Note from Colorado’s Secretary of Technology & CIO

Dear Customer,

As we begin 2017, we have news for you on improved features that make Google Hangouts easier and better for collaboration, as well as a refresher on how we share information related to your IT service and new training to increase your cybersecurity IQ. I’d also like to take a moment to thank each one of you for taking the time to enroll in 2-Step Verification. It has made our Gmail accounts and state data safer.

In the new year, we renew our commitment to providing you the IT services and infrastructure you need to fulfill your mission to serve Colorado. 

Sincerely,

Suma Nallapati
Secretary of Technology & CIO


Service Desk Messages
What In the World Do These Emails Mean?

Managing your email inbox can be a chore. Many of us delete emails that don’t have any value or apply to our daily work. The OIT Service Desk is ready to help when you have trouble with your computer or an application but they also provide the valuable service of keeping you informed on a wide range of IT-related issues, IT maintenance activities and security concerns. With all the email we receive every day, it’s easy to see how OIT Service Desk emails can get lost in your inbox. To make it easier to identify the type of information in the email look for the banner at the top. Here are the top three we use:


The messages are short and sweet. By reading them you’ll learn about changes to IT service across the executive branch and changes that are specific to your agency, and when necessary, you’ll learn about outages that impact you. The OIT Service Desk phone number is included in each message so if you do have a question or concern you can pick up the phone and speak to an analyst directly.

Cybersecurity Training 2017
Mandatory First Quarter Training Is Available Now

Cybersecurity. It’s kind of a buzzword these days. For our state’s Office of Information Security it’s pretty much a way of life. Protecting our state data and keeping our systems secure is a 24/7 job. It’s also something that each one of us can take an active role in. OIT provides quarterly cybersecurity training as a way to teach you how you can do your part in protecting state resources, including your email account. In January you received a notice from the OIT Service Desk letting you know that the first quarter training for 2017 was now available. If you haven’t taken it or are behind on the trainings from 2016 you can find them on the cybersecurity portal. We’ll be releasing a new training each quarter -- so watch out for those Service Desk notices.

Google Tips & Tricks
Google Hangouts: Did You Know?

Google Hangouts is the text and video chat platform within the suite of Google apps that are available to all state Google customers. It has evolved quite a bit over the past year. Hangouts on Air allows for a broad distribution of live streaming and is now available on YouTube Live Events, which makes it easier for you to use and for viewers to find. 
Other improvements include:
  • Increasing the maximum number of participants in a Hangout to 25
  • Setting up a Hangout within a Google Calendar invite in the event details section
  • Starting group chats with the url function. Learn how at hangouts.google.com
OIT offers training for agencies looking to use this tool for meetings with large audiences from multiple locations. If you are interested, please contact Kevin Ruby at kevin.ruby@state.co.us.

Colorado Information Marketplace: The Movie!
Learn About the State's Open Data Website

Ok, so maybe it’s not a full-fledged movie, but this quick video on the Colorado Information Marketplace (CIM) at data.colorado.gov shows the value of sharing public data held by state agencies on the Colorado Information Marketplace (CIM).

OIT’s Chief Data Officer Jon Gottsegen hopes this video will inspire folks to see the business value and the potential to solve policy issues by accessing this kind of data. Jon says, “Our public data that exists across the state is all part of one big data puzzle. When you can get it all in one place, it has the potential to make a big difference in our policy decisions.”


Several agencies took part in this effort to show the value they are getting from CIM. We hope you take a peek and share with friends and colleagues. 

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