERS, CAPTIONING WHEN THEY'RE, UH, COMMUNICATING TO THE PUBLIC AND, UH, ENSURING THAT WHEN THEY ARE, WHEN WE'RE HOSTING SHELTERS, UM, WARMING CENTERS, THAT WE ARE THINKING ACCESSIBILITY FROM THE BEGINNING. GREAT. THANK YOU COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN. THANK YOU CHAIR, AND THANKS FOR THE GOOD WORK YOU'RE DOING ON THIS. I'VE, I'VE LEARNED A LOT. I'M GLAD YOU GUYS ARE AHEAD OF THE GAME. ON THE BENEFITS PAGE, ON THE MODERN TOOLS THAT EMPOWER STAFF ENABLES TOOLS FOR CITY STAFF TO BE ABLE TO POST UPDATES AND AD ANNOUNCEMENTS. UH, SO CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THAT? LIKE, CAN, DO WE HAVE TO CALL BOB NOAC OR HE'S NOT HERE ANYMORE? NO MORE , BETTER NOT CALL BOB NOACK ANYMORE. 'CAUSE HE'S NOT GONNA ANSWER, BUT I MEAN, IS THAT ENABLE, I THINK THAT'S KIND OF WHAT, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER CASTILLO MIGHT HAVE BEEN PART OF WHAT HE WAS ASKING. ARE DEPARTMENTS NOW GOING TO BE UPLOADING THEIR OWN STUFF? THERE ARE SEVERAL TOOLS NOW AVAILABLE, UM, WITH THE NEW PLATFORM, RIGHT? SO WHAT IS GONNA HAPPEN AS PART OF THE PROJECT IS THAT ALL THE WEB CONTENT DEVELOPERS THROUGHOUT THE CITY, ALL DEPARTMENTS, THEY'RE GONNA BE TRAINED ON HOW TO USE THESE TOOLS. SO THEY ARE, UM, EQUIPPED WITH THE TOOLS AND HOW TO USE THEM TO UPDATE AT THE SAME TIME, UM, THE, THE, UM, PLATFORM WILL ALSO HAVE SCANS, RIGHT? IT'S, THEY'RE BUILT IN. SO WE ARE MONITORING ON A LONG-TERM BASIS, AND IF ANY OF THOSE SITES DO NOT MEET THE STANDARDS, THEN WE ARE GONNA, THE ADMINS ARE GONNA GET THE POPUPS SO THAT INFORMATION CAN BE GIVEN TO THE DEPARTMENTS, SO THEIR STAFF. SO TO ANSWER THE QUESTION, I'M, IS THAT TRAINING IS GONNA BE GIVEN TO ALL OF THE WEB CONTENT DEVELOPERS, AND THEY'RE GONNA BE UPLOADING TO THEIR SITES. SO LET'S SAY PUBLIC WORKS HAS, UH, A FEW PAGES, RIGHT, THAT NEED TO BE UPDATED. THEIR CONTENT DEVELOPER WILL HAVE THE TRAINING TO BE ABLE TO WORK ON THIS NEW PLATFORM TO PUSH THOSE CHANGES. SO ALL THAT IS, UH, PART OF THE PROJECT PLAN, THE TRAINING PLAN, UM, IN THE PROJECT. AND THAT'S GONNA BE DONE IN THE NEXT, UM, COUPLE OF MONTHS. SO, SO EVERYBODY WILL BE TRAINED ON, YOU KNOW, HOW, WHAT OUR STANDARDS ARE, AND, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN'T JUST PUT UP ANYTHING YOU WANT UP THERE. IT'S GOTTA MEET OUR STANDARDS, AND YOU'LL, THEY'LL BE TRAINED ON IT, BUT THEN ALSO YOU'LL BE ABLE, YOU ARE DOING PERIODIC SCANS OF ALL THE WEBSITES, SO YOU'LL KNOW IF SOME, SOMETHING SLIPPED IN. YEAH, THE PLATFORM, ACTUALLY, THE NEW PLATFORM HAS THE ACCESSIBILITY, MONITORING AND SCANNING THE, THE PLATFORM ITSELF. DOES IT? YEAH. SO IT'LL CATCH DOES THAT, SO IT'LL CATCH IT. AND THAT'S WHY I USE THE WORD PROACTIVE, HOPING THAT WE'LL BE ABLE TO CATCH THEM. AND IF THERE IS SOMETHING THAT POPS UP, THEN WE LET THE DEPARTMENTS KNOW SO WE CAN TAKE AN ACTION. OKAY, THAT'S GREAT TO REMEDIATE THAT. OKAY, THAT'S GREAT. THANK YOU. GREAT. WE HAVE NO FURTHER QUESTIONS. THANK YOU ALL FOR THE PRESENTATION. [00:30:01] I APPRECIATE THE INFORMATION. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. OKAY, OUR NEXT ITEM IS COMPUTER AND EQUIPMENT SERVICES CONTRACT AWARD, RFP 2025 DASH 0 0 2 9. SO WE HAVE SUNNY COLEMAN, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR INFRASTRUCTURE WITH HOUSTON IT SERVICES, AND BRETT , DEPUTY CIO INFRASTRUCTURE, HOUSTON IT SERVICES. THE FLOOR IS YOURS. GOOD AFTERNOON. I'M TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION COMMITTEE CHAIR, UH, CASTILLO, UM, VICE CHAIR MARTINEZ, WHO JUST STEPPED OUT. UM, VICE MAYOR PRO TEM PECK, AND, UH, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER ALCORN AND STAFF. UM, WE ARE HERE TODAY TO TALK ABOUT THE NEW COMPUTER AND EQUIPMENT SERVICES CONTRACT AWARD, UH, FOR THE CITY OF HOUSTON, BASED ON AN RFP DONE CITYWIDE WITH MULTIPLE VENDORS. I'LL COVER THE SCOPE OF THE CONTRACT AND THE OVERALL CITYWIDE IMPACT, INCLUDING SOME OF THE FUNDAMENTAL FINANCIAL ASPECTS. AND THEN I'LL TRANSITION TO SUNNY WHO WILL ADDRESS THE BENEFITS OF THE CONTRACT. SO IF WE CAN MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE. OKAY. SO I'LL TAKE YOU FROM THE TOP DOWN HERE. WE'RE CURRENTLY TRANSITIONING FROM THE PREVIOUS PC CONTRACT TO A NEW CONTRACT THAT INDU INTRODUCES SEVERAL IMPORTANT IMPROVEMENTS. YOU'LL SEE THIS NEXT WEEK IN CITY COUNCIL, UH, ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD FOR, UH, FOR THE FORMAL REVIEW. SO THIS IS, UH, AS PART OF THE RFP, THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDED THREE VENDORS TO PROVIDE THIS CAPABILITY, UH, ONE BEING DELL MARKETING, LP SECOND, HP INC. UH, AND THIRD SUMAS INDUSTRIES INC. UH, THE COM, THE COMPLETED COUNCIL ELECTION PROVIDES MULTIPLE ASPECTS. FIRST SPENDING AUTHORITY AND CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT APPROVAL, UH, FOR THE CITY'S COMPUTER AND EQUIPMENT SERVICES CONTRACT. AND HERE IT SAYS THROUGH SEPTEMBER OF 2029 FOR ALL CITY DEPARTMENTS. THAT'S THE FIRST THREE YEARS OF THE CONTRACT TERM THAT WE'LL TALK ABOUT LATER. UH, IT'S A FULL FIVE YEAR CONTRACT. SO, AND, AND OUR PRICING IS DONE THROUGH, THROUGH, UH, 2031. SO THIS IS A LITTLE MISLEADING THAT I WANNA JUST CLARIFY. UM, IT PROVIDES SECURE, STABLE, PREDICTABLE PRICING IN A HIGHLY VOLATILE PC MARKET, DRIVEN BY RISING AI AND DATA CENTER HARDWARE COSTS. UH, AND THIS WILL HELP US MANAGE OUR BUDGETS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. AS THIS INDUSTRY TREND IS, IS CONTINUED TO EXPECT IT TO RUN AT LEAST THROUGH THE END OF 2027 AT A MINIMUM, UH, IT GIVES US THE ABILITY TO ACCELERATE FUTURE PC DEPLOYMENT WITH BENEFITS SUCH AS ZERO TOUCH AND CONNECTED PROVISIONING, DELIVERING A SEAMLESS ONBOARDING EXPERIENCE AND MINIMIZING EMPLOYEE DOWNTIME. SO IN SIMPLE TERMS, OUR GOAL IS TO PROVIDE A SEAMLESS IPHONE LIKE MIGRATION WITH OUR, FROM OLD PC TO NEW PC. THAT'S WHERE WE'RE HEADED, AND WE'RE ON THE TR WE'RE ON TRACK FOR IT. ALIGNMENT WITH HIT STRATEGIC PRIORITIES IN ADVANCING CITY'S, IT STRATI STRATEGIC GOALS BY, BY STANDARDIZING DEVICE PROCUREMENT, ENHANCING SECURITY AND RELIABILITY, AND ENABLING MODERN EFFICIENT TECHNOLOGY OPERATIONS ACROSS DEPARTMENTS, UM, REPRESENTING A SHIFT TOWARD MODERN END USER COMPUTING, FASTER DEPLOYMENT, BETTER SUPPORT, IMPROVED USER SATISFACTION, AND MORE PREDICTABLE BUDGETING. WHAT I, WHAT I WANT TO COVER HERE IS PART OF OUR STRATEGY IS TO MOVE OUR CITY AND EMPLOYEES TOWARDS A MORE MOBILE WORKFORCE, UH, RATHER THAN, UH, STANDALONE AT A, AT A, AT A DESK. SO WHEN I STARTED HERE SEVEN PLUS YEARS AGO, THE RATIO WAS, UH, UH, 90% DESKTOPS AND 10% LAPTOPS. THE GOAL FOR A MORE MOBILE WORKFORCE IS EXAMPLE OF WITH A LAPTOP, UH, AT THE DESK. YOU'RE CONNECTED VIA A DOCKING STATION TO THE MULTIPLE, UH, UH, MONITORS IF YOU HAVE THEM. AND, AND PERIPHERALS. YOU CAN TAKE THAT LAPTOP, GO TO A CONFERENCE ROOM AND BE IN A MEETING. YOU CAN TAKE IT HOME AND WORK FROM HOME, UH, AT NIGHT, WEEKENDS, AND DURING STORMS. AND YOU CAN ALSO USE IT IN OTHER REMOTE LOCATIONS, OBVIOUSLY, FOLLOWING SECURE GUIDELINES TO, TO PROTECT THE, PROTECT EVERYTHING. UM, NOW AS WE'VE BEEN PROGRESSING AND WORKING TOWARDS MOVING TOWARDS THIS MORE MOBILE WORKFORCE, WE RECENTLY, AS PART OF THE ERNST AND YOUNG STUDY, CONSOLIDATED THE HPD DEPARTMENT. SO THIS IS, RIGHT NOW WE'RE A 51% DESKTOP, 49% LAPTOP, SO WE'RE PROGRESSING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION. AND, UH, FROM AN HPD PERSPECTIVE, WE HAD THE SAME EXACT TOPIC OF, OF A MORE MOBILE WORKFORCE JUST A WEEK AGO WITH THE HITS EXECUTIVE TEAM, AND WE MET WITH THE HPD EXECUTIVE COMMAND. SO WE'RE ALL ALIGNED ON THE GO FORWARD PLAN THERE. AND, UH, AND JUST REMOVING HPD FOR A SECOND TO SHOW THE, THE, THE TRANSITION THAT HAS BEEN DONE FROM THE 10% DESKTOP TO AND 90% LAPTOP, [00:35:01] NOT EX EXCLUDING HPD, WHICH WE'RE WILL BE ADDRESSING. WE'RE AT 66% LAPTOPS, 34% DESKTOP. SO SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT AS WE INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY TO MAKE THE EMPLOYEES MORE PRODUCTIVE. AND THIS ALSO ENABLES THE USE OF GRANT FUNDING IN THIS CONTRACT, EXPANDING PURCHASING FLEXIBILITY AND ACCESS TO IMPROVED PRICING, NO LONGER LIMITED TO USING CAPITAL AND OPERATING FUNDS AS WAS IN PLACE FOR THE LAST TWO CITY CONTRACTS. THIS ALLOWS SOME POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR, FOR GRANT FUNDING OPTIONS THAT IN THE PAST HAD TO USE, UH, THIRD PARTY OR OTHER, UH, COOPERATIVE CONTRACTS THAT MAY NOT HAVE HAD AS ADVANTAGEOUS PRICING AS WE'RE GETTING HERE FOR THE CITY. UM, SO THE TERM, AS I MENTIONED, THE INITIAL THREE YEARS, UH, AND AN OVER, AND THEN WE HAVE TWO ONE YEAR OPTION PERIODS WILL RUN US THROUGH, UH, FOR FIVE YEARS THROUGH 2031. THE, THE MAX CONTRACT VALUE FOR THIS IS LISTED AS 79 MILLION, $68,475. UH, AND WHAT I WANT TO TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT IS THAT'S NOT THE ACTUAL BUDGET DOLLARS, THAT'S PROJECTED USAGE AND SPEND BY THE DEPARTMENTS FOR THE, FOR THEIR, THEIR NEEDS ACROSS THE FIVE YEAR PERIOD. AND WE'LL GO OVER THAT IN A LITTLE MORE DETAIL ON THE NEXT SECTION. UM, AND, UH, THESE ARE PROJECTED FUNDS. THE ONLY THINGS OFFICIALLY APPROVED IS WHAT'S IN THE FY 27 BUDGET FROM AN OPERATING BUDGET PERSPECTIVE, AND, UH, UH, ANY ANY CAPITAL BUDGETS THAT HAVE BEEN APPROPRIATED PLUS GRANT FUNDS. SO FOR SOME CONTEXT HERE, THIS ONE IS 79 MILLION. IF WE LOOK AT THE CURRENT CONTRACT, WHICH IS ABOUT TO EXPIRE, THAT RAN FROM 2021 THROUGH 2026, THE CONTRACT COST FOR THAT WAS 33 MILLION. AND THE PREVIOUS CONTRACT DATING BACK TO 2015 THROUGH 2021 WAS 18 MILLION. SO WE'RE HISTORICALLY SHOWING A TREND OF DOUBLING THESE CONTRACTS ACROSS OVER FIVE YEAR PERIODS, JUST FOLLOWING INDUSTRY TRENDS. SO IF WE MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UH, I WANT TO GO INTO A LITTLE MORE DETAIL ABOUT THE, THIS, UH, THE ALLOCATION BY VENDOR AS PART OF RECOMMENDED FOR THE, THESE CONTRACTS PLUS EXPENSE BREAKDOWN BY DEPARTMENT THAT'S PROJECTED THROUGH ACROSS THE DURATION OF THE CONTRACT. SO IF WE LOOK AT THE VENDORS FIRST, WE'RE PROPOSING FOR DELL MARKETING, LP AND HP INC. TO SHARE, OR, OR TO EQUALLY GET 40% OF THE ALLOCATION EACH GETTING $31,627,390. AND THEN THE THIRD VENDOR, SUMMITS INDUSTRIES INC. AN ADDITIONAL 20% AT 15,000,800, $13,695 TO GET US TO THE A HUNDRED PERCENT. AND, UH, THE 79 MILLION OVERALL. NOW WE HAVE THE FLEXIBILITY TO MOVE THE FUNDS BETWEEN THESE DIFFERENT VENDORS AS NEEDED. UM, AND DURING THE LAST CONTRACT PERIOD, WE, WE CITYWIDE TRENDED MOVING MORE TOWARDS DELL, UH, THAN HP, BUT WE STILL DID BOTH IN THIS CASE. WE FIRMLY BELIEVE THAT WE WILL BE STICKING VERY CLOSELY TO THIS 40% PERCENTAGE BETWEEN THE TWO BECAUSE OF THE, UH, THE, UH, AI MARKET, UM, PRICING ISSUES THAT WE, THAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THAT SUNNY WILL GO INTO MORE DEPTH UPON TO GIVE US THE FLEXIBILITY TO HAVE BEST PRICE FROM EITHER VENDOR WITH SIMILAR PRODUCTS TO FASTER DELIVERY DATES AND, AND, AND BEST MEET THE CITY'S OBJECTIVES. NOW, ONE THING THAT THE SUMMITS INDUSTRIES BRINGS TO US, IT'S A THIRD OPTION THAT'S BEYOND THE O THE TWO OEMS, HB AND DELL. AND IT ALSO GIVES US WHAT WE BELIEVE IS GONNA BE BENEFICIAL PRICING AROUND BULK ORDERS. SO WE, WE DO BULK ORDERS IN MULTIPLE INSTANCES. EXAMPLES HERE. SO FOR PC REFRESH, WE HAVE PC REFRESH PROJECTS THAT RUN EVERY YEAR THAT WE BULK ORDER BY DEPARTMENT AND COORDINATE. THAT WAY WE BELIEVE WE'LL GET BETTER PRICING. PLUS WE DO BULK ORDERS OF SOME OF THE RUGGED, UH, LAPTOP DEVICES FOR THAT GO ON HPD POLICE VEHICLES AND IN FIRE VEHICLES AS WELL IN BOOK ORDERS. SO WE BELIEVE SUMMITS CAN HELP US THERE, BUT IT GIVES US MORE FLEXIBILITY. SO NOW IF WE LOOK AT THE BOTTOM TABLE, WHICH TALKS ABOUT THE, THE EXPENSE BREAKDOWN BY DEPARTMENT, UH, HITS HAS, UH, UH, FOR HAS THE MONEY LISTED HERE, UM, FOR THE FY 27 AND OUTLYING YEARS FOR ALL THE DEPARTMENTS WE SUPPORT. SINCE WE DO PC REFRESH FOR THEM, WE WILL BE ABLE TO AND WILL BE ABLE TO TRANSFER SPENDING AUTHORITY TO THE DEPARTMENTS AS HITS IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE REFRESH. BUT EACH DEPARTMENT HANDLES, UM, UH, NEW PCS FOR NEW HIRES AND ANY ACCESSORIES, MONITORS, KEYBOARDS, MICE. UM, SO FOR THAT PROTECT PERSPECTIVE, UM, HITS IS LOOKING AT FOR FY 27, PROJECTING 1,925,000, $33 AND 50 CENTS FOR THIS FISCAL YEAR. AND THEN THE OUTLYING FOUR YEARS, $43,824,440 AND 43 CENTS TO GET US FOR HITS, A TOTAL OF $45,749,474. [00:40:02] NOW, IF WE'LL STEP DOWN TO THE LIBRARY, THIS, THESE ARE FOR PUBLIC FACING PCS THAT WILL BE REFRESHING AS PART OF THIS CONTRACT. UH, SO FOR PUBLIC LIBRARY FOR FISCAL YEAR 27, UH, PROJECTION IS A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. AND THEN THE OUTLYING FOUR YEARS, 969,000 TO GET US TO 1,069,000. AND THEN THE NEXT TWO DEPARTMENTS ARE WHAT WE CALL FEDERATED IT DEPARTMENTS. SO THEY DO THE FULL IT SUPPORT END TO END WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SOME, SOME CENTRAL, UH, APP SYSTEMS AND, AND APPLICATIONS AND INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE PROVIDE IN HITS. SO THEY'VE GOT COVERAGE FOR EVERYTHING AND INCLUDED IN, UH, PURCHASING FOR PROJECTED NEW HIRES PLUS THEIR REFRESHES. SO FOR PUBLIC WORKS, THEY'RE PROJECTING AN FY 27. YOU CAN SEE A BIG EXPENSE HERE BECAUSE OF NEW HIRES THAT ARE COMING IN, THEY'RE, THEY'RE READY FOR $4,662,008. AND THEN THE OUTLYING YEARS FOR PUBLIC WORKS FOR THE FOUR YEARS, $25,337,993 TO GET US TO THE 30 MILLION IN $1 STANCE. AND THE SAME THING FOR AIRPORTS, THEY'RE PROJECTING FOR FY 27, 400, A THOUSAND DOLLARS, UH, AND IN THE OUTLYING YEARS, 1,850,000 TO GET TO THEIR TOTAL OF 2,250,000 PROJECTIONS, WHICH ALIGNS WITH THE OVERALL TOTAL OF 79 MILLION. NOW, THERE'S ONE THING I WANTED TO JUST JUST TALK ABOUT BRIEFLY IS WE HAVE A CITYWIDE PC REFRESH CYCLE. WE, WE REFRESH, WE LOOK TO EVERY FIVE YEARS TO GIVE THE EMPLOYEES THE, THE, THE MAX AND BEST VAL BEST, UH, TAKE TECHNOLOGY CAPABILITIES TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE COMING IN THE, IN THE INDUSTRY, PLUS ALL THE NEW SERVICES THAT ARE COMING FROM FOR IT, FOR ALL, ALL, ALL THE EMPLOYEES. NOW, THERE MAY OR OR MAY NOT BE CASES WHERE FOR YEAR OVER YEAR, WE MAY NOT, WE MAY ASK FOR A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF FUNDING TO FULLY REPLACE EVERY END OF LIFE DEVICE, AND WE MAY NOT GET IT. UM, THAT'S WHAT WE CALL TECHNICAL DEBT. AND TECHNICAL DEBT IS THE ACCUMULATED COST AND RISK OF RUNNING, UH, DEVICES AND PCS THAT ARE END OF LIFE THAT MAY EXPERIENCE OPERATIONAL ISSUES FOR THE END USER, OR THEY MAY LEAD TO, UH, POTENTIAL, UM, CYBER RISKS. SO IN THOSE CASES, WE HAVE A MULTIFACETED APPROACH FOR THINGS THAT WE LOOK AT. SO FIRST WE PRIORITIZE THE PC REFRESH FOR THOSE THAT ARE AT END OF LIFE, UM, WHEREVER POSSIBLE FROM A HARDWARE PERSPECTIVE AND OPERATING SYSTEM PERSPECTIVE, SUCH AS WINDOWS TEN SECOND. AND WE DO THIS YEARLY PURCHASE EXTENDED SUPPORT UNITS, UH, TO EXTEND THE LIFE OF THESE DEVICES FROM AN OPERATING SYSTEM PERSPECTIVE. SO WE ARE NOW STARTING IN OCTOBER, YEAR TWO OF, UH, WINDOWS 10 BEING RETIRED, BUT WE DO LEVERAGE THAT HEAVILY TO EXTEND THOSE DEVICES TO PROTECT THE CITY, TO BE ABLE TO PATCH THEM. AND THEN THIRD, ONE SIMPLE EXAMPLE IS WHERE POSSIBLE TO EXTEND THE LIFE, WE WILL CONSIDER ADDING MORE MEMORY AND MOVING TO A FASTER HARD DRIVE, IF THAT MAKES SENSE, TO EXTEND THE LIFE, TO MAKE THE, TO GIVE THE EMPLOYEES THE BEST OPTIONS WE HAVE IN THESE SITUATIONS. SO THAT COVERS THE AREAS I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT AROUND THE SCOPE OF, OF THE CONTRACT, SOME OF THE FINANCIAL IMPACTS AND, AND, AND SUPPORTING MATERIAL. NOW I'D LIKE TO TRANSITION TO SUNNY COLEMAN TO ADDRESS THE BENEFITS OF THIS CONTRACT FROM A PRICE PROTECTION PERSPECTIVE AND SOME OF THE TECHNOLOGY IMPROVEMENTS THAT WE'RE EXPECTING TO COME AS A RESULT. THANK YOU, BERT. GOOD AFTERNOON CHAIR, VICE CHAIR COMMITTEE MEMBERS. I'LL BEGIN OUTLINING HOW WE ADDRESS SOME OF THE CONTRACT CHALLENGES THAT, UM, WE'VE ENCOUNTERED THIS YEAR AND THE STEPS THAT WE'VE TAKEN TO MANAGE THE AI DRIVEN PRICING RISKS. SO ACROSS THE TECHNOLOGY SECTOR, AI ADOPTION HAS MOVED SO FAST THAT IT'S DRIVEN UP A HUGE DEMAND FOR THE CORE COMPUTER HARDWARE. SO THINK ABOUT IT FROM THE STANDPOINT OF WHERE IT IMPACTS THE COMPUTERS IS GOING TO BE THINGS LIKE THE PROCESSOR, THE MEMORY, UH, GRAPHIC SYSTEMS, DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT. AND THE DEMAND WITHIN THE AI INDUSTRY THAT'S HITTING SOME OF THE DATA CENTERS AND DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT IS JUST PUSHING PRICES UP. SOMETIMES THESE PRICES ARE BEING PUSHED UP DAILY AND, AND WEEKLY IT IS THAT SEVERE. SO INDUSTRY ANALYSIS ARE STILL FORECASTING THAT THIS LEVEL OF VOLATILITY WILL CONTINUE AT MINIMUM THROUGH THE END OF 2027. SO UNTIL THEN, WE'RE LOOKING AT THE MARKET'S REALLY NOT GOING TO STABILIZE UNTIL THAT TIME. SO WHAT WE'VE ALSO SEEN HAPPEN OVER THE PAST THREE QUARTERS IS THAT WITH THE SUPPLIERS CONSTANTLY ADJUSTING PRICES, UH, WHERE I'VE ALREADY MENTIONED THAT IT'S HAPPENING SOMETIMES DAILY, IT'S DEFINITELY HAPPEN HAPPENING WEEKLY. IT HAS MADE IT VERY DIFFICULT TO GET THE QUOTES. AND ONCE WE WOULD GET A QUOTE, BECAUSE PART OF THE PURCHASING PROCESS IS THAT YOU [00:45:01] GET A QUOTE FOR THE HARDWARE BEFORE IT GOES THROUGH THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS, THE QUOTES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN STANDARDIZED AS LONG AS IT'S AGAINST OUR CITY CONTRACT, IT'S STANDARDIZED THROUGH THE PRICING AGREEMENTS THAT, THAT WE'VE, UH, NEGOTIATED. BUT WITH THESE QUOTES, A LOT OF THEM, THEY'RE NOT STAYING VALID LONG ENOUGH TO MOVE THROUGH OUR PROCUREMENT PROCESSES. SO THEN WE'VE ADDED IN AN ADDITIONAL RISK OF WHERE WE'RE SEEING IT. AND WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO BE LUCKY ENOUGH AT THE CITY WITH OUR CURRENT ABOUT TO EXPIRE CONTRACT WHERE WE HAD SOME SECURITY AGAINST THIS. BUT FOR SOME OF OUR FELLOW CITIES, UM, OTHER COMPANIES IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR AND THE PUBLIC SECTOR, THEY, UM, HAD ADDITIONAL RISKS WHERE THE VENDORS WOULD START CANCELING ORDERS DURING DUE TO PRICING CHANGES ONCE IT'S EVEN IN THEIR ORDER FULFILLMENT PROCESS LINE. SO YOU'VE CUT A PO, YOU'VE SET IT OUT THERE, YOU'RE WAITING FOR YOUR PRODUCT TO COME, AND THEN BOOM, THE OEM THAT CANCELS THE ORDER BECAUSE PRICING HAS CHANGED. SO IN RESPONSE TO ALL OF THIS HAPPENING DURING THE TIMES THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT, OKAY, WE HAVE A NEW PC CONTRACT THAT'S UP FOR RENEWAL, WE'VE GOTTA BE ABLE TO DO THINGS. WE'RE LOOKING AT THE MARKET WHERE WE'RE HAVING THINGS HAPPEN THAT REALLY HISTORICALLY HAVE NOT HAPPENED IN THIS FASHION FOR THIS REASON BEFORE. SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO NEGOTIATE THE, THE NEW CITY CONTRACT WHERE IT PROVIDES A 90 DAY PRICE PROTECTION WITH THE OEM PARTNERS. SO WHAT THIS DOES IS IT PROVIDES US WITH A BUFFER, IT HELPS US IMPROVE SOME OF OUR PURCHASE PLANNING FOR THAT WITH THE THIRD VENDOR, THE THIRD VENDOR'S, NOT AN OEM. SO, UM, AND IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH WHAT AN OEM IS, IT'S JUST THE ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURER. SO WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE THREE, THREE VENDORS THAT WE HAVE, YOU HAVE HP, YOU HAVE DELL, AND THEN THE THIRD ONE, WHICH IS SUMMITS. WHAT WE'VE DONE WITH SUMMITS IS WE ACTUALLY SECURED MORE OF WHAT WE CALL LIKE A, A SCALED DISCOUNT MODEL. AND WITH THIS, WHAT WE'RE REALLY LOOKING FOR, THE OPPORTUNITY IS FOR US TO, WHERE WE'RE ABLE TO BENEFIT FROM FAVORABLE PRICING IS THROUGH BUYING WHAT, LIKE BERT HAD SAID, MORE OF OUR LARGE VOLUME TYPE OF ORDERS WHERE WE'RE DOING PC REFRESH OR MAYBE WE HAVE NEW POLICE VEHICLES THAT ARE COMING INTO, UH, INTO LIFE. AND SO WE NEED TO GO AHEAD AND SAY, OKAY, YOU'VE GOT 240 NEW POLICE VEHICLES, THEY HAVE TO BE OUTFITTED. THEY CAN'T BE USED IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE EQUIPMENT IN THEM, SO WE'VE GOTTA BE ABLE TO DO THAT. SO THOSE ARE SOME REALLY GOOD EXAMPLES WHERE WE DO BELIEVE THAT THIS IS GOING TO, UM, BENEFIT THE CITY BY USING THAT VENDOR FOR THOSE TYPES OF DEALS. THEY CAN STILL BE USED FOR REGULAR DEALS, BUT THIS IS WHERE WE THINK WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BETTER, UH, UH, YOU KNOW, JUST BE ABLE TO GET A BIGGER CHUNK OUT OF IT. THE OTHER THING THAT WE'VE DONE TO SECURE SOME OF THE PRICING IS WE'VE ALSO LOOKED AT IT FROM A STANDPOINT OF ENSURING THAT WE HAVE PRICING CONSISTENCY WITH OTHER COMPANIES, OTHER CITIES THAT HAVE SIMILAR SCALE AND VOLUME TO WHERE WE'VE ALREADY NEGOTIATED CERTAIN PRICING. BUT LET'S SAY THAT WITHIN THAT 90 DAY PERIOD, FOR SOME OF 'EM THAT SOMETHING'S HAPPENED, MAYBE PRICING HAS ACTUALLY GONE DOWN A LITTLE BIT. WELL, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO SECURE IT WHERE THEY HAVE TO ADJUST OUR PRICING ACCORDINGLY. SO THEY CAN'T RAISE IT DURING THAT TIMEFRAME, BUT THEY SURE CAN LOWER IT. SO WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAD THAT SECURITY IN THERE. THEN ANOTHER STABILITY LEVEL, THAT LEVER THAT WE WERE ABLE TO ENSURE WAS THAT ONCE THE CITY DOES SUBMIT THE PURCHASE ORDER, UH, THE PRICING CANNOT BE CHANGED. THEY CANNOT CANCEL THE ORDER UNLESS WE INITIATE A CANCEL. UM, SO THAT JUST GIVES US ANOTHER ANCHOR POINT IN AN OTHERWISE VERY UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT. SO IT'S ALLOWING US TO SHIFT MORE TO AN AGILE QUOTE TO ORDER TYPE OF CYCLE. WE'RE ABLE TO PHASE IN LARGER PURCHASES WHEN NEEDED AND PLAN FOR THOSE TYPES OF PURCHASES. AND WE'RE ALSO ADJUSTING CONFIGURATIONS TO BE ABLE TO KEEP, SO CONFIGURATIONS ARE THE TYPES OF COMPUTERS THAT WE'RE DOING, UH, THIS WAY WE CAN KEEP PROJECTS ON TRACK. AND WE'RE ALSO ENSURING THAT WE HAVE ACCESS TO MULTIPLE DIFFERENT TYPES OF DEVICE CONFIGURATIONS. SO THAT MEANS, FOR EXAMPLE, WHAT WE'VE UM, RAN INTO IN THE SPRINGTIME WAS BECAUSE OF THE COMPONENT SHORTAGES AND DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT, [00:50:01] THERE WERE A LOT OF COMPUTERS THAT WERE PART OF OUR STANDARDS, BUT WE WEREN'T ABLE TO ORDER THEM BECAUSE IT WAS, IT HAD A CERTAIN COMPONENT IN IT, SO THEREFORE IT WASN'T AVAILABLE. SO THOSE ARE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT WE'VE ALSO HELPED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE FUTURE PROOFING US TO BE ABLE TO, UM, BE A LITTLE BIT MORE FLEXIBLE WITH ADAPTABILITY. SO ALTOGETHER, THESE NEGOTIATED PROTECTIONS DO GIVE THE CITY MORE CONTROL, MORE PREDICTABILITY AND LEVERAGE DURING, UH, A PERIOD OF EXTREME MARKET INSTABILITY. SO MOVING ON TO THE NEXT SLIDE, I'LL TOUCH ON THE TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY THAT WILL BENEFIT OUR WORKFORCE. SO I THINK AS MOST OF YOU ALL KNOW, IF EVERYBODY KNOWS THE CITY'S COMPUTER AND EQUIPMENT CONTRACT SERVICES CONTRACT, IT JUST STREAMLINES TECHNOLOGY PROCUREMENT BY OFFERING STANDARDIZED COMPUTERS, ESSENTIAL PC PERIPHERALS. AND IF YOU'RE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE WHAT A PERIPHERAL IS, IT'S REALLY YOUR ACCESSORIES FOR YOUR COMPUTER, YOUR DOCKING STATION, MICE, KEYBOARDS, MONITORS, DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT. UM, BUT IN THIS CONTRACT, HOW WE'RE GOING TO MODERNIZE, WE'RE GONNA MODERNIZE THE CITY'S END USER TECHNOLOGY IN MORE OF A DISCIPLINED AND SCALABLE WAY. SO IT STANDARDIZES THE BASELINES FOR THE LAPTOPS, THE DESKTOPS, SO THIS WAY THE DEPARTMENTS CAN GET A CONSISTENT APPROVED CONFIGURATION. IT'S ALSO ALIGNED WITH CITY IT STANDARDS, UM, FOR OUR PUBLIC SAFETY AND OUR FIELD WORKERS. SO LIKE POLICE, FIRE, UM, OTHER, UH, FRONTLINE MOBILE AND FIELD WORKERS. SO A LOT OF, UH, PUBLIC WORKS AND DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT. WE ALSO HAVE RUGGEDIZED DEVICES THAT ARE PART OF THE CATALOG STANDARDS. SO THIS WAY THE TEAMS ARE EQUIPPED AND BUILT FOR THE DEMANDING ENVIRONMENTS THAT THEY HAVE. THEY'RE NOT SITTING IN FRONT OF A COMPUTER AT A DESK LIKE I AM OR A CONFERENCE ROOM. THEY ARE OUT THERE, THEY GET THINGS DIRTY, DUSTY, RAIN GETS ON IT, MUD GETS ON, IT JUST ALL KINDS OF THINGS HAPPEN IN THAT ENVIRONMENT. SO, UM, THE OTHER THING THAT WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE IS THAT WE HAVE A UNIFIED CATALOG FOR THE PERIPHERALS. SO IT REMOVES COMPATIBILITY ISSUES THAT CAN OCCUR WITH DOCKING STATIONS, WITH MONITORS, EVEN KEYBOARDS AND MICE. SO THIS WAY, IF IT'S SOMETHING THAT'S BEEN ADDED INTO THE, UH, CONTRACT AND THE STANDARDS CONFIGURATIONS, WE'VE MADE SURE AND WE'VE TAKEN THE EXTRA STEPS TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE AREN'T COMPATIBILITY ISSUES. BECAUSE SOMETIMES YOU MIGHT SEE, FOR EXAMPLE, A MONITOR, AND I'VE GOTTEN THIS QUESTION MANY TIMES IN THE PAST. I FOUND THIS MONITOR AND IT'S CHEAPER. YES, IT IS CHEAPER, BUT IT ACTUALLY WON'T WORK WITH SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE DO IN THE, IN, IN THE ENVIRONMENT AND, AND DESKTOP SETUPS FOR THE END USER. SO THEREFORE YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO USE THIS FUNCTIONALITY. YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO USE THAT FUNCTIONALITY, MAY NOT BE ABLE TO STREAMLINE TWO, TWO OR THREE MONITORS TOGETHER. IT'S NOT GONNA WORK WITH OUR DOCKING STATION. IT DOESN'T HAVE THE RIGHT PORTS, DIFFERENT THINGS LIKE THAT. SO THIS WAY WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT IF IT IS BEING BOUGHT OFF OF THIS, WE'VE ALREADY DONE THE CHECKS AND BALANCES FOR THE END USERS SO THAT IT'S SEAMLESS FOR THEM. THIS WAY WE CAN ALSO LOOK AT THE DIFFERENT KIND OF DRIVERS AND THINGS LIKE THAT, THAT IT CAN BE INSTALLED, YOU KNOW, ON THE BACK END SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT DRIVER UPDATES AND EVERYTHING LIKE THAT. SO IT'S CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT. SO WITH PEOPLE AND WITH REALLY THE COMPUTERS AND THE DIFFERENT STANDARD STATIONS, WE, WE ASSIGN LIKE WHAT YOU CALL A PERSONA. AND SO WE'RE AT THE BEGINNING STAGES OF PERSONAS. AND SO THESE ARE PERSONAS THAT WE ASSIGN TO THE CONFIGURATIONS, WE ASSIGN 'EM TO THE RUGGED DEVICES, AND IT'S ALL WITHIN THE PC CONTRACT. WE'LL BE ABLE TO FUTURE THAT OUT IN THE FUTURE TO EXPAND IT MORE FOR THE TYPES OF WORKERS THAT WE HAVE THAT, UM, DIGS INTO. RIGHT NOW IT'S, I WOULD SAY IT'S AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL. SO YOU'RE LOOKING AT THAT A HUNDRED THOUSAND FOOT LEVEL. WE'LL EVENTUALLY BE ABLE TO GET SOME OF THESE PERSONAS DOWN TO THAT 10,000 FOOT LEVEL, WHICH IT JUST MAKES THINGS A LOT CLEANER AND IT'LL GO INTO THE BACK END OF WHAT I'LL TALK ABOUT IN JUST A MOMENT ABOUT BEING ABLE TO, UH, HAVE THAT IPHONE EXPERIENCE. JUST A AWARENESS OF TIME. SONNY, WE GOT ABOUT FIVE MINUTES LEFT. ALL RIGHT, I'M GONNA MOVE ON. SO LET'S TALK REALLY QUICK ABOUT MODERN PROVISIONING. THIS IS WHERE WE'RE GETTING INTO MORE OF THE MEATS OF IT. SO WE HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF MODERN PROVISIONING IN, IN TODAY. UM, BUT WHAT WE'VE DONE IS WE'VE WRITTEN A CONTRACT THAT ALLOWS [00:55:01] US TO BENEFIT FROM THINGS LIKE CONNECTED PROVISIONING AND ZERO TOUCH. UM, AND THIS WILL GIVE US THAT EASY TRANSITION POSSIBLE. WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT DOING THIS IN PHASES. WE'RE NOT ABLE TO DO IT RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE. IT DOES TAKE SOME PLANNING AND WORK WITH THE, WITH THE VENDORS, BUT WE'LL BE DOING THIS IN A PHASED APPROACH. WHAT THAT'S ALSO GOING TO DO IS IMPROVE HOW OUR IT STAFF WORKS TODAY. SO, UM, THIS IS GOING TO HELP CUT DOWN THEIR WORKLOAD THAT THEY HAVE, BUT REALLY WHAT I THINK MOST OF US ARE, I'M CONCERNED ABOUT THE WORK THAT THEY HAVE TO DO AND ANY KIND OF REWORK AND EXTRA TOUCHES THEY HAVE TO DO. BUT IT'S, WHAT REALLY DOES IS IT HELPS GET TO THAT IPHONE EXPERIENCE. IT HELPS IT TO SIT DOWN TO WHERE IT SAYS SONNY COLEMAN, YOU ARE, YOU ARE, THIS, THIS IS THE TYPE OF SOFTWARE THAT YOU NEED. IT ALREADY COMES PRELOADED. IT'S A THING WHERE EVENTUALLY IT'S THE PERSON SITS DOWN, LOGS INTO THE PC, GONNA TAKE MORE THAN FIVE MINUTES. BUT ONCE IT HAS THAT, IT HAS MY, MY SOFTWARE. SO IF IT'S A FINANCE PERSON, IT'S ALREADY GONNA HAVE SAP LOADED, IT'S GONNA HAVE THE DIFFERENT THINGS LOADED ONTO IT. WHEREAS CURRENTLY RIGHT NOW, THAT TAKES A LOT OF MANUAL TOUCH. SO SINCE WE ARE JUST ABOUT DONE, UM, WE DO HAVE THE TECHNICAL DEBT, HOW WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS CONTRACT TO HELP US REMOVE SOME OF THIS TECHNICAL DEBT IS ONE BY UH, RIGHT SIZING THE DEVICES TO THE JOB NEEDS, AVOID OVER SPEC PURCHASES. THAT'LL STRETCH THE DOLLARS FURTHER. WE CAN MODERNIZE THE BUDGET CYCLES, STAY FOCUSED FOR OUTCOMES FOR STAFF. UM, BUT REALLY WHAT IT DOES IS THE CONTRACT STANDARDIZES AND SECURES OUR COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT. IT EQUIPS OUR FIELD TEAMS WITH THE RIGHT HARDWARE. IT SETS, SETS THE STAGE FOR MODERN PROVISIONING AND WE'RE VERY DELIBERATE ABOUT THE PATH FORWARD. UM, AND, AND END RESULT WE'LL HAVE BETTER SERVICE, FEWER DEPLOYMENT ISSUES AND A TECHNOLOGY THAT'S FIT FOR THE CITY'S MISSION. THANK YOU . ALRIGHT, THANK Y'ALL FOR THE THOROUGH OVERVIEW. UH, I DO THINK IT'S HELPFUL. YOU KNOW, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE, THE CONTRACT AMOUNT MM-HMM . AND THE TIMELINE FOR PCS, YOU'RE LIKE, WAIT, THAT'S A LOT OF MONEY. SO, UH, ALL OF THIS INFORMATION REALLY DOES HELP PAINT THE FULL PICTURE. AND WE DO HAVE A QUESTION FROM VICE MAYOR PRO TEM PECK. THANK YOU CHAIR. THANK YOU BOTH FOR THE PRESENTATION. UM, I WAS LOOKING AT THE AGENDA ITEM FOR NEXT WEEK, UM, AND YOU TALKED ABOUT THE FIVE YEAR PLAN, UM, AND THIS SAYS ABOUT THE, UM, END OF LIFE BUYOUT PLAN. SO HOW OFTEN IS VERSUS, YOU KNOW, FOR THE LEASE PROPERTY, SO HOW OFTEN IS IT LEASE VERSUS YES, YOU KNOW, PURCHASE VERSUS AT THE END OF THE FIVE YEARS? CURRENTLY RIGHT NOW WE ARE JUST DOING PURCHASES. WHAT WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE IS THAT WE HAD THE FLEXIBILITY FOR FUTURE FOR LEASING A BUYOUT OPTION. TYPICALLY WITH, UM, LEASING COMPANIES, A LOT OF TIMES THEY DO A BUYOUT OPTION. SO YOU PAY A MONTHLY PRICE OR A YEARLY PRICE AND THEN AT THE END YOU TURN IN THE DEVICE. BUT A BUYOUT ALLOWS YOU TO KEEP THE DEVICE. THE ONE THING THAT WE DIDN'T MAKE SURE THAT WE PUT INTO THE CONTRACT, THAT THE BUYOUT IS AT $0 OR NOT TO EXCEED $1 PER UNIT. OKAY. AND THEN IT ALSO SAYS AN EMPLOYEE PURCHASE PLAN. SO IS THAT FOR AN EMPLOYEE TO PURCHASE THEIR THAT'S RIGHT. THAT'S SO THAT WAY IF YOU'RE AT HOME AND YOU KNOW, YOUR DAUGHTER OR SON NEEDS A COMPUTER FOR SCHOOL AND YOU'RE LIKE, WELL, I JUST DON'T REALLY LIKE THAT, UM, WINDOWS DEVICE THAT THEY GET OR THE GOOGLE ONE THAT THEY HAVE, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO, UH, BENEFIT FROM HAVING A DISCOUNTED PRICE OFF OF MARKET LIST. GREAT, THANK YOU. SO WHERE DO WE CURRENTLY STAND WITH TECHNICAL DEBT AND WHERE WILL WE BE WHEN THIS CONTRACT IS COMPLETE? YEAH, THIS IS A A GOOD ONE. I MEAN, WE DON'T HAVE THE EXACT PERCENTAGES. I KNOW THAT, UH, HISTORICALLY THE, THE CAPITAL BUDGET FOCUS THAT WE DO TO TO DO THE PC REFRESHES HAS LIMITED FUNDING AVAILABLE. SO, UH, WE'RE CONTINUING TO LOOK AT LONGER TERM WAYS TO ADJUST AND HANDLE IN THE FUTURE WITH SOME OF THESE CONTRACT OPTIONS THAT WE JUST TALKED ABOUT THAT, UH, WE, WE CAN, WE'RE STILL PURSUING FOR POTENTIAL LONG-TERM USE TO HELP HELP OFFSET THAT CHALLENGE. DO WE HAVE A ROUGH ESTIMATE OF, OF WHERE WE ARE WITH TECHNICAL DEBT CURRENTLY? SO FOR FY 27, UM, WITHIN OUR PUBLIC SAFETY SPACE, WE HAVE JUST UNDER 5,000 COMPUTERS THAT ARE ALREADY AT END OF LIFE THAT WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO REFRESH. IF WE NEEDED TO REFRESH THEM AT THE RATES THAT WE DO HAVE TODAY, IT WOULD COST OVER $12 MILLION JUST TO REFRESH THOSE UNITS. AND THAT'S JUST FOR OUR PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENTS. WOW. OKAY. YES, , , IT'S HELPFUL CONTEXT TO [01:00:01] GET, UH, AS WE THINK ABOUT THIS AND WE SEE, YOU KNOW, THIS COME THROUGH YEAH. WHEN WE THINK ABOUT THE INVESTMENT WE'RE MAKING, UM, IN OUR, OUR TECHNOLOGY FOR OUR WORKFORCE. SO THANK Y'ALL FOR THE INFORMATION. UH, GLAD Y'ALL WERE ABLE TO BE HERE TO PRESENT THIS. AND WE HAVE NO PUBLIC SPEAKERS SIGNED UP. SO, UH, THIS WILL BE THE END OF OUR MEETING AND UH, WE WILL ADJOURN AT 3:02 PM THE NEXT MEETING, UH, FOR THE TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION COMMITTEE WILL BE OCTOBER 22ND, 2:00 PM HERE IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS. THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH. THANK YOU FOR HAVING US. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.