COOK COUNTY BUREAU OF TECHNOLOGY 69 W. Washington, Suite 2700, Chicago, IL 60602

MODERNIZATION & INNOVATION REPORT 2018

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CONTENTS

Technology Modernization and Innovation Report ....................................................................................................... 2

Digital by Default ....................................................................................................................................................... 2

Infrastructure modernization .................................................................................................................................... 3

Application Modernization ........................................................................................................................................ 3

Training and Organizational Change Management ................................................................................................... 4

Cybersecurity ............................................................................................................................................................. 4

Virtual Private Networks ............................................................................................................................................ 6

Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity ............................................................................................................... 6

Broadband and Wi-Fi ................................................................................................................................................. 7

Telecommunications ................................................................................................................................................. 7

New Standard Productivity Software ........................................................................................................................ 8

Service Desk ............................................................................................................................................................... 9

Printers .................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Shared Services and Governance ............................................................................................................................ 10

Asset Management .................................................................................................................................................. 11

Policies ..................................................................................................................................................................... 12

Consolidation ........................................................................................................................................................... 12

Integrated Property ................................................................................................................................................. 14

Integrated Justice Enterprise Service Bus ................................................................................................................ 14

Enterprise Resource Planning .................................................................................................................................. 15

Case Management Systems ..................................................................................................................................... 16

Integrated Revenue ................................................................................................................................................. 17

Enterprise Geographic Information Systems ........................................................................................................... 17

Efficiency .................................................................................................................................................................. 19

Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................... 20

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TECHNOLOGY MODERNIZATION AND INNOVATION REPORT

Cook County residents expect to engage with their governments online. Digital is no longer an

optional way of doing business. Digital services delivered through the internet — whether via

desktop, laptop, tablet, mobile phone or a digital device not yet invented — are rapidly evolving

the way business is done in the private sector, and governments must work hard to catch up.

Cook County must offer the residents, organizations and businesses who interact with us online

the best possible experience: one that is simple, clear and fast. Now is the time to grasp the

opportunities that mobile and internet technology offer. Now is the time to change the ways

residents and governments interact, generate economic opportunities and transform service

delivery.

DIGITAL BY DEFAULT

The Bureau of Technology (BoT) aims to transform Cook County into a digital-by-default

organization. This means digital is the primary way of carrying out a transaction, whether

requesting a service, transferring money, implementing internal workflows and processes, or

sharing data/information. Even so, County residents with limited technology skills or access

must not be excluded. We must always offer alternative means of accessing County services

and information.

Today a large amount of County data still resides on paper in large warehouses. Also, many of

the County's operations which have been digitized still follow practices and procedures

designed for the age of typewriters and filing cabinets. The County has made great progress in

the last seven years, but we have vast potential for further improvement. Cook County has

moved from digital as an afterthought to digital as a primary concern — no small feat— but

now we must continue the journey to digital-by-default.

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INFRASTRUCTURE MODERNIZATION

The County is following long-term plans to move all systems to modern technology platforms.

At the core of this effort is infrastructure. Modernization of applications requires modernization

of the environment in which they exist. Service continuity across multiple sites for mission-

critical applications is becoming an essential standard in data center strategies, impacting not

only application design, but also network topologies, IT architectures and site location.

Infrastructure modernization efforts are long-term, expensive investments, but they are

mission-critical. With this in mind, we have adopted a Cloud-smart strategy, meaning that we

consider remotely-hosted Cloud solutions first when developing a new procurement plan for a

particular system. For systems that will remain on premise for the foreseeable future, BoT is

focused on modernizing and consolidating the hosting environment in the new County Core

Data Center.

APPLICATION MODERNIZATION

Choosing innovative software that provides sound returns on investments is another vital

component of the County’s modernization efforts. Only through investments in applications

and leadership strategies to ensure the applications are used effectively will Cook County be

able to transition away from paper-centric business processes and further into the digital realm.

Cook County is following a flexible modernization roadmap with the deployment of

commercial/off-the-shelf software, enterprise-wide content management systems, enterprise-

wide case management systems, and other cloud-based solutions. We standardize and then

reuse systems. The same case management system, for instance, could be set up to support

one department and then reconfigured to support another department, while the same IT

staff/team could support both.

With all new applications, we evaluate adding mobile components to enable universal 24/7

services. Studies have shown that the average person increasingly relies on a mobile device for

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internet access. Applications can no longer depend on a single interaction model. Input may

come from a variety of devices.

Close integration with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and location management is not

only commonplace, it's a necessary fuel to improve County services. Everything has a location,

and GIS allows us to bring together geographic data, visualize it, analyze it and share it to make

better decisions.

TRAINING AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT

None of the County’s modernization efforts can take hold without the buy-in of County

employees. Some County employees have never had to use computers to do their jobs, and

many more did not have the opportunity to use the full range of features offered by modern

systems. In 2017, the Systems Management and Service Desk teams worked with Human

Resources to roll out training programs for computer literacy. One hundred and seventeen

employees received training in basic computer skills last year, and we intend to grow the

program this year.

Organizational change management is a component of all major BoT efforts, and it applies to

our own staff as well as to employees throughout the County. Change management involves

preparing for behavioral and social changes that come with redesigned processes and new

technologies, as well as preparing to use the new technologies themselves.

CYBERSECURITY

Mass digitization has redefined the way that governments think about security, especially when

it comes to protecting data and mission-critical systems. Cook County needs to be prepared for

the entire spectrum of potential threats because data is now accessible around the clock from

anywhere in the world.

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Beyond the technical considerations of cybersecurity, Cook County must further integrate

cybersecurity strategies into the governance, engineering and management of our operations.

By identifying key components of an organization's infrastructure and critical or sensitive data,

better incident-response simulations, more effective security-spend allocations, and a more

comprehensive defense-in-depth can be established. Maturing the County’s risk management

processes will include implementing a continuous monitoring strategy across all County-owned

information systems. This will help County management understand the risk posture of their

Agency’s information systems and make informed resource decisions.

Organizations must also be cognizant of the risk when their data resides outside of County-

owned information systems. Organizations should understand the degree of exposure incurred

by allowing commercial vendors to store, process or transmit County data. Careful

consideration and an understanding of security responsibilities between the County and the

vendor needs to be part of outsourcing any county function.

Additionally, Cook County needs a framework of trust between IT and departmental executives

that focusses on the varying requirements for data protections based on data categorization.

The type and categorization of data from personally identifiable information (PII), data

protected by HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), the Payment

Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) or Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS)

data all have varying degrees of protection requirements.

A priority for 2018 is to produce an Information Security Office (ISO) strategic plan that is well

integrated with the Mission and Vision of the Bureau of Technology. The plan will need to be

nimble enough to adjust to a rapidly changing landscape and in line with the ISO vision. This

year we will also conduct a code review of the County's critical applications. This review will

highlight vulnerabilities that exist within locally developed applications so appropriate

mitigation strategies are implemented. We will also conduct a comprehensive risk assessment

of County information systems and organizations. Risk assessments are a vital part of an overall

risk management process and help organizations understand the level of risk they incur by

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operating an information system in today’s threat environment. The assessment will be based

on standards set by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS

The County's Virtual Private Network (VPN) is network architecture for protecting data and

operations. In 2017, the Telecom and Network team operationalized a new VPN solution,

protecting core County operations and improving network security. The increased level of

security comes from, among other things, the new system requiring two-factor authentication.

A real-world example of two-factor authentication is the process of taking money from an ATM:

the first factor is having your bank card and the second is knowing your personal PIN number.

DISASTER RECOVERY AND BUSINESS CONTINUITY

Disaster recovery and business continuity are two more key safety and security concerns. In

2017, the Data Center Operations team began work on an upgrade to a secondary data center

for disaster recovery situations. Work on the secondary center will conclude by the summer of

2018. Also in 2018, the Server Engineer and Data Center Operations teams will continue to

move toward data center consolidation, virtualizing legacy hardware and assessing the

compute footprint at auxiliary data centers across the County.

In 2018, the Server Engineer and Data Center Operations teams will complete work upgrading

server operating systems and decommissioning legacy servers. Upgrading server operating

systems increases security and supports application modernization. It also supports application

modernization by providing a hyper-converged environment to make our platform more agile

and ready for rapid innovative. In 2017, we procured hardware to build a hyper-converged

environment. Hyper-converged technology not only provides fast, effective, scalable data

center operations; it also reduces our carbon footprint.

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BROADBAND AND WI-FI

Moving data from applications to servers across the County and around the globe relies on

high-speed broadband. In 2017, the Telecom and Network Team extended the County's 10

gigabit-per-second Broadband network to Maywood Courthouse, which completed the County

Broadband project. This move increased network speeds for all users and devices at the

Maywood campus. It increased network capacity from 155 MBPS to 10,000 MBPS. Peak

bandwidth utilization has increased from 155 MBPS to over 500 MBPS. This lasting investment

in public infrastructure will serve the County well over time.

In 2017, the Telecom and Network team set up new Wi-Fi infrastructure at several key County

buildings, including: 118 North Clark, 69 West Washington, the Jail Campus, Brach Courthouses

and other locations. This benefits the County in several ways. It increases productivity for

knowledge workers by providing them with network access when they travel to other County

locations. The new Wi-Fi solution also provides a higher level of security and authentication.

Additionally, it provides County guests with access to Wi-Fi without compromising the security

of the internal County network. In 2018, The Telecom and Network teams will improve Wi-Fi

distribution at suburban courthouse locations. The Wi-Fi there can be used by judges,

attorneys, staff and jurors.

TELECOMMUNICATIONS

In 2018, the Telecom and Network teams will also go live at the first County location with a

modern Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephone system — Stroger Hospital. The new

system will replace the aging telecommunications infrastructure and consolidate the County's

telecom and network infrastructure into one. In 2017, the County Board made a $27 million

investment to replace the County’s 30-year-old phone system. The VOIP project represents the

last major piece of the modernization work of this decade at the County.

(VOIP is a method for using a group of tools to deliver audio or multimedia communications

over internet networks. VOIP can be used for audio, video, text messages or even faxing. The

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experience of making a phone call via VOIP is the same as any other type of call for the average

person. The difference is behind the scenes. Instead of being transmitted over an old-fashioned

circuit-switched network, your voice is transformed into digital information, which is collected

into what are called packets. These packets pass securely alongside all the other data traversing

the County network.

Cook County's new VOIP solution will enhance collaboration opportunities, reduce costs and

ensure compliance with Federal and State laws. It also provides disaster recovery capabilities. It

will use up-to-date technologies that enable new application development and allow for future

growth. The new VOIP system will integrate with the County-wide automated voice response

system that answers and directs calls. It will also integrate with the County's 911 system.

On a related note, BoT is working on our Video Conferencing Roadmap. In 2018, The Telecom

and Network teams will produce a video conferencing roadmap to guide the County going

forward. The rapid expansion of live video feeds and video storage have had a tremendous

impact on both network usage and storage. The trend is showing no signs of slowing.

NEW STANDARD PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE

A big leap forward coming in 2018 will be the upgrade to Windows 10 and Office 2016. This

year BoT’s Systems Management team will be rolling out both to all County employees in

Offices under the President. Windows 10 and Office 2016 offer a variety of new features and

integrate seamlessly with Cloud applications. Testing is currently under way to assure a smooth

rollout.

OneDrive and Office 365 go hand-in-hand with Windows 10 and Office 2016 to enable remote

collaboration on document editing, Cloud storage and file sharing via links instead of

attachments. Rollout of OneDrive finished in February of 2018. Using OneDrive offers

employees access to their work files from wherever they can find a computer connected to the

internet. In six months, BoT moved 2,200 accounts to OneDrive. The move included 3.8 million

files and 6.4 terabytes of data.

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We will also be taking advantage of these new capabilities to build a new County-wide

employee intranet on SharePoint. In 2017, the aging CCNET system was decommissioned, and,

in 2018, IT Communications will begin work on a new County-wide intranet, using the

SharePoint platform.

Also, this year the Project Management Office will move from its current system to Microsoft's

Project Online project management software. The new system adds new functionality and

integrates with the Microsoft Office Suite. All of these new Cloud-enabled systems can improve

productivity with 24/7 access from anywhere.

SERVICE DESK

The Service Desk team recently released a self-service portal that employees can use to submit

Service Desk tickets. By using a portal instead of calling or emailing, tickets can be routed to the

correct party without a middleman to sort them when they arrive. In addition to streamlining

the incident resolution process it allows for customer self-service to check the status of work

requests.

In 2017, the Service Desk team drove the cost per ticket for break-fix and Field Tech/Service

Desk down by several percentage points. The percentage of tickets completed in the amount of

time specified as a goal in our Service Level Agreements (SLAs) was held to a consistent 90

percent.

The team was able to bring costs down in part by increasing the use of remote-service tools. By

having Service Desk staff access computers remotely, the staff can handle more tickets each

day. We also implemented a new phone system which allowed for better oversight, metrics and

management of the Service Desk. Call volume has increased annually between 80 and 100

percent. We have handled over 20,000 incidents, an increase of 43 percent from the previous

year, while decreasing service desk headcount and still decreasing the cost per ticket.

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PRINTERS

Another trend that is not slowing is the move toward paper-free operations. A paper-free world

remains an aspirational goal, but for the time being we still need printers. In 2018, the Systems

Management and Service Desk teams will roll out new secure printing options for County

employees to prevent unauthorized personnel from inadvertently viewing documents as they

are printed. Employees will be able to send password-protected print jobs to shared printers.

BoT is moving to a centralized print server management system to achieve this goal. We are

also driving employee behavior to reduce printing through policies and revamping procedures

to avoid using paper. Creating a unified print server environment to provide improved print

management of our multi-functional device (MFD) fleet will allow us to automate printer

assignments based on department membership. This makes managing the printer fleet easier

for BoT and in many cases eliminates the need for desktop printers altogether.

SHARED SERVICES AND GOVERNANCE

In the coming years, local governments that focus less on updating legacy systems and

buttressing bureaucratic silos, and more on the integration of digital future infrastructure

strategies, will see the greatest returns on investment. Cook County must continue to unite and

merge its digital environments, focusing on shared services and collaboration among all the

County's agencies and many separately elected officials within the County. New technologies

will allow us to rewire the County.

Governance is the key to increasing collaboration and shared services across the County. The

County has maintained monthly Chief Information Officer (CIO) roundtable meetings for years.

The members of this council serve as heads of IT for the offices of separately elected officials

and independent parts of County government, such as the Forest Preserves and Health and

Hospitals System. Further expanding this kind of collaboration will help the County reach its

goals in all areas.

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The Bureau believes strongly that improved communication among departments leads to

increased collaboration, which improves the efficiency and effectiveness of operations and

ultimately reduces cost of doing business. This collaborative approach has also enabled us to

identify and pursue opportunities for consolidation among historically disparate departments.

Some recent examples of successful collaborations include centralizing the County's email

system, establishing standards for document management systems, and an ongoing effort to

consolidate data centers.

In 2017, Cook County's technology teams created a new Change Advisory Board (CAB) that

meets every Wednesday. The goal is to prevent unintended consequences down the line from

making adjustments to software or hardware. The CAB has members from each separately

elected office, and each line of business in BoT. As Cook County moves along the path of

modernization and integration, our technology is making us increasingly interconnected. CAB

has representation from all County offices, bureaus and departments. Proper change control

ensures that updates or modifications in interconnected systems are recorded, evaluated,

authorized, prioritized, planned, tested, implemented, documented and reviewed in a

controlled manner.

In 2018, BoT will be releasing a new Shared Services Catalog. The catalog will list all the services

the Bureau offers other County agencies and offices of separately elected officials. The catalog

will provide Service Level Agreements, which are objectives for the amount of time BoT should

take to provide each type of support BOT offers.

ASSET MANAGEMENT

A major area of focus for BOT in the near term is asset management. We are developing a set

of asset management policies and procedures. We will be tracking all technology hardware and

software more efficiently with the asset management system in order to support lifecycle

management and strategic decision making for the IT environment.

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An IT Asset Manager will be another key hire this year. Tracking the various types of software

and hardware throughout the County to efficiently manage the lifecycle and distribution of

licenses and computers has historically been a challenge for the County. By the end of 2018, we

will have a County-wide process in place to better track and manage our IT asset inventory,

which is likely to eliminate waste and reduce expenditures.

In 2017, the Board approved Ordinance No. 16-3977, calling for all County offices and agencies

to submit annual software and IT hardware inventories during the Budget cycle. The ordinance

requires the Bureau of Technology (BoT) and County Budget Office to summarize and assess the

inventories in the context of a “strategic document” to be delivered to the Board.

POLICIES

In 2018, BOT will be rolling out several important policies to support our strategies of

sustainability, security and fiscal responsibility. These include:

• Data Classification Methodology

• One Device per Person Computing Policy

• Mass Internal Email Communication Policy

• Electronic Records Policy

• Drone Video Policy

• Social Media Policy

CONSOLIDATION

In February of 2018, the County Board passed a resolution calling for consolidation across the

County of some IT functions. The resolution requires all County agencies, including those of

separately elected officials, with distinct IT operations and not currently under the control of

the Chief Information Officer to collaboratively evaluate IT operations for duplication of

functions and services.

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IT functions at Cook County currently are only partially centralized. Services such as network

and telecommunications support are centralized with the Bureau of Technology (BoT), which is

an Office under President Preckwinkle. Other functions are managed by autonomous

technology offices reporting to the County’s other elected or appointed officials: Assessor,

Board of Review, Chief Judge, Clerk of the Circuit Court, County Clerk, Forest Preserves, Health

and Hospitals System, Recorder of Deeds, Sheriff, State’s Attorney and Treasurer.

The resolution focuses on four areas: information security; help desks; data centers and server

management; and default productivity and communications software (which means standard

software used for such functions as word processing, spreadsheets, email and video

conferencing). The resolution calls for “concrete and actionable recommendations” to be

delivered to the Board within 120 days of the resolution’s passage.

Other examples of consolidated technology systems that are in various states of installation and

implementation include:

• Integrated Justice System to connect the disparate systems of the Sheriff, Clerk of

the Court, Chief Judge, State's Attorney and Public Defender;

• Integrated Property System, bringing the County's agencies that deal with property

taxation together under a unified system, and;

• Enterprise Resource Planning, replacing the County's back-office financial and

supply chain systems with a Countywide, unified modern system.

Efforts to evaluate consolidation began last year during the County’s Fiscal Year 2018 Budget

process last year. At that time, the State’s Attorney agreed allow BOT to handle most of the

functions listed in the new resolution.

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INTEGRATED PROPERTY

In December of 2018 the Assessor's Office will begin using the Integrated Property Tax System.

The project is a major step in our efforts to decommission the mainframe and has the potential

to help rectify some of the assessment challenges that the office faces.

The new solution creates an improved central database of the County's 1.8 million property

parcels and all of the related data behind each parcel from each of the agencies engaged in the

County's property tax system. It will also provide more streamlined ways of processing property

services as information is viewed, accessed and edited between agencies and taxing districts.

The benefits of the project go beyond software, allowing the County to re-engineer and

automate additional business processes. The system will provide a single view of each property

PIN; previously each agency kept its own records. The new system also allows for data analytics

and reporting. Once implemented, the new system will improve public-facing services and

increase transparency. The system will also increase the accuracy of records.

INTEGRATED JUSTICE ENTERPRISE SERVICE BUS

Another major new system at Cook County is the Enterprise Service Bus to facilitate

communications between the different software applications used by each of the County's

justice agencies: Chief Judge, Clerk of the Circuit Court, Public Defender, Sheriff, State's

Attorney and the Bureau of Technology (which operates under the Office of County Board

President Preckwinkle).

The benefits of having a way to seamlessly translate and transfer data among all of Cook

County's justice agencies are enormous. The ESB creates the potential for more rapid

identification of suspected offenders, significantly reduces our dependence on expensive and

inefficient data entry, and helps prevent situations where detainees are released too soon or

too late due to miscommunication. The bus uses service-oriented architecture, which allows

very different types of software to speak to each other over a network.

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Using the “Bus”, the Electronic Mittimus data exchange between the Clerk of the Court and

Sheriff is now the fifth exchange to go live. The new system helps ensure that the court-ordered

release of jail detainees is handled in a timely manner, and that those individuals who need to

remain in custody are not released early. When a judge makes a decision about charges against

a detainee in Cook County Jail, the information travels electronically from the Clerk of the

Circuit Court to the County Sheriff's Jail Management System using the Bus. The record of the

decisions, known as the Mittimus, provides a list of charges and the Judge's disposition, or

ruling, on each.

Using the same Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system that answers the phones County-wide,

BoT worked with the County's justice agencies to launch a court-date reminder system to place

automated calls reminding defendants of their upcoming court dates. The new system reduces

confusion surrounding court dates that can delay hearings, and reduces the administrative

costs associated with court hearings. The system utilizes the ESB to take data from Courts and

set up a queue of calls from the County's IVR. The system also sends text message reminders.

ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING

The largest County-wide shared service venture is the new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

system. ERP covers all County offices, including the Health and Hospitals System. Completed

ERP projects include the configuration and implementation of the JDEdwards E1 Human

Resources, Payroll, and Benefits Management system which is now in production, enterprise

deployment of the Cook County Time (CCT) Time and Attendance system. Projects still under

way include the Strategic & Tactical Enterprise Processes (STEP) project to implement the

Oracle E-Business Suite ERP software. Successful implementation of the STEP ERP suite in May

of 2018 is expected to retire up to eight outmoded systems and save the County millions of

dollars annually through centralizing supply chain data to reduce inventory expenses and

increase use of automation.

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Replacing out-of-date systems unable to keep pace with technological advances will allow for

process improvements, best practices, streamlined workflows and real-time analytics for

finance and human resources functions across all County agencies. During 2017, ERP generated

FY2018 Budget books for both the County and the Forest Preserves, plus loaded budget files

into the Oracle E-Business Suite system. The new system creates consistent budget submittals

across all agencies leveraging a unified Chart of Accounts. It rapidly consolidates and reports

financial results. Cook County financial reporting will now be based on uniform and consistent

data and Countywide processes.

Enterprise applications like ERP and Time and Attendance save the County money if used as

intended. The Cook County Time (CCT) Time and Attendance project is expected to cut payroll-

related costs by using biometric time clocks which should minimize payroll errors and reduce

administrative staff time spent manually processing paper timesheets and time-off requests.

This initiative allows for the automation and integrated time tracking for the County's

approximately 23,000 employees at more than 100 locations. This is an important component

of the County-wide goal to decrease overtime costs.

CASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

Significant innovation and modernization for the County will come in the form of new case

management systems. Many offices throughout the County handle different types of cases. We

are standardizing our approach these systems, which ensures both quality and interoperability,

while simplifying support.

One major new system coming in 2018 is the Department of Adoption and Family Supportive

Services’ new case management system. The system will help them in their mission to serve the

welfare and best interests of children and families involved in independent adoptions,

guardianship, parentage and dissolution of marriage cases in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

As part of the project, thousands of paper records will be digitized.

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Using the same standard framework, last year BoT’s Enterprise Application Services

Department also rolled out a new case management system for the Department of Animal and

Rabies Control. The new system replaces a legacy mainframe program, leapfrogging several

decades of technology to provide the department, veterinarians and members of the public

with a new, user-friendly system.

In 2017, the Cook County Public Defender implemented a new case management system that

improved the handling of case initiation, subpoena management, investigations, case

scheduling, managing expert witnesses and judges’ dispositions. This new system will also

generate data that can be analyzed to optimize attorney assignments and office efficiency. A

new phase of the system rollout is coming in 2018. In 2018, BoT will deliver a state-of-the-art

case management system and accompanying web portal to the Department of Environment

and Sustainability. The system will handle cases from air quality to asbestos and demolition.

INTEGRATED REVENUE

The new Department of Revenue Integrated Tax Processing System represents a major

improvement for County operations. Not to be confused with the new Integrated Property Tax

System (IPTS), going live beginning in 2018, the Department of Revenue’s Integrated Tax

Processing System (IPTS) modernizes the administration of Cook County home rule taxes by

providing a number of state-of-the-art features such as online return filing, self-registration and

independent account maintenance. It went live in 2017; however, new features are coming in

2018. Release One covers six tax types, resulting in more than 2,600 registered users, 15,000

monthly tax returns filed and processing of $145 million.

ENTERPRISE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The County’s award-winning Department of Enterprise Geographic Information Systems (GIS),

which has a long tradition of innovation, is rolling out self-service mapping infrastructure to

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more than 20 departments and offices of elected officials across Cook County. GIS is now using

an online Cloud mapping platform to transform how data can be presented throughout Cook

County agencies. This software allows County employees to easily create and share maps

throughout the organization and with the public.

This system allows access to critical location information from your desktop, browser, tablet or

smartphone, anytime, anywhere. Mapping can empower County employees to perform

analyses to identify and quantify the implications, consequences and impact of their decisions.

The system also allows users to take advantage of compatible web mapping tools to produce

professional maps and graphics. County employees will be able to learn how to create spatially

intelligent web applications to share with the public or other agencies. All of this takes place in

a secure system with controlled access that can be modified with specific permissions for users

and groups.

In 2017, GIS launched “Cook Central” — a mapping and geographic data hub for sharing

information with the public. Cook Central is a one-stop shop for the County's Department of

Geographic Information Systems. Available data include map layers such as transportation

infrastructure, recreation, housing, business and manufacturing locations.

Among the highlights of Cook Central, is Connect to Cook. The Connect to Cook app can help

entrepreneurs determine customer communities, display potential competitor locations and

analyze the population within a specific drive-time or distance.

Many other interactive maps are available on Cook Central. The new hub is also home to GIS

open data. Digital tool developers can also use it to build their own maps and applications at no

charge. In 2014, President Preckwinkle and the County Commissioners eliminated charges for

County GIS data. To learn more about Cook Central and see the new application, visit:

cookcountyil.gov/CookCentral

The star of Cook Central so far is the Medical Examiner’s Office, which worked with GIS and the

Department of IT Communications to create maps and open data pages for the cases they

handle. They produced three maps and a dashboard: all cases since 2014, opioid cases since

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2014, gun cases since 2014, and a dashboard displaying a variety of up-to-date data. On the

County's Open Data Catalog visitors can download all the case data and view visualizations that

show trends in the data.

The Medical Examiner data could help law enforcement and health professionals see trends

that would help them save lives. For instance, seeing a cluster of overdoses in a certain area

could mean it is a good candidate for some sort of intervention.

EFFICIENCY

Operating with tight budgets means that funding for new system developments and

enhancements will be limited, and we must make choices based on competing priorities. We

will try to avoid the costly process of customizing systems, which may mean redesigning

business processes around the out-of-the-box features of standard software. We will mandate

the reuse of proven, common application solutions.

Cook County has adopted several key IT principles and policies that facilitate shared services,

consolidation, and general efficiency, including:

Lifecycle management: By tracking and monitoring our technology assets, we will be able to

retire legacy assets based on pre-identified technology lifecycle, and identify problems for

correction in device or software performance before malfunctions become harmful.

Reuse before buy and buy before build: We identify opportunities to use existing solutions in

new ways before purchasing new ones, and we will take advantage of standard commercial

software, creating custom software or building our own solutions only as a last resort.

Standardization: Using the same versatile technologies in as many ways as possible allows us to

minimize the variety of technologies our staff need to understand and support. Also, by

increasing the size of contracts instead of the number of contracts, we can harness the buying

power our size affords us to negotiate significant savings.

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Additionally, in 2017 BoT was able to achieve significant savings over previous contracts. For

instance, the AT&T contract and saves us over $1,200,000 annually. The Ensono mainframe

hosting renewal is $1,332,000 less expensive annually than the previous contract.

Our tiered approach to Microsoft Office and email licensing has saved us $142,000 over the

previous year. We added a less expensive option, Microsoft G1 Licenses, downgrading users

who don’t need computers to do their jobs. We were also able remove the three-year

commitment from previous contracts, which enables us to downgrade additional employees at

any time.

In 2017, the diligent cost-saving efforts of the Telecom group created more than $1,000,000 in

savings on the AT&T Contract. The Telecommunications team is more closely scrutinizing

telephone circuit utilization and future circuit needs. The team is also seeking opportunities to

streamline the process of managing the telecom contract.

In all of our negotiations with vendors we focus on maintenance caps, locks and rate card

reductions. We also make detailed comparisons to the contracts other governments of similar

size have received from the same vendors.

CONCLUSION

Cook County residents have high expectations for digital government services. Residents expect

digital services to evolve the way business is done at the County. We have made great strides

toward modernization and digitization, but more work remains ahead.