CURRENT AND PROPOSED ORGANIZATIONAL ACTIVITIES
The Office of the CIO (OCIO) is looking into centralizing the e-mail services for the State. They are looking at either Lotus Notes or Microsoft Outlook/Exchange. We are hoping to have a recommendation from them sometime during June, 2007. We are currently working with Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) and the OCIO to determine our communications needs for our District Operation Centers (DOCs). A DOC will be located at each of the eight District Headquarters along with a centralized location at our Operations building in Lincoln.
INFRASTRUCTURE (DESKTOP, NETWORKING, SERVER/STORAGE/ETC.)
NDOR's current server infrastructure includes an IBM mainframe and 162 Windows servers. The Department supports approximately 2,200 users, 2,000 workstations and 117 locations. The mainframe is located at the Office of the CIO's data center. Servers are located in the NDOR Server Room in the Lincoln Central Complex and District offices throughout the state.
NDOR servers are currently running Windows Server 2003 with a few that still use Windows Server 2000. The workstations are currently running Windows XP. Limited evaluation of Windows Vista has begun with expanded evaluation to begin in about 6 months. We have no set timetable for implementation; certainly it will not happen for at least a year.
Nebraska Department of Roads supports DB2 z/OS, DB2 for Windows, and SQL Server. DB2 z/OS is used to support legacy COBOL/CICS programs on the mainframe. DB2 for Windows and SQL Server support many in-house developed applications as well as several purchased applications.
NEW SYSTEMS (JUST COMPLETED, IN PROGRESS, OR PREPARING TO START)
Legacy Transition Project - This project has just been initiated and will consist of several phases. The initial phase will be to analyze the legacy systems and tools available to web enable the graphic user interface (GUI) for mainframe based systems as well as update connectivity methods between disparate financial databases. The project will work through the analysis and research of systems, platforms and tools to determine the best fit for our agency and its business units. For more information contact Scott McFall at 402-479-4743 or scottmcfall@dor.state.ne.us.
Nebraska Information System (NIS) – Profit Concepts International has completed a Procurement Interface between the State’s ERP (JD Edwards One-World) and the Department's Financial System. The Department's Financial Projects Team is finalizing the interface and moving it to production. For more information contact Scott McFall at 402-479-4743 or scottmcfall@dor.state.ne.us.
Financial Systems Upgrade – Much of the work of converting the last IBM IMS Databases to IBM DB2 Databases, along with the programs affected are completed. The last application is scheduled for completion in mid 2007. For more information please contact Scott McFall at 402-479-4743 or scottmcfall@dor.state.ne.us.
Project Scheduling – NDOR, with the assistance of the Office of the CIO, has completed implementation of Clarity from Computer Associates. Clarity will be used to schedule both Construction and IT projects. For more information please contact Lee Kohrs at 402-479-3808 or lkohrs@dor.state.ne.us
Enterprise Asset Management – NDOR is currently in the process of completing phase one (fleet assets) of the implementation of GBA Master Suite. We are working closely with the contractor, Carter Burgess, to ensure that data is flowing back to our existing financial systems as well as creating interfaces to streamline business processes. Once completed, an evaluation will be done to determine when or if phase two (facility assets) will occur. Phase three will consist of highway assets. For more information please contact Jim Schmailzl at 402-479-4787 or jschmail@dor.state.ne.us.
Microstation - NDOR is currently using version 8.05.02.35. We are evaluating the use of Iplot Organizer to allow us to create digital plot sets complete with the ability to add sheet numbers through the organizer interface. In order to take advantage of this functionality, we’ll be upgrading to Microstation version 8.05.02.55. We will begin evaluating XM this year, with a preliminary implementation date set for January 2009.
GEOPAK - NDOR is using GEOPAK 2004 (version 08.05.02.59) for Road and Survey. NDOR is currently evaluating GEOPAK version 08.08.02.40 and hope to have this completely implemented by August 2007 to take advantage of some of the new tools in Road, Survey and Coordinate Geometry. We plan to begin a project to implement the use of automated quantities with both D&C and Quantities Manager; and will begin evaluating XM within the next year. For more information please contact Jon Starr at 402-479-3711 or jstarr@dor.state.ne.us.
GPS - NDOR uses Trimble Geomatics Office for all GPS processing. NDOR is in the process of upgrading all GPS users to Trimble Geomatics Office Ver. 1.63, Data Transfer Utility Ver. 1.30 and AcitveSync Ver. 4.5 for data collector communications. Data Collector devices being used are the TSCe and TSCe2 with a few Huskys. NDOR has an on-site COR Station which is registered with NGS and is in the process of creating a Virtual Reference System (VRS) between Lincoln and Omaha. Trimble’s Virtual Reference Station (VRS) System provides high-accuracy, real-time kinematics (RTK) GPS positioning for large areas. The fixed VRS network is available at any time without setting up a base station and provides common control wherever you are in the network. The set up of the VRS System is being done with the assistance of Consultants. The VRS network will be managed by Seiler Instruments in St. Louis.
Document Management - NDOR uses Falcon/DMS for the management of documents for Roadway projects, Traffic Detail information, Rail and Transit Agreements, Aerial Coverage Maps, and training documentation. NDOR began scanning As-Built plans into Falcon/DMS for easy access to plans that were previously only found on MicroFilm cards. NDOR is looking into additional functionality utilizing Falcon APIs for getting information to and from our Right-of-Way systems and also for pushing information out to the web. For more information please contact Jon Starr at 402-479-3711 or jstarr@dor.state.ne.us.
AASHTOWare® Trns•port – NDOR has deployed all the latest available releases of Trns•port applications licensed. This includes SiteManager, the Cost Estimation system (CES), the Proposal Estimation System (PES), the Letting and Award System (LAS), the Decision Support System (DSS) and the Electronic Bidding System (Expedite). NDOR continually works to build reports and utilities to meet our customers’ needs. Work is wrapping up on a custom field recording and reporting system contained within SiteManager. This system will allow NDOR to capture and report data in a standardized setting. On the materials side of SMGR we are working to incorporate materials such as emulsified asphalts, hot pour joint sealants and performance graded binders. We are also beta testing an interface NDOR developed for data collected by Nuclear Density gauges. The interface should take density information directly from the gauge and import it into SMGR. NDOR is also currently involved in the development of an AASHTOWare® Civil Rights and Labor Management System (CRLMS). This will enable the collection of civil rights and labor compliance data and the compilation/analysis of this data. For more information please contact Jim Ferguson at 402-479-4454 or jferguso@dor.state.ne.us.
PONTIS - NDOR is in the process of customizing PONTIS for use as our bridge management system. PONTIS will replace BISON, our in-house developed bridge inspection data collection tool. InfoMaker/PowerBuilder screens are being developed to facilitate collection of non-NBI items using PONTIS. Work is also being done on developing an interface to synchronize data between PONTIS SQL tables and our DB2 corporate database tables. NDOR will begin using PONTIS for NBI inspections in the spring of 2008.
Surveying Equipment – The Department of Roads is currently buying Trimble GPS/GNSS receivers. These receivers support all available and imminent GNSS signals. A further use of GPS by NDOR personnel, involves Real Time Kinematics (RTK) surveying. A GPS receiver is set over a control point of known location. A second receiver, called a rover, is then used to determine and store the locations of needed points. The rover uses Bluetooth (Reg), short range wireless radio technology, to communicate between the antenna and the receiver. For the RTK surveyors, the advantage of this technology is the ability to operate a rover that is cable free. With the digital level system, we achieve accurate elevations on our control points for photogrammetry use and for construction use. The digital level reads a barcode pattern, which the level’s electronics interprets as a reading, accurate to less than 1 mm. The reading can be electronically recorded for later transfer to a project file on a computer.
Help Desk Improvement – NDOR has recently completed a study to determine how best to configure our Help Desk to give our customers better service. The team is finishing their report and it will be presented to the administration in June, 2007. For more information contact Joe Kellner at 402-479-4650 or jkellner@dor.state.ne.us.
Project Management Methodology – We are currently developing a methodology for agency IT projects. Included in this methodology is project initiation, requirements gathering, change control, status reporting, risk identification and mitigation, and project close-out procedures. For more information please contact Ryan Christensen at 402-479-4382 or RyanChristensen@dor.state.ne.us.
Business Education Program – We have started a project to help educate our customers on what their IT division has done, is working on and what we see down the road. We held one day sessions that we called “Tech Days” where not only our customers but the people within our own Division could see what their co-workers had developed or were in the process of developing. We had five separate “Tech Days” consisting of Technical Services, Engineering, Financial and DataMart, GIS and Operations. Our next step is to turn it around and have our business customers show us their workflows and what they need to do to accomplish their jobs on a daily basis. This information will assist us in determining the best way to meet their business needs. For more information please contact Bill Wehling at 402-479-3986 or bwehling@dor.state.ne.us.
Knowledge Transfer Documentation – We are beginning a project to develop knowledge transfer and documentation standards for our Division.
RECORD OF EXCHANGE
NDOR has obtained information from numerous States from various surveys we have sent out ranging from Help Desk setups to transferring data from Design to Construction. Texas DOT has sent us information regarding their RFP process. We have sent information on our GEOPAK implementation and our Falcon DMS implementation to a number of States.
INFORMATION WANTED
NDOR is interested in what other transportation agencies are implementing or considering in the area of Google Earth, ESRI, application development tools, use of tablets and handheld devices for field data collection and construction, use of Citrix for running applications and integration of legacy systems with new technologies.