Office of Digital Services: establishment.

Existing law establishes in state government the Government Operations Agency, headed by the Secretary of Government Operations. The secretary is required to review the operations and evaluate the performance of each department, office, or other unit within the agency and seek to continually improve, among other things, the operating policies and the management of information systems of those entities within the agency. The agency includes, among other state government entities, the Department of General Services and the Department of Technology. The Department of Technology is under the supervision of the Director of Technology, who is also known as the State Chief Information Officer. Existing law generally requires the Department of Technology to be responsible for the approval and oversight of information technology projects by, among other things, consulting with state agencies during initial project planning to ensure that project proposals are based on well-defined programmatic needs. This bill would establish the Office of Digital Services, within a proposed Department of Customer Service, to be headed by a Director of Customer Service. The bill would require the office to, among other things, provide teams, on an as-needed basis, of technologists, engineers, designers, and other qualified individuals with technology skills to state agencies and departments to solve technology issues and create technology tools and platforms. The bill would make related legislative findings.