The Texas Quality Assurance Team (QAT) is responsible for providing oversight and guidance, and reporting agency project trends and updates to the legislature. This training will give attendees an understanding of the IT funding process, including funding trends in the Texas Legislature, along with a discussion of the role the Quality Assurance Team plays in oversight and reporting. In addition, QAT members from the LBB, CPA, SAO and DIR will share their insights and best practices for major IT projects. Learning objectives for this session include: understand the funding process for Information Technology projects, review key legislation impacting major IT projects, gain insight on the Quality Assurance Team’s role, and learn about new tools and best practices to support your major IT project implementation. 

Protecting consumers’ personal and sensitive information has become a legislative priority, and governmental entities must comply with numerous legal requirements when handling Texans’ personal data. This training will address privacy best practices, the laws governmental entities must comply with when collecting, processing, and storing personal information, and how to plan for and respond to a data breach. In addition, we will share resources and ideas to establish privacy awareness and training within the organization. Attendees will have an opportunity to network with and learn from privacy professionals from other governmental entities across the state.

The Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) Texas Data Literacy Program (TDLP) is designed to provide foundational information on topics such as data management, data sharing, and analytics. DIR encourages each state agency and institution of higher education to utilize the courses as a springboard to create their own organization-specific data literacy programs. In this pre-conference session, we will explore data literacy and outline steps to develop a program tailored to address organization-specific needs. Additionally, a panel of representatives from select organizations will discuss their efforts, challenges, and successes in developing their respective programs.

Digital Accessibility is critical to providing technology services and content to all citizens. During the Discover pre-conference, DIR will host three digital accessibility presentations focused on the new WCAG 2.2 standards and success criteria, accessible data visualizations, and digital accessibility strategy for technology leaders. This session will benefit agency accessibility teams, employees responsible for data visualizations and reporting, and agency leaders that support digital accessibility policies and processes, e.g., CIOs, IRMs, Executive Directors, and procurement teams.