Oregon officials review e-government portal program, vendor funding and data practices

The Joint Committee on Information Management and Technology heard an overview May 16 of Oregon’s e-government program, including the portal advisory board, the portal provider contract and how portal transactions are funded.

Oscar Parsons, shared services administrator in the Department of Administrative Services’ Office of Enterprise Information Services, told the committee the program is governed by a statutory advisory board and a vendor relationship that dates to 2011. "The core funding mechanism for, certainly Oregon and likely many of the other states, is, a partnership with, the state's transportation department, for the sale of, division of motor vehicle records," Parsons said, describing how sale of DMV records helps fund the portal.

The portal advisory board (referred to in the hearing as EPAB) is established by statute and, Parsons said, is a 13‑member body that advises the state chief information officer and the Department of Administrative Services on portal priorities, provider fees, contract terms and related rules. The…