Code of the District of Columbia

Chapter 14. Office of the Chief Technology Officer.

Subchapter I. General.

§ 1–1401. Establishment of Office of the Chief Technology Officer.

(a) Pursuant to § 1-204.04(b), there is hereby established, in the Executive Branch of the government of the District of Columbia, an Office of the Chief Technology Officer (“Office”) under the supervision of a Chief Technology Officer, who shall carry out the functions and authorities assigned to the Office. The Office of the Chief Technology Officer is established as of July 13, 1998.

(b) The Chief Technology Officer shall have full authority over the Office and all functions and personnel assigned thereto, including the power to redelegate to other employees and officials of the Office such powers and authority as in the judgment of the Chief Technology Officer is warranted in the interests of efficiency and sound administration.

§ 1–1401.01. Definitions.

For the purpose of this subchapter, the term "Office" means the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, established by § 1-1401.

§ 1–1402. Purpose.

The purpose of the Office is to centralize responsibility for the District government’s investments in information technology and telecommunications systems to help District departments and agencies provide services more efficiently and effectively. The Office will develop and enforce policy directives and standards regarding information technology and telecommunications systems throughout the District government. The Office will also serve as a source of expertise for District departments and agencies seeking to use information technology and telecommunications systems to improve services. In addition, the Office shall work to ensure that all District residents and businesses have reasonable, affordable, and equitable access to high-speed Internet services.

§ 1–1403. Functions.

The functions assigned to the Office shall be to:

(1) Issue regulations governing the acquisition, use, and management of information technology and telecommunications systems and resources throughout the District government, including hardware, software, and contract services in the areas of data and word processing, telecommunications, printing and copying;

(2) Review and approve all agency proposals, purchase orders, and contracts for the acquisition of information technology and telecommunications systems, resources, and services, and recommend approval or disapproval to the Chief Procurement Officer;

(3) Review and approve the information technology and telecommunications budgets for District government department and agencies;

(4) Coordinate the development of information management plans, standards, systems, and procedures throughout the District government, including the development of an information technology strategic plan for the District;

(5) Assess new or emerging technologies and advise District department and agencies on the potential applications of these technologies to their programs and services;

(6) Implement information technology solutions and systems throughout the District government;

(7) Promote the compatibility of information technology and telecommunications systems throughout the District government;

(8) Serve as a resource and provide advice to District departments and agencies about how to use information technology and telecommunications systems to improve services, including assistance to departments and agencies in developing information technology strategic plans;

(9) Maintain and oversee all District data centers, including, but not limited to, the SHARE, Department of Human Services, Department of Employment Services, University of the District of Columbia, Metropolitan Police Department, Public Benefits Corporation, Saint Elizabeths, Department of Health, and District of Columbia Public Schools data centers; provided, that this paragraph shall not apply to the Department of Motor Vehicles;

(10)(A)(i) Review the use of landlines, wireless phone lines, and data for which the District pays for telecommunication services and decertify and disconnect such services whenever not in active use; and

(ii) Require District agencies to annually re-certify all inventory in the fixed cost management system of active landlines, wireless phone lines, and data circuits.

(B) The Office may:

(i) Disconnect landlines in favor of wireless devices and vice versa based on usage analysis and in consultation with agency directors; and

(ii) Review and reject any requests for telecommunication services that do not comply with the technology standards of the Office.

(C) The Office shall not impose any requirement, determination, or decision concerning, or otherwise interfere with, the telecommunications inventory of the Council unless the Council specifically consents;

(11) Develop and implement solutions designed to ensure that all District residents and businesses have equitable and affordable access to high-speed Internet services;

(12) In furtherance of paragraph (10) of this section, obtaining and expending federal grant funds for digital inclusion efforts and awarding sub-grants to nonprofit entities established in the District for the purpose of supporting digital inclusion efforts by such entities, including the following:

(A) Providing computer literacy training;

(B) Providing free or low-cost computers;

(C) Developing new online content;

(D) Conducting public outreach concerning the use, availability, and benefits of computers and the Internet; and

(E) Similar efforts to enhance the accessibility, usability, affordability, and perceived value of computers and the Internet among under-served populations of the District; and

(13) Stimulate, support, and promote the development of innovative technologies and technology-enabled solutions within the District, including through the issuance of grants and through the issuance of sub-grants of funding Congress granted to the District under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, approved March 11, 2021 (Pub. L. No. 117-2; 135 Stat. 4), and appropriated to the Office, subject to part B of subchapter XII-A of Chapter 3 of this title and subchapter XI-A of Chapter 2 of Title 2.

§ 1–1403.01. Digital equity planning and reporting.

(a) The Office shall work to identify and remedy barriers to equitable access to internet service in the District, including racial, socioeconomic, geographic, and other inequities in connectivity infrastructure, in device ownership, in the compatibility between devices and critical services, in digital literacy, and in awareness and adoption of digital tools and benefits.

(b) Within 90 days after March 10, 2023, the Office shall deliver to the Council and post on its website an internet equity status report.

(1) The report shall include a description of the District's participation in federal programs pursuant to BIL, including:

(A) A list of federal programs established pursuant to BIL that the District government is participating in, including a description of:

(i) The District's current participation in each; and

(ii) Anticipated uses of funds to advance digital equity as described in subsection (a) of this section;

(B) A list of any federal programs established pursuant to BIL that the District government is potentially eligible to participate in but has decided not to, with an explanation; and

(C) A list of any federal programs established pursuant to BIL that the District government is still evaluating as of the date of the initial report, with the Office's best estimate of a timeline for deciding whether to participate in each.

(2) The initial report shall describe how the Office plans to conduct community outreach and engagement regarding the District's applications for federal internet infrastructure funding.

(c) Within 1 year after March 10, 2023, the Office shall develop or obtain and shall deliver to the Council and post on its website a study of the feasibility and anticipated consequences of one or more projects using local or federal grant funds to increase District-owned fiber and conduit broadband infrastructure in areas identified by the Office as least likely to receive affordable, reliable high-speed internet service absent such investments, including:

(1) Overall recommendations as to the scale of such projects that may reasonably be completed within the implementation periods of any major BIL programs in which the Office intends to participate;

(2) Estimated costs and buildout timelines;

(3) Barriers that may increase implementation costs;

(4) Estimated District revenues that might reasonably result during the useful life of the resulting infrastructure;

(5) Estimated economic benefits to District residents and businesses that might reasonably result during the useful life of the resulting infrastructure; and

(6) Estimates of the scale of any other significant benefits likely to accrue to District residents and businesses as a result of the projects.

(d)(1) Within 1 year after March 10, 2023, the Office shall deliver to the Council, and post on its website, an internet equity gap assessment report ("GA report").

(2) The GA report shall address the digital equity goals of:

(A) Ensuring that all District households earning 50% of the area median family income or less are able to obtain home internet access, with adequate speed and reliability to support ordinary digital participation in important activities such as employment, education, and health care, and at a cost of no more than 0.5% of household income; and

(B) Ensuring that all applications for important services or benefits that District agencies offer in online formats may be accessed reliably and in a consistent manner via:

(i) Desktop computers;

(ii) Laptop computers;

(iii) Tablet devices;

(iv) Smartphones; and

(v) Widely used internet browsers.

(3) For each digital equity goal enumerated in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the GA report shall:

(A) Estimate the extent to which existing District government programs, including programs that the Office anticipates pursuing using BIL funding, are unlikely to achieve the goal within 3 years after the date of the GA report;

(B) Note any significant barriers to achieving the goal;

(C) Estimate the level of additional local funding that might be needed to fully achieve the goal; and

(D) Provide any policy recommendations that the Office believes would help further the goal.

(e) For the purpose of this section, the term:

(1) "BIL" means the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, approved November 15, 2021 (Pub. L. No. 117-58; 135 Stat. 429).

(2) "Broadband" means the transmission of wide bandwidth data over a high-speed internet connection, including via fiber optic, wireless, cable, digital subscriber line, and satellite technology.

§ 1–1404. Transfers.

All positions, personnel, property, records, and unexpended balances of appropriations, allocations, and other funds available or to be made available to the Chief Information Officer in the Office of the City Administrator pursuant to § 2-327.01 [repealed], or to the Department of Administrative Services for the information technology and telecommunications purposes and functions set out in Reorganization Plan No. 5 of 1983, effective March 1, 1984, are hereby transferred to the Office of the Chief Technology Officer.

§ 1–1405. Organization.

(a) There are hereby established 3 primary organizational functions in the Office as follows:

(1) The Office of the Chief Technology Officer, which will include the staff and organizational units needed to carry out the overall plans and directions for the District’s information technology, telecommunications policies, and data centers;

(2) Agency Support Services, which will provide direct assistance and support to the user agencies throughout the District government. Agency Support Services will also provide procurement and contract oversight and assistance for information technology and telecommunications, maintain standard technology-related contracts that all District departments and agencies may use, and manage projects that introduce new technologies and systems throughout the District government; and

(3) Technical Services, which will provide support for desktop computers, servers, phones, and network equipment, and identify cost savings, operational efficiencies, and ways to improve public services by introducing tested technologies such as electronic service delivery, document imaging, and Internet systems.

(b) The Chief Technology Officer, in the performance of his or her duties and functions, is authorized to restructure the organizational components of the Office as he or she deems necessary to improve the quality of services.

§ 1–1406. Applicability.

Sections 1-1402 and 1-1403 shall not apply to the Council of the District of Columbia, the Office of the District of Columbia Auditor, the Office of the Ombudsperson for Children, or the Office of the Attorney General; provided, that the Council may enter into written agreements with the Office of the Chief Technology Officer to coordinate the operations of its electronic communications.

Subchapter II. Technology Services Support.

§ 1–1431. Definitions.

For the purposes of this subchapter, the term:

(1) Repealed.

(2) Repealed.

(3) “Costs” includes obligations incurred before September 18, 2007.

(4) “DC-NET program” means a program conducted by the Office of the Chief Technology Officer to implement and manage a state-of-the-art, fiber-optic network owned by the District government.

(5) Repealed.

(6) Repealed.

§ 1–1432. DC-NET Services and Innovation Fund.

(a) There is established as a special fund the DC-NET Services and Innovation Fund ("Fund"), which shall be administered by the Office of the Chief Technology Officer ("Office") in accordance with subsection (c) of this section.

(b) There shall be deposited into the Fund all payments for telecommunications services furnished by the Office's DC-NET program from independent District government agencies; agencies of the federal government; agencies of state or local governments; nonprofit entities providing services in the District; entities outside the District government that may engage the DC-NET program to provide telecommunications services to the District of Columbia Public Schools, District of Columbia public charter schools, or the District of Columbia Public Library; any open-access public network established for the purpose of providing Internet access services to underserved residents or neighborhoods in the District; and entities designated by the Mayor as necessary to support economic development initiatives of the District government.

(c) Money in the Fund shall be used for the following purposes:

(1) Network enhancement, maintenance, and expansion;

(2) District government information technology innovation;

(3) Initiatives and actions to incorporate emerging information and communication technologies into the operations of District government agencies to enhance agency operations and the quality of life for District residents, businesses, and visitors through smart technology, including the internet of things, public Wi-Fi, connected devices, and sensors, innovation competitions, and data analytics; and

(4) To pay for operational and administrative costs of the DC-NET program.

(d)(1) The money deposited into the Fund but not expended in a fiscal year shall not revert to the unassigned fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia at the end of a fiscal year, or at any other time.

(2) Subject to authorization in an approved budget and financial plan, any funds appropriated in the Fund shall be continually available without regard to fiscal year limitation.

§ 1–1433. Technology Infrastructure Services Support Fund.

(a) There is established as a special fund the Technology Infrastructure Services Support Fund (“Fund”), which shall be administered by the Chief Technology Officer in accordance with subsection (c) of this section.

(b) The Fund shall consist of the revenue from payments by independent District government agencies and federal agencies for services provided by the Office of the Chief Technology Officer in accordance with subsection (c) of this section.

(c) The Fund shall be used solely to defray operational costs of programs of the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, other than the DC-Net program, that the Chief Technology Officer shall designate based on the use of such programs to provide services to independent agencies of the District and agencies of the federal government.

(d) All funds deposited into the Fund but not expended in a fiscal year shall revert to the unrestricted fund balance of the General Fund of the District of Columbia.