* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:10] AM I GOOD TO GO IN THE ROOM? YEAH. OKAY. . GOOD EVENING, EV. GOOD EVENING, [CALL TO ORDER ] EVERYONE. UH, MY NAME IS STEVEN ACCA. I'M CALLING TO ORDER THE, UH, OUR MONTHLY COMMISSION MEETING OF THE COMMUNITY TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION. UH, TODAY IS WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8TH. I SEE THE TIME AS, UH, 6:36 PM UH, WE ARE MEETING AT CITY HELD IN THE BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS ROOM, ALTHOUGH, UH, MOST OF OUR COMMISSION IS, UH, JOINING US VIRTUALLY VIA WEBEX. IF MEETING, IF, UH, MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WANNA WATCH, UH, THEY CAN DO SO@AUSTINTEXAS.GOV, THE ATT XN, UH, WEBSITE. UM, I'M GOING TO GO AHEAD AND START WITH, UH, ROLL CALL. UM, ONCE AGAIN, MY NAME IS STEVEN APODACA, AND I AM REPRESENTING DISTRICT TWO. AND, UH, I'LL JUST GO AHEAD AND CALL ON COMMISSIONERS IN ORDER, IN THE ORDER IN WHICH I SEE THEM ON THE SCREEN. UH, COMMISSIONER ANGA, IF YOU'D BE SO KIND TO COME ON CAMERA AND VOICE YOUR ATTENDANCE. COMMISSIONER ANGA, REPRESENTING DISTRICT NINE. THANK YOU. COMMISSIONER SUPTA. COMMISSIONER SUPTA, REPRESENTING DISTRICT 10. THANK YOU. AND COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS. COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, REPRESENTING DISTRICT ONE. THANK YOU, VICE CHAIR ALDERETTE, UH, VICE CHAIR ALTA REPRESENTING DISTRICT THREE. AND COMMISSIONER HERITAGE. COMMISSIONER HERITAGE REPRESENTING DISTRICT FOUR. OKAY. THANK YOU SO MUCH. UH, WE HAVE QUORUM. UM, I DON'T BELIEVE WE HAD ANY, UH, INDIVIDUALS SIGN UP THIS TIME AROUND FOR, UH, PUBLIC COMMUNICATION. UM, AND WE HAVE NO ONE IN THE ROOM WHO HAS COME, UH, FOR IN PERSON. JUST A REMINDER, UH, TO FOLKS. I KNOW I RECEIVED A, A QUESTION ABOUT THIS, BUT, UM, IF, UH, MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC DO, UH, WISH TO SPEAK, THEY'LL HAVE TO DO SO. UH, THEY WILL HAVE TO SIGN UP BY NOON OF THE DAY BEFORE, AND YOU CAN CONTACT DAN MARTINEZ, UH, FROM THE TARA OFFICE AND OUR LIAISON IN ORDER TO COORDINATE THAT. UM, WE DO HAVE, UH, GUEST SPEAKERS. SO, UH, IN THE INTEREST OF RESPECTING THEIR TIME, I'M GONNA GO AHEAD AND SKIP [2. Presentation on the Collaborative Art + Technology Situation (CATS+) provided by the Museum of Human Achievement (Rachel Stuckey, Director of Digital Arts, Museum of Human Achievement)] AGENDA ITEM NUMBER ONE AND MOVE STRAIGHT INTO, UH, AGENDA ITEM NUMBER TWO. WE HAVE, UM, RACHEL, STU, UH, OOKY, I HOPE I PRONOUNCED YOUR LAST NAME CORRECTLY, UH, FROM THE MUSEUM OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT, UH, TO TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT, UH, THE WORK THEY DO. AND, UH, I KNOW THEY ARE A GT OS, UH, RECIPIENT. SO WE ARE EXCITED TO HEAR, UH, MORE ABOUT YOUR ORGANIZATION. RACHEL, I WILL TURN IT OVER TO YOU. THANK YOU. UM, I'M GOING TO SHARE MY SCREEN. SO, YEAH. I'M RACHEL STUCKEY. I AM THE DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL ARTS AT THE MUSEUM OF HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT, WHICH IS A COMMUNITY DRIVEN SPACE IN EAST AUSTIN THAT'S GROUNDED IN AFFORDABILITY, INCLUSIVITY, AND ACCESS FOR ARTISTS. WE, UM, OUR VISION IS FOR AN EMPOWERED, RESILIENT, CREATIVE COMMUNITY WHERE EACH MEMBER HAS RESOURCES TO FOSTER WELLBEING, PROSPERITY, AND A SELF-DETERMINED FUTURE. UM, SOME OF OUR SUCCESSES FOR 2024, SPECIFICALLY IN THE DIGITAL ARTS PROGRAMS THAT I RUN, ARE IN CREATING PAID OPPORTUNITIES FOR 39 ARTISTS, OR, UH, 24 RESIDENT ARTISTS, AND 15 MORE CASUAL DROP-IN PARTICIPANTS FOR OUR GTOP S FUNDED DIGITAL ARTS PROGRAMS. UH, THE LARGEST ONE OF THEM IS KATZ PLUS, OR THE COLLABORATIVE ART PLUS TECHNOLOGY SITUATION. CATS PLUS IS A PAID RESIDENCY PROGRAM, WHICH I RUN, THAT IS FOR ARTISTS INTERESTED IN EXPANDING THEIR WORK IN MEDIA AND DIGITAL AND NEW MEDIA. IT'S A COMMUNITY CENTERED, COHORT DRIVEN PROGRAM THAT PROVIDES ACCESS TO SPACE, TECHNOLOGY, MENTORSHIP, TRAINING, EXHIBITION OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE CREATION OF NEW WORK AND EXPLORATION. UM, THIS YEAR WE HOSTED THREE, UH, RESIDENCY SESSIONS. THEY TYPICALLY RUN ABOUT 10 WEEKS EACH, UM, WITH A COHORT OF SIX INDIVIDUALS. UM, OUR SPRING COMPUTER CLUB IS KIND OF AN ANYTHING GOES TECHNOLOGY TOPICS, UM, WHERE WE REALLY BELIEVE THAT ARTISTS, TEACHING ARTISTS IS THE BEST WAY TO LEARN. UM, SO WE HAD SIX RESIDENTS TEACHING AND LEARNING. UM, ALSO, ANY DROP IN PARTICIPANTS ARE WELCOME TO COME AND LEARN. UM, THIS GROUP REALLY TOOK THE PEER LEARNING MODEL IN EXCITING DIRECTIONS AND, UH, RAN ALL KINDS [00:05:01] OF WORKSHOPS. UM, HERE WE'RE LEARNING ABOUT SILA GRAPHICS. UM, THERE WERE DEMOS IN LASER CUTTING AND USING ILLUSTRATOR, UH, USING, UM, CREATIVE CODING TO MAKE PROJECTION MAPPING. ON THE SAME DAY, WE HAD A SEWING MACHINE WORKSHOP REALLY WELCOME ARTISTS FROM ALL BACKGROUNDS AND TECHNICAL LEVELS TO PRESENT ON WHAT'S EXCITING TO THEM AND WHAT, WHAT KIND OF TECHNOLOGY THEY'RE USING IN THEIR PRACTICE. UM, THE RESIDENTS PUT TOGETHER A FINAL EXHIBITION THAT WAS IN A CONVERTED CITY BUS, UM, AND WHERE HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO THE PUBLIC AND SHOW OFF WORK IN PROJECTION MAPPING, UM, USING EEG HEADSET CONTROLLERS TO ALTER VIDEO ART THAT THEY HAD CREATED. UM, AND IT WAS ALSO AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE ARTISTS TO LEARN HOW TO CONCEPTUALIZE AND INSTALL A MEDIA HEAVY ART EXHIBITION. THE SECOND ROUND IN THE FALL WAS KATZ PLUS TIMES FANTASTIC ARCADE, WHICH, UM, IS A TARGETED RESIDENCY ROUND WITH A FOCUS ON INDIE VIDEO GAMES AND INTERACTIVE ARTWORK WITH THE INTENTION OF SHOWING AT FANTASTIC ARCADE, WHICH IS OUR INTERNATIONAL VIDEO GAME FESTIVAL. IT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR EMERGING GAME DOVES, UM, AND FOLKS WHO ARE WORKING IN VR TO, UM, TO EXPLORE. UH, WE HAD A PLATFORMER GAME VR PROJECT, ALTERNATE CONTROLLER GAMES, AND GIANT GAME BOY, WHICH YOU CAN SEE ON THE SCREEN RIGHT NOW. UM, THERE'S COHORT AND MENTOR SUPPORT FOR RESIDENTS TO GET THEIR PROJECTS TO A DEMO READY STATE, UM, COACHING FROM MENTORS ON HOW TO DEMO FOR A FULL DAY AT VIDEO GAME CONVENTIONS FOR FANTASTIC ARCADE AND IN THE FUTURE ELSEWHERE. UM, AND TO PRACTICE THEIR TALKS. WE PARTNERED WITH LOCAL GAME STUDIOS, INCLUDING MIGHTY COCONUT, FIJI, AND DEVOLVER TO MAKE RESIDENCY CONNECTIONS FOR RESIDENTS. FAST FORWARDING TO, UH, OUR THIRD ROUND IS, UM, LIVE AV PRODUCTION. UM, WE, THIS IS ACTUALLY PHOTOS FROM LAST YEAR'S PLAY, UH, EDWARD NORMAL HANDS, BUT THIS COHORT OF RESIDENTS, UH, LEARNS, UM, AV PRODUCTION FOR LIVE PLAYS. UM, WE TYPICALLY DO FIVE OR SIX SOLD OUT SHOWS, AND IT'S A AWESOME OPPORTUNITY FOR ARTISTS WHO LEARN BEST UNDER PRESSURE, UM, TO LEARN ON A WHIPLASH TIMELINE OF ABOUT FOUR WEEKS FROM START OF SCRIPT TO END OF SHOW OR ON, UM, UH, TO REALLY LEARN ON THE FLY. UM, AND FOR ARTISTS WHO ARE WORKING IN LIVE EVENT PRODUCTION, TO KIND OF FIGURE IT OUT AS YOU GO, UH, IS A REALLY CRITICAL SKILL. UM, WE GET A LOT OF POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM THIS PARTICULAR ROUND OF THE RESIDENCY. ALSO, WELCOME TO MY HOMEPAGE IS AN ONLINE RESIDENCY THAT I RUN THAT'S A SMALLER SCALE. IT'S A THREE WEEK PROGRAM FOR INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS. UM, WE OFFER FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT FOR THEM TO EXPLORE THE INTERNET AS A SITE FOR CREATIVE PRODUCTION. UM, AND THOSE PROJECTS SHOW ONLINE FOR THREE MONTHS, UH, AT A KIOSK AT THE INNOVATE LAB AT THE AUSTIN PUBLIC LIBRARY. AND THEN WE BRING THEM AS A POP-UP PROJECT TO OUR MONTHLY GAME SALE. MEETUPS AND PROJECTS HAVE RANGED IN ALL KINDS OF, UH, TECHNICAL ABILITIES, UH, OR PEOPLE WHO ARE BRAND NEW TO WORKING ON THE WEB, UM, PERSONAL, POLITICAL, UH, AND ALL SORTS OF TOPICS. UM, AND THIS YEAR WE HOSTED 12 ARTISTS. UM, LET'S SEE, WHERE'S MY FINAL, BUT, SO, UH, YEAH, KIND OF OUR SHOUT OUTS FOR THE YEAR. UH, THIS IS COMING FROM RESIDENT SURVEYS OR JUST GENERAL PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS FEEDBACK. UM, 83% SAID THEY INCREASED, UH, THEIR NETWORK OR SENSE OF COMMUNITY IN TECH ARTS. 83% ALSO REPORTED INCREASED COMPETENCE IN USING CREATIVE MEDIA TECH AND APPLYING IT TOWARDS THEIR CAREERS. 75% INCREASED THEIR FAMILIARITY OF TECH RESOURCES, TOOLS, AND OPPORTUNITIES THAT ARE AVAILABLE TO THEM. AND, UH, THIS PART IS WHAT REALLY TELLS ME THAT WE'RE DOING A GREAT JOB. 67% OF PAST PARTICIPANTS COME BACK EITHER AS PROGRAM MENTORS, BOARD MEMBERS, CONTRACT WORKERS, EVENT PRODUCERS, UM, OR STUDIO MEMBERS AT MOHA. SO, IF YOU'D LIKE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT MOHA, WHAT WE DO, YOU CAN VISIT US ONLINE@MOHA.WIKI, OR THERE'S A QR CODE TO SCAN. AND AGAIN, MY NAME IS RACHEL STUCKEY. I'M THE DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL ARTS. THANKS, Y'ALL. WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT AMAZING PRESENTATION, RACHEL. UM, UH, IT IT'S REALLY INSPIRING TO SEE ALL THE WORK BEING DONE IN SO MANY DIFFERENT AVENUES AND, UM, UM, REALLY WONDERFUL TO SEE THE [00:10:01] GT OS UH, GRANTS OF WHICH, UM, UH, YOUR ORGANIZATION'S, A RECIPIENT GOING TO REALLY IMPACTFUL PROGRAMS. UM, THE ONLY QUESTION I, I HAVE IS, UH, I, I HOPE THAT YOU'LL INVITE MYSELF AND THE OTHER COMMISSION MEMBERS TO ANY EVENTS, UH, THAT YOU, UM, THAT YOUR ORGANIZATION IS, IS HOLDING INTO THE FUTURE. IS THAT, UH, HOPEFULLY THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, THAT WE CAN, UM, THAT WE CAN ATTEND? YEAH, DEFINITELY. PLEASE DO. UM, WE'RE ABOUT TO, UH, LAUNCH OUR NEXT SEASON OF, UH, WELCOME TO MY HOMEPAGE RESIDENCE. OUR JURY PANEL IS ACTUALLY CONVENING IN A COUPLE WEEKS, UM, WHICH THOSE WILL BE ONLINE, CHECK THEM OUT ANYTIME AT, WELCOME TO MY HOMEPAGE.NET. AND THEN YEAH, FOR IN-PERSON, OUR, UM, NEXT SEASON OF CATS PLUS WORKSHOPS WILL BEGIN IN MARCH. AND WE'LL MAKE SURE Y'ALL HEAR ABOUT IT. GREAT. YEAH, PLEASE, UH, COORDINATE WITH, UH, WITH DAN AND JESSE AND HAVE THEM, UH, SEND OUT A COMMUNICATION TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSION. 'CAUSE WE'D LOVE TO, UM, ENGAGE WITH YOU ALL. AWESOME. YEAH. THANKS FOR THE OPPORTUNITY. YEAH, OF COURSE. UH, LOOKING AT THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS, IT LOOKS LIKE COMMISSIONER DESTA MIGHT HAVE A COMMENT OR A QUESTION OVER TO YOU. YEAH. MY QUESTION IS, UH, BESIDES GT OS FUNDING, WHAT OTHER KIND OF FUNDING DO YOU GET? IS IT, UM, FROM PRIVATE DONATIONS, YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS, OR THROUGH STATE FUNDING? FEDERAL FUNDING? LET'S SEE, WHAT'S, YEAH, GREAT QUESTION. UM, YEAH, SO WE DO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF PRIVATE INDIVIDUAL DONATIONS, UH, MOSTLY IN THE VERY SMALL RANGE. UM, FOR THESE PROGRAMS IN PARTICULAR, I ALSO HAVE FUNDING FROM THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS, UM, AND FOR FANTASTIC ARCADE. THERE'S FUNDING FROM, UH, VIDEO GAME COMPANIES, ESPECIALLY LOCAL ONES, ALTHOUGH THAT HAS BEEN LOWER RECENTLY BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT DOING AS FINANCIALLY WELL THESE DAYS. UM, AND MOHA IN GENERAL HAS LARGER FUNDING FROM CITY STATE NATIONAL, UH, AS WELL AS PRIVATE FOUNDATIONS. THE, THE REASON I ASKED IS, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A, THERE'S A HUGE PUSHBACK ON DEI RELATED, UH, PROJECTS MM-HMM . YEAH. SO HOW HAS THAT AFFECTED YOU? WHICH IS WHY I ASKED ABOUT THE FUNDING, BECAUSE IF YOU'VE GOT STATE FUNDING, OF COURSE, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE AGAINST DEI, SO THEY'RE GONNA CUT BACK ON THAT. AND THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT, UH, FOR THE ARTS, I THINK TOOK A HIT, UH, 2017 THROUGH 2020, AND NOW SIMILAR PEOPLE ARE COMING BACK. MM-HMM . SO WHAT'S YOUR OUTLOOK? YEAH, WE, WE, UH, ARE DEFINITELY AWARE OF AND FEELING IT. LUCKILY, STATE FUNDING IS OUR SMALLEST FUNDING CATEGORY, SO WE'RE NOT TOO CONCERNED THERE. UM, NEA IN THE PROGRAMS THAT FUND US FARED OKAY. UH, IN THE LAST TRUMP PRESIDENCY AND THEIR OUTLOOK IS OKAY GOING FORWARD. BUT WE ARE PUSHING MORE TOWARDS, UM, INDIVIDUAL LARGE SCALE DONATIONS. WE'RE WORKING WITH A CONSULTANT AND ALSO LOOKING TO, UM, PRIVATE FOUNDATIONS LIKE THE GER FOUNDATION THAT ARE SPECIFICALLY LOOKING TO FUND INITIATIVES THAT ARE DIVERSE, UM, AND WHAT ELSE TO SAY. YEAH, WE'RE JUST REALLY DIVERSIFYING. GOOD. I'M GLAD, GLAD TO HEAR THAT. ALL THE BEST TO YOU. WONDERFUL PRESENTATION. THANK YOU. APPRECIATE IT. GREAT. UM, ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS? I SEE COMMISSIONER AL, OR VICE CHAIR ALDERETTE? IT'S ONLINE. DID YOU HAVE A QUESTION? UH, NO, NO FURTHER COMMENT. JUST, UH, THANK YOU, RACHEL, FOR THE PRESENTATION. IT WAS GREAT. OKAY. WELL, UH, WE HOPE THAT YOU'LL, UH, COME BACK AT SOME POINT. RACHEL, WE APPRECIATE, UH, YOU GIVING US A DOWNLOAD OF, UH, EVERYTHING THAT YOUR ORGANIZATION IS ACCOMPLISHING. YEAH, DEFINITELY. THANKS FOR HAVING ME. ABSOLUTELY. OKAY, GREAT. WELL, WE WILL, UH, [3. Presentation on the City of Austin website redesign project by the city’s CTM department (Jessica King, Chief Communications Director, Communications & Technology Management) ] GO AHEAD AND MOVE ON TO OUR, UH, NEXT AGENDA ITEM, AGENDA ITEM NUMBER THREE. UM, WE'VE INVITED, UM, THE, UH, PRO SOME OF THE PROJECT TEAM, UH, WORKING ON THE CITY OF AUSTIN WEBSITE REDESIGN TO GIVE US A PRESENTATION AND UPDATE ON THE WORK THAT THEY ARE DOING. UM, ON OUR DOCUMENTATION, WE HAVE JESSICA KING, BUT I UNDERSTAND THERE MIGHT BE OTHER INDIVIDUALS DOING THE ACTUAL PRESENTATION. SO I'LL TURN IT OVER TO WHOEVER IS THE, THE LEAD . IS THAT DIVYA? DIVYA, WE CAN'T HEAR YOU. [00:15:06] WE WILL GIVE, UH, DIVYA JUST A MOMENT TO, UH, WORK ON HER AUDIO. SEE, AND I CAN JUMP IN, UM, WHILE DIVYA IS, UM, THERE, UM, GETTING GOING. UM, I'M YESIN WAGNER. UM, I WORK IN THE COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE, UM, IN THE, UM, DIGITAL AND CREATIVE SERVICES DIVISION. AND WE WORK VERY CLOSELY WITH THE, UH, COMMUNICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGY MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT, UM, ON THE RUNNING AND, UM, DEVELOPING THE CITY'S EXTERNAL FACING WEBSITE, AUSTIN TEXAS.GOV. UM, WHICH IS PRIMARILY THE DIGITAL FRONT DOOR TO CITY SERVICES. SO, UM, WE ARE HERE TODAY MYSELF, UM, MY COLLEAGUE, DIO , WHO WILL ALSO BE SPEAKING TODAY. AND, UH, WE ALSO HAVE IN THE ROOM WITH US, UH, THE VIRTUAL ROOM. UM, RICK BOWMAN, WHO IS OUR PROJECT MANAGER ON THE PROJECT, AND CALEB SANCHEZ, WHO IS OUR DIGITAL SERVICES SUPERVISOR. SO, AND WITH THAT, UM, I'M NOT SURE, DIVYA, IF YOU'VE HAD A CHANCE TO GET YOUR MIC WORKING, CAN YOU HEAR ME? I CAN HEAR YOU, YES, WE CAN HEAR YOU. AWESOME. THANK YOU COMMISSIONERS FOR GIVING US THIS OPPORTUNITY AND HAPPY NEW YEAR. UH, I WOULD LIKE TO START WITH, UH, BEFORE DIVING INTO THE ACTUAL WEB REDESIGN, I WANTED TO TAKE A MOMENT TO PROVIDE SOME CONTEXT AND FRAMEWORK ABOUT THIS PROJECT. UH, THIS PROJECT IS PART OF A LARGER DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION STRATEGY TO MODERNIZE OUR KEY SYSTEMS THAT ARE FOUNDATIONAL TO THE SERVICES THAT WE PROVIDE TO OUR CONSTITUENTS. THE PURPOSE OF THIS IS TO ALSO KEEP OUR, OUR, UH, TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS SIMPLE, SECURE, AND ACCESSIBLE, SO THAT ALL OUR CONSTITUENTS HAVE GOOD DIGITAL EXPERIENCES, AND OUR INVESTMENT IN TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS IS OPTIMAL. THE STRATEGIC TRANSFORMATION OCCURS IN THREE CATEGORIES, UH, AND THOSE ARE CLASSIFIED INTO EMPLOYEE DIGITAL EXPERIENCE, DIGITAL CITY BUSINESS, AND COMMUNITY DIGITAL EXPERIENCE. TODAY, OUR FOCUS IS GOING TO BE ON THE COMMUNITY DIGITAL EXPERIENCE WITH OUR WEBSITE AUSTIN TEXAS.GOV. THIS WEBSITE, AS WE ALL KNOW, SERVES AS THE DIGITAL FRONT DOOR FOR MANY OF OUR SERVICES. AND WHAT WE DO IS WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WHEN SOMEBODY KNOCKS AT OUR DOOR, WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THEY FEEL WELCOME, THEY FEEL COMFORTABLE, AND THEY FEEL AT HOME. OOPS. SO, AS PART OF THIS CREATING THIS COMMUNITY DIGITAL EXPERIENCE, WE HAVE IDENTIFIED THREE KEY PROJECTS OR SOLUTIONS THAT WILL IMPACT OUR WEBSITE. THE FIRST ONE IS THE MAN MAN LANGUAGE TRANSLATION, WHICH COVERS A BROAD RANGE OF LANGUAGES AND ENSURES EFFICIENT AND RAPID COMMUNICATION WITH ALL OUR RESIDENTS. THIS PROJECT IS NOW LIVE ON OUR WEBSITE, AND YOU CAN VIEW IT, UH, AT AUSTIN TEXAS.GOV. THE SECOND ONE IS OUR ONE CITY DIGITAL ASSISTANT THAT AIMS AT MOVING MULTIPLE CHATBOTS THAT ARE SCATTERED ACROSS THE WEBSITE INTO A SINGLE CHATBOT OR DIGITAL AS ASSISTANT TO STREAMLINE COMMUNICATION, PROMOTE BETTER ENGAGEMENT, AND IMPROVE THE OVERALL EXPERIENCE WITH THE WEBSITE. THIS INITIATIVE IS CURRENTLY BEING PILOTED. THE NEXT ONE BRINGS THE FOCUS FOR TODAY'S PRESENTATION, WHICH IS OUR DIGITAL EXPERIENCE PLATFORM, ALSO KNOWN AS DXP AND THE REDESIGN OF AUSTIN, TEXAS. THE FOCUS IS TO MEET THE COMMUNITY EXPECTATIONS FOR A MODERN SITE WITH TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF TOMORROW'S AND TODAY'S DIGITAL FIRST MINDSET TO TODAY, LIKE CTM AND CPIO HAVE WORKED TOGETHER TO, UH, TO IMPROVE THIS WEBSITE, BUT WE HAVE REACHED THE LIMITS OF WHAT'S POSSIBLE WITH THE CURRENT TECHNOLOGY. I ALSO WANT TO REITERATE THAT THE DXP IS NOT THE START OF THIS JOURNEY. THIS HAS BEEN AN EFFORT IN PROGRESS FOR OVER THE LAST 12 TO 18 MONTHS, SO THAT WE HAVE BEEN DIG VIGILANTLY PLANNING FOR THIS NEW ENVIRONMENT. UM, WE HAVE A ROBUST SITE, WHICH HAS ABOUT [00:20:01] TWO 24 MILLION VISITS A YEAR. WE ALSO HAVE ABOUT 9,000 PAGES AND ABOUT 500 AUTHORS REPRESENTING VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS AND COUNCIL OFFICES THROUGHOUT THE CITY. THROUGH COLLABORATION BETWEEN CTM AND CPIO, WE HAVE ALSO MADE EXPENSE EXTENSIVE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE WEBSITE, UH, USABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY, AND ALSO HAVE MADE IT EASIER FOR THOSE WHO ARE ENGAGING ON A REGULAR BASIS WITH OUR WEBSITE. UH, TO ADD MORE NUMBERS AND DATA, WE HAVE REMOVED OVER 6,000 PAGES JUST THIS YEAR. AND I SAY THIS YEAR AS THIS, LIKE IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS, AND KEPT PACE WITH UPGRADES AND ADDED NEW CAPABILITIES. UM, MANY OF THOSE TASKS HAVE BEEN MANUAL AND LABOR INTENSIVE, TIME INTENSIVE, AND WE RECOGNIZE IT'S STILL NOT ENOUGH. WE HAVE STRETCHED OUR, OUR, OUR, OUR BOUNDARIES TO WHAT WE CAN DO WITH THE CURRENT SITE. AND THAT IS WHY WE ARE, UH, VENTURING INTO THIS NEW DXP UH, PLATFORM. AS YOU CAN SEE ON THE SIDE, IT TAKES A LOT OF WORK UNDER THE WATER TO KEEP THINGS OVER THE WATER CALM AND STABLE. UM, SO AS I HAD MENTIONED EARLIER, WE HAVE OUTGROWN OUR TRADITIONAL CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM THAT WE USE FOR MANAGING TRADITIONAL WEBSITES. OUR WEBSITE IS NOWHERE CLOSE TO ANY TRADITIONAL WEBSITE. UH, THIS NEW CONTRACT WILL ALLOW FOR A DIGITAL EXPERIENCE PLATFORM THAT FOCUSES ON HELPING US DELIVER THOSE MEANINGFUL DIGITAL EXPERIENCES DESIGNED FOR IN AND AROUND THE AUSTIN COMMUNITY. UH, THE PLATFORM IS DESIGNED TO ACCOMMODATE THE COMPLEXITY THAT COMES WITH DELIVERING MANY DIFFERENT CITY SERVICES AND THE ABILITY TO SECURELY SCALE AND INTEGRATE WITH OTHER IMPORTANT TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS AND DATA SOURCES AROUND THE CITY THAT WILL PROVIDE A MORE SEAMLESS AND INTEGRATED WEB EXPERIENCE. UH, I'M GONNA O PASS IT OVER TO YASIN FOR THE REST, TO CONTINUE THE REST OF THE PRESENTATION. GREAT. THANK YOU FOR THAT. DIVYA. AND AS DIVYA MENTIONED, UM, A DIGITAL EXPERIENCE PLATFORM, OR AS WE COLLOQUIALLY, COLLOQUIALLY REFER TO IT AS 'CAUSE WE LOVE ACRONYMS AT THE CITY. A DXP IS GOING TO BE A REALLY SUBSTANTIVE CHANGE FROM OUR CURRENT SINGLE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, UM, INSTANCE. SO A DXP WILL ALLOW FOR US TO, UM, HAVE PERSONALIZATION FOR OUR USERS THAT VISIT THE SITE, AND IT CAN ALSO HELP TO DELIVER MORE CONNECTED, CONSISTENT USER JOURNEYS THAT ARE TAILORED TO THEIR INTERESTS AND TO THEIR NEEDS AS THEY VISIT THE SITE. UM, WE ALSO RECOGNIZE THAT HUMAN-CENTERED RESEARCH IS AT THE FOREFRONT OF DESIGNING A DXP SOLUTION BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT DIGITAL PROPERTIES HAVE TO MEET THE NEEDS OF ALL AUSTINITES, AND THAT HUMAN PIECE IS, HAS TO BE AT THE FOREFRONT OF EVERYTHING THAT WE DO. SORRY, THERE WE GO. UM, SO, UM, PART OF THAT HAS BEEN WORKING TO FIND A STRONG VENDOR, BUT THAT'S JUST ONE PIECE OF A ROBUST SOLUTION. UM, THE OTHER PORTION IS ENSURING THAT OUR DXP IS GONNA COVER THE GOALS OF OUR DIGITAL SERVICES PROGRAM. SO WE'VE LEARNED FROM PREVIOUS EFFORTS TO UPDATE AND MODERNIZE THE WEBSITE. UM, THAT EARLY AND MULTIMODAL STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATION IS CRITICAL SO THAT WE CAN ESTABLISH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT'S NECESSARY TO PRODUCE AN EFFECTIVE PRODUCT. THAT TYPE OF ENGAGEMENT, UH, WILL ACCOMPLISH THROUGH TARGETED TESTING, OBSERVATION OF USER INTERACTION, DIFFERENT WAYS OF SEEING HOW USERS INTERACT WITH THE SITE. USER-CENTERED DESIGN IS A PHILOSOPHY. IT'S ALSO A PROCESS THAT FOCUSES ON THE NEEDS OF THE USER AT EVERY STAGE OF THE DESIGN PROCESS THAT HAS BECOME A FOUNDATIONAL APPROACH TO OUR WORK AND ENSURES THAT OUR PRODUCTS ARE USABLE, ACCESSIBLE, AND THEY MEET AUSTIN NIGHT'S EXPECTATIONS. SO AS YOU ALL ARE VERY WELL AWARE, UH, THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS A LARGE AND COMPLEX ORGANIZATION. SO A SUCCESSFUL SOLUTION FOR THE CITY'S WORK HAS TO BE, UM, SCALABLE. IT ALSO HAS TO BE SUSTAINABLE, AND IT HAS TO WORK ACROSS ALL DEPARTMENTS. UM, BECAUSE WE HAVE KNOW THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF DIFFERENT USE CASES THAT WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO ADDRESS FOR A SITE LIKE THIS TO BE, UM, OPERATIONALLY SOUND. THE DESIGN AND THE DEVELOPMENT, UM, OF THIS, UM, SOLUTION WILL ENSURE THAT THE PRODUCT, UM, DOESN'T REQUIRE UNNECESSARY TIME OR RESOURCES. WE'RE APPROACHING THIS FROM A VERY NIMBLE AND STREAMLINED, UM, APPROACH. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, A CLEAR ROADMAP, WELL-DEFINED MILESTONES [00:25:01] AND METRICS ARE GONNA BE CRITICAL FOR US IN DELIVERING A NEW SITE THAT'S TIMELY AND IS ALSO ON STRATEGY. SO, WITH THAT, UM, JUST TO CONCLUDE BEFORE WE MOVE TO QUESTIONS, UM, WE REALLY APPRECIATE, UM, YOU GUYS TAKING THE TIME TO, UM, SO WITH TONIGHT AND LEARN A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE PROJECTS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON HERE. AND I THINK WE ALL SHARE THE SAME GOALS, UM, FOR THE CITY'S WEBSITE. AND THAT'S A USER-FRIENDLY EXPERIENCE THAT DOESN'T REQUIRE OUR RESIDENTS TO KNOW HOW TO NAVIGATE OUR ORGANIZATION AS A CITY, UH, GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO NAVIGATE THE WEBSITE. UM, WE WANT AUSTINITE TO BE ABLE TO GET THE REP INFORMATION THAT THEY NEED TO BE ABLE TO ADVOCATE FOR THEMSELVES OR TO CONDUCT BUSINESS ON THE WEBSITE EASILY, UM, AND, UM, IN A WAY THAT FEELS NATURAL AND COMFORTABLE TO THEM. SO, UM, THANK YOU FOR THE OPPORTUNITY TO SHARE MORE ABOUT THIS, UM, AND, UH, EXCITING MILESTONE IN OUR JOURNEY TO STRENGTHEN DIGITAL SERVICES FOR AUSTINITES. SO WITH THAT, ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU GUYS HAVE FOR US? WELL, THANK YOU SO MUCH, UH, BOTH DIVYA AND YASMIN. UH, YEAH, I HAVE A FEW QUESTIONS. I'M SURE SOME OF THE OTHER COMMISSIONERS WILL, WILL AS WELL. UM, SO I'LL JUST, UH, START, UH, I AM CURIOUS, UH, WILL, WILL THE LOOK AND FEEL AND AND UI OF THE NEW WEBSITE BE, UH, SUBSTANTIALLY DIFFERENT? I GUESS CAN, CAN WE EXPECT LIKE A, LIKE A WATERFALL ANNOUNCEMENT WITH LIKE A BIG, UM, YOU, YOU KNOW, A BIG ANNOUNCEMENT OR IS WILL THERE BE MORE ITERATIVE AGILE UPDATES OVER THE COURSE OF A LONG PERIOD OF TIME? CURIOUS ON THAT, ON THAT PIECE? DIVYA, YOU'RE MUTED. I LOST YOUR MIC. AGAIN, INTERNALLY, OUR APPROACH IS GOING TO BE ITERATIVE. WE ARE GOING TO HAVE SPRINTS WHERE WE, UH, INCREMENTALLY ADD FEATURES, TEST FEATURES, AND DEPLOY FEATURES. BUT, UH, WHEN WE DO THE SWITCH, IT'S GOING TO BE LIKE, UH, A MAJOR CHANGE IN THE DESIGN AND IN THE LOOK OF THE WEBSITE. SO INTERNALLY IT'S GOING TO BE MORE AN AGILE FASHION, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY WHEN YOU SEE, WHEN WE LAUNCH THE WEBSITE, IT'S GOING TO BE A SWITCH. OKAY. SO IT'LL BE LIKE, SORT OF LIKE A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT AND IT'LL BE A BIG ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITY FOR THE PUBLIC AS WELL, IS WHAT I'M HEARING. UM, I'M ALSO, UM, CURIOUS ABOUT, UH, YOU MENTIONED THAT, THAT, UM, THE WEBSITE WILL BE, UM, HAVE THE ABILITY TO BE, TO BE PERSONALIZED. UH, I'D LIKE TO HEAR JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT HOW THAT WORKS. WILL USERS HAVE, UM, ACCOUNTS THAT THEY SIGN IN ON AND THEY'LL HAVE LIKE A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE, MAYBE LIKE PLACEMENT OF LIKE TILES AND DEPARTMENTS THAT, THAT THEY'RE INTERESTED IN? UM, CAN YOU JUST TALK A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WHAT THAT IS GONNA LOOK LIKE? CALEB, DO YOU WANT TO TAKE THAT OR DO YOU WANT ME TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION? YEAH, I CAN TAKE IT. HI EVERYONE. CALEB SANCHEZ, DIGITAL SERVICES SUPERVISOR. UM, SO IT'S ACTUALLY GONNA BE A PHASED APPROACH. WE'LL START WITH IMPLICIT PERSONALIZATION, WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY, UM, HAVING BASIC INFORMATION. UM, A RESIDENT DOESN'T HAVE TO HAVE AN ACCOUNT, BUT BASED ON, UM, THE WAY THEY NAVIGATE TO THE SITE, UH, WILL PROVIDE SPECIFIC CONTENT, UH, WHEN THEY REVISIT, YOU KNOW, BASED ON LIKE, UH, COOKIES OR, UM, YOU KNOW, HOW WE'RE TAGGING THEM. THE SECOND PHASE WILL BE IMPLICIT, OR, AND THAT'S WHAT THEY'LL HAVE AN ACTUAL ACCOUNT THEY CAN SIGN UP FOR. UM, THEY CAN REQUEST NOTIFICATIONS, YOU KNOW, FOR TRASH PICKUP, FOR EXAMPLE. UM, IF THEY VISIT THE AUSTIN ANIMAL CENTER AND THEY'RE INTERESTED IN ADOPTING, YOU KNOW, A DOG, UH, THEY LEAVE THE WEBSITE, COME BACK TWO WEEKS LATER, THEY CAN RECEIVE A NOTIFICATION AT THE TOP THAT THAT, UM, SPECIFIC ANIMAL IS STILL AVAILABLE, UM, TO THEM AS A REMINDER. UM, AND SO IT'LL CURATE THEIR SORT OF EXPERIENCE, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, AND BE MORE COMPREHENSIVE AS THEY CONTINUE TO VISIT THE SITE AND THE DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF IT AS WELL. OKAY. THANK YOU FOR THAT. SO, AND WHAT I'M HEARING IS, UH, WHAT YOU'RE ALLUDING TO IS POSSIBLY EVEN, UH, COMBINING, UH, SOME OF THE FUNCTIONALITY AROUND OUR 3 1 1 SYSTEM AS WELL. DID I HEAR THAT CORRECTLY? THAT'S OKAY. YEAH. YEAH, I DEFINITELY SEE THE VALUE IN THAT. UH, ON THE FLIP SIDE OF THAT, I, I DEFINITELY SEE CONCERNS FROM, UH, CITIZENS AROUND PRIVACY AND TRACKING AND THOSE TYPES OF THINGS. SO, UH, IT'S GOOD TO HEAR THAT HAVING A REC HAVING AN ACCOUNT IS NOT REQUIRED. UM, BUT, UH, I WOULD ENCOURAGE YOU ALL TO THINK OF THAT. UM, I'LL OPEN IT UP TO OTHER COMMISSION [00:30:01] MEMBERS, COMMISSIONER DA GUPTA, OVER TO YOU. YEAH, I HAVE A WHOLE SERIES OF, UH, QUESTIONS. UH, ANYTIME YOU DEAL WITH A WEBSITE, ANYTIME YOU DEAL WITH A USER INTERFACE, UH, IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE MAKING A SWITCH, I HOPE THERE'S GOING TO BE ENOUGH HANDHOLDING SO THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THIS CITY, IN THIS TECH SAVVY CITY. THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE DIFFICULTY MEANDERING THROUGH WEBSITES. OKAY. SO I HOPE THERE WILL BE ENOUGH TUTORIALS OR TRAINING MATERIALS THAT WILL GRADUALLY LEAD THEM FROM THE OLD SYSTEM TO THE NEW. THAT'S NUMBER ONE. SECONDLY, I HOPE YOU STARTED OFF BY DOING SOME BEST PRACTICES, TRYING TO SEE WHAT OTHER CITIES THAT ARE ALSO TECH SAVVY, LIKE BOSTON, LIKE SAN FRANCISCO, LIKE SAN JOSE, LIKE CHICAGO, LIKE NEW YORK. I HOPE YOU'VE DONE THE BEST PRACTICES STUDY TO SEE HOW WELL THEY DO IN CERTAIN THINGS AND HOW WELL THEY DON'T DO. SO YOU CAN NOT REPEAT THE SAME MISTAKES. IN OTHER WORDS, LEADING TO A SET OF STANDARDS. STANDARDS AS IT, AS IT REFLECTS TOWARDS THE CUSTOMER LET'S ME AS A CUSTOMER, A CITIZEN, AS WELL AS CUSTOMERS INSIDE THOSE PEOPLE WHO WILL BE LOADING DATA ONTO YOUR WEBSITE. SO I HOPE YOU'VE GOT A SET OF STANDARDS BOTH LOOKING OUT AND LOOKING IN SO THAT THERE WON'T BE ANY, YOU KNOW, ANY, ANY MISUNDERSTANDINGS. AND THE THIRD THING IS THAT WHEN I LOOK AT THE WEBSITE, WHETHER I AM LOOKING AT AUSTIN ENERGY OR AUSTIN POWER, I MEAN, UM, UH, WA WATER OR TRANSPORTATION OR WHAT HAVE YOU, THE LOOK AND FEEL REMAINS THE SAME. THAT MY NAME HAS THE SAME FONT, IT SHOWS UP IN THE SAME PLACE ON THE SCREEN THAT I DON'T HAVE TO GO LOOKING FOR IT. SO THOSE ARE STANDARDS I HOPE YOU ARE GOING TO ABIDE BY. SO I'D LIKE YOU TO COMMENT ON IT BECAUSE I'VE BEEN IN SOFTWARE FOR A LONG TIME, AND I KNOW HOW USER INTERFACES CAN COMPLETELY THROW PEOPLE OFF. GO AHEAD. CAN SPEAK A LITTLE BIT ON IT. UM, SO I MEAN, IT'S KIND OF A, YOU KNOW, MULTIPLE THINGS WE'RE SORT OF REVIEWING, LIKE WE WENT THROUGH AN EXTENSIVE PROCESS TO MAKE SURE WE FOUND A VENDOR, UM, LIKE YOU SAID, THAT HAS WORKED WITH, YOU KNOW, UH, NEW YORK, FOR EXAMPLE, TO HELP BUILD A DIGITAL EXPERIENCE FOR THEIR, UH, YOU KNOW, FOR THAT, YOU KNOW, CITY. AND, UM, ALSO THAT HAS EXPERIENCE TAKING A VERY COMPLEX SORT OF MODEL THAT WE HAVE NOW. UM, AND THEN DOING REFINED USER TESTING AND GETTING MUCH MORE DATA FROM RESIDENTS IN AUSTIN TO FIND WHERE ALL THE PAIN POINTS ARE. AND, UM, I THINK THE CITY AS A WHOLE HAS DONE A GREAT JOB OF RECORDING, YOU KNOW, THINGS FROM THE PAST AND MAKING SURE THAT WE BRING 'EM TO THE FOREFRONT AND, AND DISCUSS THEM OPENLY WITH, WITH OUR VENDOR, UM, SO THAT WE CAN ADDRESS THEM. BECAUSE WE DO WANT THE, LIKE RIGHT NOW THE BIGGEST, YOU KNOW, ISSUE ON THE CURRENT WEBSITE IS LIKE, UH, YASIN WAS SAYING, YOU HAVE TO KNOW THE WAY OUR ORGANIZATION IS STRUCTURED TO FIGURE OUT WHERE CONTENT IS. AND SO ONE OF OUR MAIN GOALS IS, LIKE YOU SAID, A USER CAN ACCESS THE SITE AND THEY CAN FIND THE CONTENT THEY NEED WITHIN JUST A COUPLE OF CLICKS WITHOUT NEEDING TO, YOU KNOW, SEARCH OR, OR DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT. UM, AND THEN LAY OUT THAT STRUCTURE SO THAT THE CONTENT IS EASY, NOT ONLY FOR INTERNAL STAFF TO ADD IT TO THE WEBSITE, UM, AND MAKE SURE WE'RE ACCESSIBLE, MAKING SURE THAT, UM, IT'S, UH, WRITTEN IN A, IN A, IN A READING LEVEL THAT IS ACCESSIBLE TO THE COMMUNITY AS WELL. UH, BUT IT'S CONSISTENT. SO IF WE ARE GOING FROM PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT OVER TO, YOU KNOW, UM, THE AUSTIN ANIMAL CENTER OR FIRE DEPARTMENT, UM, THERE IS A CONSISTENCY THERE, EVEN THOUGH THE CONTENT CAN MAY BE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT. THAT'S GREAT. THANK YOU. AND IF I MIGHT ADD TO YOUR SERIES OF QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONER. SO EVEN BEFORE WE LAUNCHED AN RFP, WE DID THOROUGH RESEARCH TO THESE, SOME OF THESE CITIES, AND WE ALSO HAD LIKE MEETINGS SET UP WITH THEM TO UNDERSTAND HOW THEIR PROCESS WAS, WHAT WORKED, WHAT DIDN'T WORK FOR THEM, WHAT GAPS DO THEY STILL SEE. AND THAT WAS INCLUDED IN, AS PART OF OUR RFP, UH, DOCUMENT AS WELL. SO WE DID SOME THOROUGH RESEARCH OUTREACH TO THESE DEPARTMENTS. IT WAS NOT JUST STUDY, BUT WE ALSO HAD IN PERSON INTERACTIONS WITH THEM TO UNDERSTAND WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES ON THE TECHNOLOGY AND ON THE CONTENT SIDE OF THINGS SO THAT WE GIVE THEM THAT WHOLESOME EXPERIENCE AND WE DON'T, AND WE LEARN FROM THEIR MISTAKES. AS FAR AS THE OUTREACH, LIKE AS FAR AS THE OUTREACH EFFORTS GO, LIKE CALEB WAS MENTIONING, LIKE BY PROVIDING AN EXAMPLE, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY LIKE A LOT OF TIMES PEOPLE GET LOST NAVIGATING OUR SITE, AND THAT'S WHY WE ARE FOCUSING ON A SERVICE BASED APPROACH RATHER THAN A DEPARTMENT BASED APPROACH. [00:35:03] ONE ADDITIONAL QUESTION, UM, IS THERE A BUY-IN ON THE INSIDE OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN, ALL THE DEPARTMENTS THAT ONCE YOU LAUNCH THIS WEBSITE, THEY'LL ALL MIGRATE TO IT, THAT WE WILL NOT HAVE TO DEAL WITH MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS? IT'S DEPENDING ON THE DEPARTMENT MIGRATION? NO, NO, WHAT I MEANT, WHAT I MEANT WAS THAT ONCE THIS NEW WEBSITE GOES ACTIVE, THAT ALL DEPARTMENTS IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN WILL MIGRATE TO IT. AND THAT'S THE SINGLE, YOU KNOW, FOCAL POINT FOR EVERYBODY TO PUT DATA IN AND FOR CITIZENS TO GET DATA OUT, THEN THERE WON'T BE MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS. AND I THINK THE, THE, THE THING THAT IS A REALLY NICE AND ELEGANT SOLUTION ABOUT MOVING TO A DIGITAL EXPERIENCE PLATFORM IS THAT WE'RE EFFECTIVELY CREATING AN ECOSYSTEM RATHER THAN RELYING ON A SINGLE CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. AND IN DOING SO, THAT GIVES US THE ABILITY TO ADDRESS A LOT OF LONGSTANDING WANTS, UM, AND CAPABILITIES THAT I THINK HAVE PUSHED SOME OF OUR DEPARTMENTS OR SOME OF OUR SERVICES, PARTICULAR ENTERPRISE DEPARTMENTS TO SEEK ALTERNATE SOLUTIONS BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T ABLE TO ALWAYS ACCOMPLISH SOME OF THE, THE, YOU KNOW, THE GOALS THAT THEY HAD, UM, IN THE WEBSITES. SO I'M VERY HOPEFUL, AND I'VE ALREADY HAD SOME REALLY, REALLY POSITIVE CONVERSATIONS WITH A COUPLE OF THE ENTERPRISE DEPARTMENTS ABOUT, UM, NOW WE FINALLY HAVE SORT OF THIS BLUE SKY OPPORTUNITY TO LOOK AT THIS ECOSYSTEM AND BRING IN A LOT OF THOSE CAPABILITIES THAT WE HADN'T BEEN ABLE TO IN JUST AN ORDINARY CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN THE PAST. AND SO I THINK THAT'S GONNA, UM, CREATE AN OPPORTUNITY, UM, TO INTEGRATE A LOT OF THOSE THINGS AND BUILD THE ENVIRONMENT THAT WILL FINALLY ALLOW US TO DO THAT EFFECTIVELY. YEAH. IF I COULD CHIME IN, UH, FOR A MOMENT, AND THANK YOU FOR THE QUESTIONS, COMMISSIONER DESTA. UH, I THINK ON THE LAST ITEM, COMMISSIONER GUPTA MAY HAVE BEEN GETTING A BIT MORE ON THE CHANGE MANAGEMENT ASPECT OF, UH, MIGRATING TO A NEW TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION. SO I, I'M A CHANGE MANAGEMENT PRACTITIONER IN TECHNOLOGY, SO I AM CURIOUS, LIKE, WHAT IS, UH, I GUESS THINKING ABOUT CITY OF AUSTIN EMPLOYEES, IS THERE A PLAN TO TRAIN NEW EMPLOYEES? IS THERE, UH, ARE THERE, UH, UH, TRAININGS OR IS THERE AN EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION PLAN SET UP? UM, DO, AND GETTING BACK TO WHAT, UH, COMMISSIONER GUPTA HAD MENTIONED, UH, HOW CAN WE BE SURE THAT WHATEVER NEW, UM, UH, SOLUTIONS ARE OUT THERE, THAT DEPARTMENTS ARE GONNA ABIDE BY THE NEW ONE AND, AND NOT USE LEGACY TECHNOLOGY OR, OR A DIFFERENT ONE? YEAH, AND I'D LIKE TO HIGHLIGHT SOME OF THE WORK THAT CALEB AND HIS TEAM HAVE ALREADY STARTED, UM, TO SET UP SOME REALLY STRONG MIGRATION PROTOCOLS THAT ARE ALREADY IN EFFECT. AND SO CALEB, I DUNNO IF YOU WANNA TOUCH ON SOME OF THE THINGS THAT YOU'VE ALREADY TEED UP AND ARE ENVISIONING MOVING FORWARD. YEAH, YEAH. SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WITH THE, THE TIMELINE THAT THE VENDORS KIND OF PROVIDED US, WE SAW A NEED TO KIND OF, YOU KNOW, PREPARE AND GET, GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE ON THAT. SO AS PART OF THE MIGRATION EFFORT, YOU KNOW, WE STARTED OUT WITH 16,000 PAGES ACROSS THE ENTIRE ORGANIZATION, ACROSS ALL THE DEPARTMENTS. UM, AND SO WITH, UM, THE CTM TEAM, THEY HELPED US DEVELOP A CONTENT TAGGING SYSTEM IN OUR CURRENT, YOU KNOW, DRUPAL INSTANCE. UM, AND WE'RE WORKING WITH ALL THE DEPARTMENTS, ALL THE AUTHORS THAT ARE CURRENTLY, YOU KNOW, ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION TO START ACTUALLY TAGGING AND, AND THINKING ABOUT, UH, WHAT THAT MIGRATION MIGHT LOOK LIKE. SO CLEANING UP CONTENT, UM, REVIEWING IT, MAKING SURE IT'S UPDATED TO A CERTAIN STANDARD THAT WE'RE, WE'RE, UM, EXPECTING THE DXP TO BE. AND SO EVERYONE IS PRETTY EXCITED. AND, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE COOL THINGS IS THOSE, UM, UH, LIKE YASIN WAS SAYING, SOME OF THOSE DEPARTMENTS THAT MAYBE IN THE PAST FELT THE CURRENT WEBSITE DIDN'T, COULDN'T REALLY FUNCTION THE WAY THEY WANTED IT TO. THEY FOUND ALTERNATE SOLUTIONS, UH, WITH THE DXP AND THE SORT OF PRESENTATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS WE'VE BEEN HAVING IN THE LAST, UH, SIX MONTHS OR SO, UH, THEY'VE BEEN ASKING, YOU KNOW, HEY, CAN WE HAVE CONVERSATIONS, UH, BECAUSE WE'D LIKE TO, YOU KNOW, FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN FIT BACK INTO THAT, THAT THIS NEW MODEL THAT WE'RE MOVING TOWARDS. UM, SO IT IS EXCITING AND WE ARE HAVING, UM, YOU KNOW, UH, MANY MEETINGS WITH MANY DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS, UH, BECAUSE AS YOU KNOW, THERE'S 50 PLUS WITH EACH THEIR INDIVIDUAL NEEDS. UM, SO WE ARE KIND OF WORKING THROUGH THOSE AND MAKING SURE THE FEEDBACK THEY'RE PROVIDING TO US, UM, ALSO GETS TO OUR VENDOR, UM, AS WE START TO WORK THROUGH THE, THE DESIGN LAYOUT AND FUNCTIONALITY. THANK YOU FOR THAT. THANK YOU. UM, UP TO THIS POINT, I FEEL LIKE WE, THE MOST OF THE CONVERSATION HAS BEEN GEARED TOWARDS INTERNAL CITY USE, [00:40:01] AND I KNOW THAT YOU KNOW IT, THE PROJECT TEAM HAS MANY DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDER GROUPS THAT YOU ALL ARE, ARE TRYING TO ACCOMMODATE, BUT ALSO WANNA, UH, TOUCH ON, UH, THE, THE PUBLIC AS A, AS A, AS A MA, AS ANOTHER MA MAJOR STAKEHOLDER GROUP. SO, UH, I DID HAVE SOME, SOME QUESTIONS. I DUNNO IF I, I DON'T WANT TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THEM, BUT DID HAVE SOME BASIC QUESTIONS AROUND WHAT ARE THE WAYS THAT CITIZENS ARE ABLE TO PROVIDE INPUT ON THE WEBSITE? ARE THERE GOING TO BE ANY BETA TESTING OPPORTUNITY FOR ANY BETA TESTING FOR THE, THE PUBLIC FACING VERSION OF THE WEBSITE? ANY DEMOS AVAILABLE THAT WAY? UM, UH, THE PUBLIC IS, IS, UH, PART OF THAT ITERATIVE APPROACH THAT YOU, THAT YOU HAD MENTIONED EARLIER. SO WE HAVE USABILITY TESTING THAT WE WILL BE DOING WITH OUR PUBLIC AT VARIOUS STAGES. IT'S NOT LIKE WE ARE GOING TO BUILD THE SITE AND THEN HAVE IT IN FRONT OF THEM. SURE. BECAUSE WE WANT THEM TO HELP US MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS, BE IT FROM NAVIGATION TO CONTENT ARCHITECTURE. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE IT MAKES SENSE TO PEOPLE WHO USE THAT SITE. SO THERE WILL BE ONGOING ENGAGEMENTS WHERE PUBLIC WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO TEST AND DICTATE THE COURSE ON HOW THIS WEBSITE IS GOING TO BE DESIGNED. SO NOT USER TESTING, BUT USABILITY TESTING IS WHAT WE WILL BE REALLY PUSHING AND HAVING, GETTING INPUTS FROM OUR PUBLIC ON MM-HMM . AND I ALSO WANNA HIGHLIGHT TOO THAT, THAT USABILITY TESTING. UM, WHEN WE ARE DOING THAT, WE'RE VERY FOCUSED ON MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE SELECTING USERS, UM, FROM EVERY, UM, CORNER OF AUSTIN SO THAT WE HAVE A RANGE OF DIFFERENT DIGITAL LITERACY AT THE TABLE, RIGHT. UM, UH, AND DIFFERENT LITERACY RATES IN GENERAL SO THAT WE MAKE SURE THAT THE WEBSITE, UM, IS ACCESSIBLE TO ANY USER, UM, IN AUSTIN. SO THAT WILL BE PART OF OUR PROCESS. AND WHEN WE SPOKE ABOUT HUMAN-CENTERED DESIGN, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT'S A CORE, UM, TENANT OF OUR WORK. THAT'S GREAT TO HEAR. IS THERE ANY OPPORTUNITY FOR US AS, AS COMMISSIONERS OR, UH, AS IN OUR CAPACITIES AS A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC TO BE INVOLVED IN THAT? WE'D LOVE TO LOOP YOU IN. YEAH, DEFINITELY. OKAY. YEAH. UM, WE MAY NOT BE THE MOST REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE FOR VARYING MM-HMM . LEVELS OF, UM, OF TECHNOLOGY SAVVINESS. BUT I THINK A NUMBER OF US HAVE DONE, HAVE ENOUGH TECHNOLOGY IMPLEMENTATIONS UNDER OUR BELT AT FORTUNE 500 COMPANIES, UH, WHERE I, I'M SURE WE WOULD HAVE A, UH, PERSPECTIVE. SO, UM, UH, WE WILL, UM, ENGAGE WITH YOU OFFLINE TO SEE HOW WE AS, AS INDIVIDUALS CAN GET INVOLVED IN THAT. UH, MY LAST QUESTION WAS ALSO BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU VOLUNTEER FOR THEN. , I HEAR YOU. I HEAR YOU . WELL, I SAID IT ON THE RECORD, SO UM, MAY REGRET IT LATER. UH, I'M ALSO CURIOUS ABOUT UPTIME, UH, DOWNTIME, DOWNTIME AND UPTIME, ESPECIALLY DURING WEATHER EVENTS. UM, I KNOW IN THE PAST, ESPECIALLY DURING, UH, TROPICAL, UH, DURING WINTER STORM YURI, UM, THERE WAS A PERIOD OF TIME WHERE THE WEBSITE, I THINK WAS DOWN AND, UH, THE PUBLIC WAS FORCED TO, TO LEVERAGE, UH, SOCIAL MEDIA TO GET INFORMATION FROM, UM, FROM THE, UH, OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT. SO, UH, CURIOUS ABOUT THAT PIECE OF THE RFP AND WHAT ARE EXPECTATIONS AROUND DOWNTIME AND UPTIME GENERALLY AS WELL AS DURING, UH, SEVERE WEATHER EVENTS? UH, I NEED TO REFER BACK TO THE ACTUAL TIME COMMITMENT WE HAVE WITH THE VENDOR. I KNOW IT'S 99 POINT SOMETHING, BUT LET ME GET BACK ON THE EXACT NUMBERS. BUT WE KNOW THE PLATFORM WE ARE BUILDING IT ON IS AUTOSCALE SCALABLE, WHICH BASICALLY MEANS DEPENDING ON THE TRAFFIC, IF DURING AN EMERGENCY SITUATION WE HAVE, UH, LIKE 10, 15 TIMES MORE TRAFFIC, THEN THE WEBSITE IS BUILT TO SCALE UP, SCALE ACCORDINGLY, AND NOT HAVE ANY DOWNTIME JUST BECAUSE OF, UH, NON-AVAILABILITY OF SERVERS. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE ARE AVAILABLE FOR A CONSEQUENCE WHEN THEY NEED US THE MOST. AND EMERGENCIES IS WHEN THEY REALLY COME TO THE WEBSITE FOR. SO, UH, WE HAVE BUILT IN PROTOCOLS TO ACCOMMODATE THAT SURGE IN TRAFFIC IF NEEDED. OKAY. AND THEN ONE, ONE OTHER QUESTION I JUST THOUGHT, WILL THERE, UH, BE EMERGENCY NOTIFICATION SIGN UP, UM, AS PART OF THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THE WEBSITE, I KNOW IN THE PAST CONSTITUENTS HAVE BEEN CONFUSED ABOUT WHERE TO SIGN UP FOR EMERGENCY TEXT [00:45:01] NOTIFICATIONS. SO ENCOURAGE YOU TO, AND THAT'S SOMETHING WE'LL CONTINUE TO WORK THROUGH WITH WARREN CENTRAL TEXAS AND, UM, AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ON, AND MAKING SURE THAT AS WE TRANSITION THEIR CONTENT AND CONTEMPLATE THE BEST, UM, DESIGN FOR THEIR SERVICES, UM MM-HMM . THAT THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WILL BE FRONT AND CENTER FOR THEM, IS MAKING SURE THAT THAT IS A PROMINENT FEATURE AND A SERVICE THAT'S EASILY ACCESSIBLE FOR AUSTINITES AS THEY NAVIGATE THE SITE. PERFECT. THANK YOU. UM, OTHER COMMISSIONERS, I SEE, UH, VICE CHAIR ETTE, UH, MAY HAVE A QUESTION OVER TO YOU. YES. ONE QUICK QUESTION. UM, CALEB, YOU MENTIONED THAT THE CURRENT SITE IS AT LIKE 16,000 PAGES, RIGHT? IS THAT RIGHT? IT WAS, YES. OH, IT WAS. AND SO WHAT'S THE GOAL, JUST OUTTA CURIOSITY, WHAT'S THE GOAL? UM, WE KIND OF KEPT IT SORT OF ARBITRARY, UH, BECAUSE IT, IT IS DEPENDENT ON LIKE WHAT'S LEGALLY REQUIRED STILL TO STAY ON THE SITE WITH FOR DIFFERENT DEPARTMENTS. BUT, UM, OUR SORT OF LOOSE GOAL IS AROUND REDUCING, ITS AROUND A LITTLE BIT LESS THAN 5,000. OH, GREAT. UM, AND WE'RE PRETTY CLOSE TO, TO THAT GOAL SO FAR. AND THAT'S, AGAIN, WORKING WITH ALL THE DEPARTMENTS ACROSS THE ORGANIZATION, UM, WHERE THEY'RE REVIEWING THEIR OWN CONTENT AND LETTING US KNOW, YOU KNOW, THIS NEEDS TO STAY, BUT ALL THIS STUFF WE CAN ARCHIVE. YEAH. THAT'S AWESOME. MUCH MORE STREAMLINED, THANKS. MM-HMM . YES. COMMISSIONER SUPTA, THAT'S A, THAT'S A HUGE REDUCTION FROM 60,000 TO 5,000. GOODNESS. IS THAT DUE TO REDUNDANCY OR, UH, JUST, YOU KNOW, GARBAGE COLLECTS, YOU KNOW, IN THE SOFTWARE WORLD, GARBAGE COLLECTS, YOU KNOW, THAT'S WHY, YOU KNOW, EVERY SO OFTEN HAVE TO REBOOT, REBOOT MY MACHINE. OKAY. YEAH. AND, UM, I DON'T WANT TO SCARE YOU BECAUSE THAT'S MAINLY, UH, UH, PUBLISHED PAGES. THAT'S NOT THE, THE ARCHIVE PAGES. SO, UM, YEAH, I MEAN, IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT, UH, I THINK, UH, DIVYA, WE STARTED OFF WITH THIS CURRENT VERSION OF THE SITE, UM, SINCE DRUPAL SEVEN, AND WE'RE AT DRUPAL 10 AT THIS POINT. UM, AND I THINK THAT'S, UH, MAYBE LIKE EIGHT YEARS AROUND THERE, UM, OF COLLECTING, YOU KNOW, OVER THE YEARS. AND, YOU KNOW, AS PEOPLE TRANSITION OUT OF DEPARTMENTS OR LEAVE, YOU KNOW, THE ORGANIZATION, UM, IT JUST KIND OF SITS THERE EITHER ARCHIVED OR JUST PUBLISHED IN HIDDEN, NOT LINKED ANYWHERE SPECIFICALLY. UM, AND SO THAT'S ALL THINGS WE'RE TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION WITH THE NEW DXP, WHERE IF THOSE KINDS OF THINGS HAPPEN, UH, ON THE NEW PLATFORM, WE HAVE A PROCESS IN PLACE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE NOT GETTING BACK TO, TO THOSE NUMBERS. YEAH, GOOD TO KNOW. THANKS FOR THAT PIECE OF INFORMATION AS WELL. UM, SO IT SOUNDS, THERE'LL BE LIKE, THERE'LL BE SOME TIGHTER CONTROLS AROUND ACCUMULATION OF CONTENT. UM, MY LAST QUESTION, LOOKING AT OTHER COMMISSIONERS, WANNA MAKE SURE, SURE. NO ONE ELSE HAS A QUESTION. DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT. NO ONE'S COMING ON CAMERA. UM, I GUESS, UH, UH, I'LL LEAVE IT TO YOU ALL TO ANSWER, BUT WE WOULD LIKE TO HAVE ANOTHER UPDATE. UH, I'M JUST CURIOUS, UH, WHEN'S THE NEXT MAJOR MILESTONE THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE FOR YOU ALL TO COME BACK AND PROVIDE US, UH, MORE INFORMATION ON HOW THE PROJECT IS, IS GOING AND, UH, WHAT SUCCESS AND THE SUCCESSES THAT YOU ALL ARE HAVING? ABSOLUTELY. WE'D LOVE TO CHECK IN WITH YOU GUYS, UH, AT MAJOR MILESTONES. AND SO I THINK, UM, WE COULD PERHAPS, UH, CHILD FLYING ABOUT WHAT SOME OF THOSE, UM, BIG PIECES WOULD BE AND AS WELL AS WHEN THE, THE BEST TIMES TO START TO COME BACK TO YOU GUYS FOR, FOR SOME TESTING OPPORTUNITIES OR OPPORTUNITIES TO PREVIEW DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF THE SITE WOULD BE. SO, UM, SO HOW ABOUT WE, UM, MAYBE HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF DISCUSSION ON OUR END AND THEN PROPOSE, UM, SOME OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOU GUYS, IF THAT WORKS. YEAH, THAT'S FAIR ENOUGH. UM, OKAY. YEAH, WE'LL FOLLOW UP WITHIN THE NEXT WEEK OR SO ON, UH, WITH THE TIMING FOR FOLLOW UP. UH, BEST TIME FOR FOLLOW UP. PERFECT. AND YOU'RE WELCOME TO REACH OUT TO, TO ME, UM, AND I'M HAPPY TO FOLLOW UP AND SHARE WITH THE TEAM. SOUNDS GREAT. YEAH. OKAY. WELL, WE THANK YOU ALL FOR, UH, GIVING US THE PRESENTATION. UH, I KNOW IT'S, UH, EXTREMELY, UH, COMPLICATED, UH, PROJECT THAT'S GONNA TAKE, UH, QUITE A BIT OF TIME. UH, SOME OF US HAVE HAVE BEEN THERE, OUR OURSELVES, UM, BUT I, I THINK IT'S GOING TO HAVE A HUGE POSITIVE IMPACT FOR THE CITY, UM, AND, UM, CONSTITUENTS THAT RELY ON, UH, ON THE WEBSITE TO GET THEIR INFORMATION. SO THANKS AGAIN FOR THE WORK THAT YOU ALL ARE DOING. THANK YOU FOR YOUR, FOR YOUR INTEREST AND YOUR ENTHUSIASM, AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO CONTINUING TO, TO SHARE GOOD WORK WITH YOU GUYS AND COLLABORATE WITH YOU AS WE MOVE FORWARD. ABSOLUTELY. HAVE A GOOD EVENING. YOU TOO. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. OKAY, WELL WITH THAT, UH, WE WILL MOVE ON [4. Presentation on the status of the city’s participation and involvement in the BEAD challenge process (Khotan Harmon, Program Manager, City of Austin Economic Development Department)] [00:50:01] TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FOUR. UH, I KNOW, UH, KOAN WAS NOT ABLE TO MAKE IT, BUT SHE DID SEND A COMMUNICATION THROUGH, UH, THROUGH DAN THAT, UH, HE'S GONNA UPDATE US ON HI, YES, EVERYBODY. UM, KAAN JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT SHE APOLOGIZES FOR BEING UNABLE TO BE HERE TONIGHT. UH, BUT WANTED Y'ALL TO KNOW THAT THE TEAM HAS SUBMITTED A BEAD MAP CHALLENGE AND IS IN THE PROCESS OF WORKING WITH THE BDO ON FINALIZING THE SUBMISSIONS. AND, UH, SHE'LL BE BACK IN FEBRUARY, UH, TO GIVE US A MORE EXTENSIVE UPDATE RE UH, REGARDING BEAD AND THE CHALLENGE AND, UH, UH, THE RECONCILIATION. BUT YES, THANK YOU. THANKS FOR THAT UPDATE, DAN. UM, AND I KNOW THAT, UH, NOT TO CALL COMMISSIONER HERITAGE OUT, BUT, UH, COMMISSIONER HERITAGE REQUESTED THAT, UH, SPECIFIC UPDATE, SO JUST WANNA MAKE SURE YOU DIDN'T HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS, UH, BEFORE KOAN COMES BACK NEXT MONTH. NO, I THINK, UM, I THINK THAT WAS IT. I THINK UNDERSTANDING THE LEVEL OF THE CITY'S PARTICIPATION IN THAT, AND THEN ALSO, I KNOW KATAN HAD MENTIONED PARTICIPATING IN THAT M-D-U-R-F-I THAT THE BDO DID AS WELL BACK IN NOVEMBER. I CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER WHEN IT WAS. BUT, UM, TO JUST TWO QUICK UPDATES ON THOSE THINGS SINCE THEY WERE STATE BE GRANT BROADBAND RELATED THINGS. UM, SO WHAT WAS OUR PARTICIPATION? WHAT'S THE NEXT STEPS? UM, THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL, DAN, WHEN SHE COMES BACK. GREAT. YEAH, DAN WILL TAKE THAT. OKAY. UH, WITH THAT WE'LL MOVE ON [5. Discussion, Selection, and Approval of Grant for Technology Opportunities Program 2025 Review Panel (Part 1 of 2)] TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FIVE. UH, THIS IS OUR DISCUSSION, SELECTION AND APPROVAL OF THE REVIEW PANEL FOR THE GTOP S PROGRAM. UH, SO DAN SENT OUT A, UH, SURVEY LINK AS WELL AS A PDF OF, UH, APPLICATIONS FOR THE REVIEW PANEL FOR GT OS. UM, I KNOW I, I SUBMITTED MINE, UH, ALL COMMISSIONERS MAY HAVE NOT DONE THAT YET. UM, DO WE HAVE A COUNT, DAN, OF WHO'S STILL, HOW MANY ARE STILL OUTSTANDING? YEAH. UM, WE'RE ONLY MISSING IT FROM THREE Y'ALL. UM, I BELIEVE I HAVE COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, CHAIR AKAS AND, UH, COMMISSIONER DAS GUPTA. UM, IT, IT'S A PRETTY QUICK PROCESS. UM, I MAYBE LIKE 15 MINUTES IF, IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE WHOLE THING THROUGH ALREADY. UH, UH, I DO WANT TO, UH, YOU KNOW, MENTION SOMETHING THAT WE JUST DISCOVERED, UH, IN THE PROCESS OF GOING THROUGH THESE APPLICANTS. UM, UH, YOU KNOW, SINCE, UH, I, I MADE THIS PACKET BEFORE THE WEEKEND AND SINCE THEN SOME OF, UH, THE REVIEWER APPLICANTS, THEIR ORGANIZATION THAT THEY WORK FOR HAS ACTUALLY APPLIED TO G OS. UM, AND THEN THERE IS A COUPLE APPLICANTS THAT WE DIDN'T NOTICE THAT THEIR HOME ADDRESS WAS, UH, WAY TOO FAR FROM AUSTIN TO BE ABLE TO REALISTICALLY PARTICIPATE. UM, SO WE JUST ASK THAT YOU STILL EVALUATE ALL OF THESE, UH, APPLICATIONS AS YOU NORMALLY WOULD, UH, SCORING THEM BETWEEN ONE AND 13. AND WE'RE JUST GONNA APPLY GENERAL GOLF RULES TO THIS. SO LOWEST SCORE IS GOING TO BE, UH, THE PEOPLE, THE CANDIDATES WHO ARE SELECTED. UM, BUT IN THE SPIRIT OF FAIRNESS, UH, AND SINCE SOME, UH, HALF OF THE COMMISSIONERS HAVE ALREADY SUBMITTED THEIR SCORES, UH, WE THOUGHT IT'D JUST BE EASIER IF EVERYBODY, UH, SUBMITTED THEIR SCORES AS IS, UH, UH, FOLLOWING THE WHAT THE, WHAT THE INSTRUCTIONS THAT WE SENT OUT, UH, PREVIOUSLY, UH, JUST TO KEEP IT FAIR ACROSS THE BOARD. AND THEN WHEN IT COMES TO THE FINAL SELECTION, UH, WE'LL LET YOU KNOW, UM, IF, IF SOMEONE WHO WAS HIGH RANKING, UM, UH, WON'T BE ABLE TO MAKE IT BECAUSE OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT I LISTED BEFORE. SO ESSENTIALLY THOSE, UM, THOSE APPLICANTS WILL GET DROPPED. OKAY. CORRECT. YEAH. UM, WE DISCUSSED HAVING THEM JUST BE, UH, RECUSED DURING THE, THE ACTUAL, UH, SCORING PROCESS, BUT I FIGURED THAT THAT WOULD CAUSE MORE COMPLICATIONS THAN JUST TAKING THEM OUT THIS EARLY IN THE PROCESS. YEP. THANK YOU. OKAY. AND DAN, WHEN DO YOU NEED THOSE SCORES SUBMITTED BY? UM, UH, I, HOPEFULLY BY THE END OF THIS MEETING, UM, TO, SO THAT WE CAN FINALIZE DECISION, UH, FINALIZE THE DECISION, UH, AS A VOTE AND, UH, HAVE THE, UH, FINAL APPLICANT SELECTION READ INTO THE RECORD. UM, BUT IF, IF NEED BE, IF COMMISSIONERS NEED TIME, UM, WE CAN WAIT ON THEM. UH, GIVEN THE CHAIR'S PERMISSION, UM, I, I, I BELIEVE THAT'S HOW WE DID IT IN THE PAST. YEAH. WE GAVE EVERYONE ABOUT FIVE TO 10 MINUTES TO READ THROUGH IT. YEAH. SO GIVEN THAT, UM, I KNOW THERE ARE A GOOD NUMBER OF COMMISSIONERS THAT HAVEN'T, UH, HAD A CHANCE TO DO IT YET. I THINK WE'LL JUST TAKE THE TIME NOW, UM, TO READ THROUGH [00:55:02] THE APPLICATIONS AND, UH, SUBMIT YOUR SCORES AND, UM, IT'S ONLY SEVEN 30 , WE HAVE UNTIL 10. SO, UH, YEAH, GO AHEAD, COMMISSIONER SUPTA. YEAH, I JUST WANNA SAY THAT I THINK WE, THE, THE, I READ THE 13, UH, UH, CANDIDATES, UH, OUT OF THAT, I THINK ABOUT SEVEN OR EIGHT OF THEM WERE OUTSTANDING. I THOUGHT IT'S A REALLY GOOD COLLECTION OF, UH, UH, REVIEWERS THAT WE'VE GOT. IT'D BE REAL SHAME TO LOSE SOME OF THOSE. THAT'S WHY I FIND IT FUNNY, DAN, WHEN YOU SAID, OH, 15 MINUTES AND I'M JUST THINKING THIS IS HARDER THAN YOU MIGHT THINK. ACTUALLY, I THINK THAT THERE, THERE'S SOME REALLY GOOD CANDIDATES. I PERSONALLY THINK, YEAH, THERE WERE SOME AMAZING CANDIDATES IN MY OPINION. UM, YEAH, IT TOOK ME, I I WILL ADMIT I TRIED TO GO THROUGH THEM AS DETAILED AS POSSIBLE, SO IT TOOK ME 30, 40 MINUTES. YOU WERE GOOD. HALF HOUR YOU HAVE MEETING. YEAH. BUT, UM, YEAH, I THINK THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE NEED TO GET DONE TONIGHT. SO, UM, I'M HAPPY TO GO OFF, GO ON MUTE AND, UH, GIVE THE COMMISSIONERS THAT HAVEN'T SUBMIT THEIR SCORES, UM, SOME FOCUSED TIME TO SUBMIT. OKAY. OKAY. DO YOU GET TIME OFF FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR ? WELL, I'LL CHECK IN WITH EVERYONE. UM, IT'S 7 32 NOW. I'LL CHECK IN WITH EVERYONE AT 7 42 AND SEE HOW EVERYONE'S DOING. ALSO FOR THE, THE TEAM, JUST WANNA LET YOU ALL KNOW I'M GOING TO SWITCH TO MY PHONE. UH, GOT SOME LIFE HAPPENING OVER HERE, SO I'LL STAY ON THE MEETING, BUT I'D LIKE TO BE ON MY PHONE. OKAY. THANKS FOR THE HEADS UP. WELL, WHILE WE'RE WAITING FOR, UH, DANA, JESSE, TO TOTAL UP THOSE SCORES, I'LL GO AHEAD AND MOVE US ON TO THE WORKING GROUP UPDATES, JUST IN TERMS OF, UM, IN ORDER TO BE EFFICIENT. UH, SO MOVING [6. Update from the public surveillance working group ] ON TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER SIX AND UPDATE FROM THE PUBLIC SURVEILLANCE WORKING GROUP. UH, WE DON'T HAVE THE CHAIR HERE, UH, THIS EVENING, UH, BUT UM, I'LL GIVE, UH, MY PIECE OF AN UPDATE AND THEN I'LL TURN IT OVER TO COMMISSIONER HERITAGE TO FILL IN ANYTHING I MAY HAVE MISSED. UH, BUT WE HAVE OUR LIST OF, UH, STAKEHOLDERS THAT, UM, WE'VE COMMUNICATED OUT TO, AND, UH, WE'VE SET UP SOME OF THOSE, UM, INTERVIEW TIMES. SO, UM, LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVING SOME GOOD CONVERSATIONS WITH, UH, SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS IN THE SPACE. AND, UM, FROM THAT, AFTER THAT POINT, UH, I THINK WE'LL BE ABLE TO MAKE SOME, UH, SOLID, UH, A SOLID RECOMMENDATION TO THE REST OF THE COMMISSION AND, UH, HOPEFULLY SEND THAT TO, UH, TO CITY COUNCIL HERE IN THE, UH, COMING NEXT COUPLE MONTHS. COMMISSIONER HERITAGE, IS THERE ANYTHING I MISSED ON THAT OR ANYTHING ADDITIONAL THAT YOU MAY HAVE ON YOUR END? SURE. UH, WE WERE ABLE TO MEET WITH, UM, HAVE ONE STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEW ON MONDAY SO FAR WITH CHELSEA COLLIER FROM SMART CITIES CONNECT. SHE ALSO, UH, DOES SOME POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCH OR DOCTORAL RESEARCH AT UT. UM, SO SHE GAVE US A NUMBER OF OTHER FOLKS TO CHAT WITH AS WELL. UH, BOTH IN AUSTIN. IT LOOKS LIKE A LOT OF FOLKS OUTSIDE OF AUSTIN TOO, UM, FROM CITY, CITY LEADERS AROUND THIS TOPIC. SO WE'LL BE REACHING OUT INDIVIDUALLY THERE AS WELL. UM, AND THEN GAVE SOME THEMES, I THINK AS LIKE SHARED LEARNINGS AROUND WHAT SHE SEES IN THIS SPACE. UM, SO I THINK AS FAR AS LIKE, AGAIN, JUST FOR A REMINDER FOR FOLKS, TIMELINES THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR, WE COMPLETED, IF YOU WILL, A SOFT SOFTBALL INTERVIEW GUIDE AND A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS WE WANNA TEASE OUT THEMES FROM FOLKS THAT WE MEET WITH. UM, OUR GOAL IS, YOU KNOW, FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS MONTH IS, UM, UH, WE MENTIONED IS TO TRY AND GET REMAINDER OF INTERVIEWS SCHEDULED, AND THEN IDEALLY SOMETIME FEBRUARY, PREPARE AND PUBLISH, UM, HIGH LEVEL, YOU KNOW, RECOMMENDATIONS, RESOLUTION THAT WE THINK WOULD BE WORTHWHILE, OBVIOUSLY PRESENTING HERE FIRST WITH A GOAL IF WE CAN TO PRESENT THAT, UM, RESOLUTION TO YOU ALL ON MARCH AND SOMETIME IN MARCH. SO JUST TO GIVE AGAIN, HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF TENTATIVE TIMELINES THAT WE'RE SHOOTING FOR. GREAT. THANK YOU FOR THAT. WELL SAID. UM, THAT WE'LL [7. Update from the Artificial Intelligence working group ] MOVE ON TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER SEVEN, THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WORKING GROUP. UH, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS, DID YOU WANT TO GIVE THE UPDATE ON THAT ONE? UH, SURE. SO A WORKING GROUP [01:00:01] OF US GOT TOGETHER, UM, BEFORE YEAR END TO DISCUSS WHAT WE THOUGHT WOULD BE BEST FOR AN AI POLICY RECOMMENDATION FOR THE CITY. UH, WE GATHERED SOME, UM, LOCAL AND NON-LOCAL SORT OF EXPERTISE AND VOICES FOR THEM TO LEND IN ON WHAT THEY BELIEVE WOULD BE BEST FOR, UH, CONSIDERATION AS WE, UH, PUT TOGETHER A SET OF RECOMMENDATIONS. UM, WE ALSO FOUND THAT THERE IS ANOTHER AREA OF THE CITY THAT HAS ENGAGED THIS TOPIC FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN. UM, SO WITH THAT, WE'RE KIND OF NOT STARTING FROM ZERO. UM, SO WE'RE LOOKING AT SOME OF THE THOUGHTS THAT ARE ALREADY BEEN PUT TOGETHER BY OTHER AREAS OF THE CITY, UM, ALONGSIDE WHAT WE'VE COLLECTIVELY THOUGHT WERE GOOD CONTRIBUTIONS. WHEN I SAY GOOD CONTRIBUTIONS, UM, LEMME SHARE SOME OF THE, THE IDEAS THAT WERE PASSED OUT BRIEFLY. UH, ONE WAS THAT, UH, IT WAS, IT WAS KIND OF A CONSENSUS AROUND THE IDEA THAT SAFEGUARDS NEED TO BE IN PLACE FOR AI DECISIONS, FOR AI REVIEWS. THERE NEEDS TO BE WHAT WE'RE CALLING HUMAN IN THE LOOP. UM, AI SHOULD NOT BE KIND OF SET FREE TO DO THINGS FOR THE CITY OR THAT IMPACT CITIZENS WITHOUT SOME HUMAN BEING BEING ABLE TO TURN ON OR OFF SWITCH. UM, WE DISCUSS THE IDEAS BETWEEN AI ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE ABILITY TO, UH, SORT OF QUESTION WHAT AI DOES FOR THE CITY, BUT TO DO SO IN AN ELEGANT WAY THAT DOES NOT, UM, CREATE A VECTOR FOR, UM, A LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY ACTUALLY, RIGHT? SO SAY FOR INSTANCE, IF AI MAKES A DECISION OR AI'S INVOLVED IN A DECISION THAT IS CLEAR, RIGHT? LET'S SAY THAT DECISION IS SOMETHING AS SILLY AS, YOU KNOW, BRIAN PLAYING FOR THE MAVERICKS, RIGHT? I'M FIVE FOOT SIX, THAT'S NEVER HAPPENED. SO IF AI SAYS I SHOULD DO THAT OR I SHOULD NOT DO THAT, UM, THERE'S LIKELY GOING TO BE A SERIES OF REASONS WHY THAT SHOULD NOT HAPPEN, THAT DON'T INVOLVE THE AI, BUT BECAUSE AI'S INVOLVED, THAT GIVES A VECTOR FOR SOMEONE TO SAY, WELL, THE AI IS THE REASON WHY BRIAN CAN'T PLAY FOR THIS NBA TEAM. AND WHAT WE WANNA DO IS AVOID THE, UM, USING UNPOPULAR OR UNWANTED OUTCOMES AS A SORT OF REASON TO QUESTION AI'S INVOLVEMENT IN THAT PROCESS, I GUESS I'M SAYING. SO WE WANT PROCESSES THAT ARE, UH, SAFE AND GOOD ENOUGH TO QUESTION, BUT ALSO, UH, FORMIDABLE ENOUGH TO WHERE IF THEY ARE QUESTIONED, WE CAN JUSTIFY OUTSIDE OF JUST AI HOW A DECISION CAME TO, UH, I'M SEEING THAT SCOPE TO SHAKE HIS HEAD LIKE, YEAH, IT'S KIND OF A SENSITIVE SPACE THERE, BUT WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE, WE HIT IT ON A NAIL AND WE DID DISCUSS THAT. UH, WE ALSO DISCUSS, DISCUSSED, UM, WHAT WE CALL PII, UH, FOR THOSE WHO ARE LESS FAMILIAR. IT STANDS FOR PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION, UM, HOW WE CAN PROTECT IT, MAKE SURE THAT IT DOES NOT LEAVE, UM, THE CITY IN ANY WAY THAT WE DON'T ANTICIPATE, ESPECIALLY IF, UM, CITY PEOPLE OR EMPLOYEES OR CONTRACTORS BRING THEIR OWN AI TO WORK, QUOTE UNQUOTE. UM, THERE ARE DIFFERENT POLICIES FOR DIFFERENT AI PLATFORMS, UM, BUT THE CITY HAS TO PROTECT EVERYONE'S DATA. SO WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT WHAT THAT MEANS AND WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE. UM, AND ALSO THERE WAS A, A PREVAILING IDEA OR THOUGHT THAT I AGREE WITH THAT SAYS, UM, WHAT THE CITIZENS WOULD LIKE TO SEE IS OUR CITY COUNCIL PASSED SOME SORT OF BASELINE POLICY, SOMETHING TO OVERALL PROTECT CITYWIDE RIGHTS FOR CITYWIDE CITIZENS AND BUSINESSES. UM, AND SOMETHING THAT CAN BE THE FIRST SORT OF LAYER UPON WHICH WE CAN EVOLVE, UH, POLICY OVER TIME. SO NOTHING HAS BEEN RECOMMENDED YET. NOTHING HAS BEEN SENT TO CITY COUNCIL YET. UM, WE'RE STILL WORKING ON IT, BUT, UM, SO FAR SO GOOD WITH REGARD TO PULLING IN SOME OF THE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS OF OTHER EXPERTS AROUND AUSTIN AND AROUND THE COUNTRY. I'LL OPEN UP TO ANY QUESTIONS, THOUGHTS, OR OPINIONS? COMMISSIONER DESTA, PLEASE. YEAH. SO IS THERE ANY KIND OF NATIONWIDE EFFORT, YOU KNOW, IN EUROPE, THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION HAS TAKEN A LEAD FOR ALL THE EUROPEAN COUNTRIES THAT ARE MEMBERS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. UH, I KNOW THAT THERE WAS SOME EFFORT DURING THE WANING STAGES OF THE LAST ELECTION WHERE, YOU KNOW, WHERE THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WAS TRYING TO GET SOMETHING GOING IN A NATION NATIONAL NATIONWIDE LEVEL. UH, I DON'T KNOW HOW FAR THAT HAS GONE BUT AT LEAST THE CITIES HAVE, THEY COME UP WITH SOME KIND OF A CONSENSUS ON WHAT IS ABSOLUTELY, UH, YOU KNOW, UH, AREAS TO AVOID OR AREAS TO, UH, CORRALLING. ARE THERE SOME KIND OF, UH, STANDARDS THAT ARE BEING CREATED FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR THAT YOU WRITE ON? I'LL SAY FROM MY RESEARCH, I'VE SEEN MUCH MORE ACTIVITY HAPPEN AT MORE LOCALIZED LEVELS. LIKE ONCE YOU GET TO STATE AND FEDERAL, IS THERE ACTIVITY? YES. IS THAT ACTIVITY ROBUST ENOUGH FOR THE TYPES OF THINGS THAT WE WANNA SEE AT THE AUSTIN LEVEL? I'M NOT SEEING THAT THERE IS FEDERAL ACTIVITY, BUT THERE'S JUST [01:05:01] ACTIVITY, RIGHT? THERE'S, THERE'S NOTHING THAT HAS COME OUT THAT CAN REALLY GUIDE US AT A FEDERAL LEVEL JUST YET. BUT THERE ARE MANY, MANY CITIES THAT HAVE POLICIES THAT ARE EITHER IN PLACE OR UNDER DEVELOPMENT THAT WE CAN USE AS A BENCHMARK OR AS A COMPARISON POINT. BUT BEYOND CITI, I PERSONALLY AM NOT SEEING VERY MUCH, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE. IT JUST, MAYBE IT HASN'T COME ACROSS ME YET. SO HAVE YOU CONSIDERED LOOKING AT WHAT THE EUROPEAN UNION HAS DONE AND TO SEE IF WE CAN WIN SOME RESULT? YOU KNOW, SOME, SOME, SOME, SOME, UH, LESSONS LEARNED FROM THAT? INDEED, I HAVE NOT, BUT I SEE NO WAY THAT COULD HURT. I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S A GREAT SUGGESTION ACTUALLY. OKAY, GOOD. THANK YOU. ABSOLUTELY. OH, AND ALSO, UH, FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN AI, I DON'T KNOW IF I SHOULD CALL IT POLICY OR NOT, BUT FOR WHAT'S ALREADY BEEN KIND OF DONE AND DRAFTED, UM, THAT'S AVAILABLE TO ALL OF US AS COMMISSIONERS. UM, STEVE HAS SENT ME A LINK THAT WE COULD PROBABLY SHARE WITH THE REST OF THE COMMISSIONERS, I'M SURE. UM, BUT IT IS A, A GREAT STARTING POINT AND IT HAS A LOT OF THE CONCERNS THAT WE'RE THINKING ABOUT KIND OF ALREADY ACCOUNTED FOR. SO MY IS TO KIND OF SHINE THAT POLICY AND MAKE IT AS BEST AS WE CAN. I'D LOVE TO SEE THAT. THANK YOU. YEAH, I'D LIKE TO SEE IT TOO. THANK YOU. ABSOLUTELY. YEAH. THE OTHER, UH, IT JUST OCCURRED TO ME, THE OTHER THING WE SHOULD PROBABLY DO SOME RESEARCH ON BRIAN, IS, UM, WHETHER THE, ANY THERE WAS ANY OF THIS CONTENT DISCUSSED AT THE NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES, I THINK THAT THEY JUST MET AS WELL. I THINK, UM, MY COUNCIL MEMBER ATTENDED THAT. I DON'T KNOW WHO, WHO, UM, WHO ELSE MAY HAVE ATTENDED, BUT I CAN GET WITH THEIR OFFICE AND SEE IF THAT WAS A, UM, TOPIC OF DISCUSSION AS WELL. IT SEEMS LIKE IT PROBABLY WOULD. I WOULD'VE EXPECTED IT PROBABLY WOULD BE. UM, SO I CAN TAKE THAT AS AN ACTION. UM, IF YOU WANNA DO THAT, REACH OUT TO YOUR RESPECTIVE COUNCIL MEMBER AS WELL. I, BUT YEAH. UM, SO SHOWING GREAT PROGRESS ON THAT FRONT. THANK YOU FOR THE UPDATE, BRIAN. AND, UH, FINALLY MOVING ON [8. Update from the Duplicative Technologies working group ] TO, UH, ITEM NUMBER EIGHT, UH, THE DUPLICATIVE TECHNOLOGIES WORKING GROUP, UH, . THIS ONE WILL BE PRETTY QUICK. COMMISSIONER, JUST GUPTA, DID YOU WANT TO GIVE THE VERY BRIEF UPDATE ON THIS ONE? UM, WELL, UH, WE GOT A, A, A MEMO FROM, UH, KOAN SOMETIME BACK, AND THERE'S A MEETING SCHEDULED FOR TOMORROW MORNING THAT, UH, THE TWO OF US WILL ATTEND AND SEE WHAT, UH, THE CITY HAS TO SAY ABOUT, UH, THE, THE ISSUES THAT I RAISED. YEP. YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S PRETTY MUCH IT. UH, SO WE'VE HAD A COUPLE RESCHEDULES, BUT, UH, YEAH, THAT MEETING IS TOMORROW, UH, AFTERNOON. SO LOOKING FORWARD TO HAVING A GOOD DISCUSSION WITH, UM, ANTHONY SURA AND ANN EATON FROM THE, UM, EDD OFFICE. WE'LL KEEP THE REST OF THE COMMISSION UPDATED ON HOW THAT GOES. UH, EXCUSE ME, CHAIR. YES. IS THAT, UH, SUPPOSED TO BE AT, UH, THREE 30 TOMORROW OR? IT WAS ORIGINALLY AT NINE O'CLOCK. I SEE IT ON MY CALENDAR AT THREE 30. THREE 30. OH, I GOTTA GO CHECK THAT. YEAH, SHOOT ME A TEXT IF, IF THERE'S SOMETHING. YEAH, IF YOU SEE SOMETHING DIFFERENT. OKAY. ALRIGHT, THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT. SO WITH THAT, UM, LET'S, UH, MOVE BACKWARDS [5. Discussion, Selection, and Approval of Grant for Technology Opportunities Program 2025 Review Panel (Part 2 of 2)] TO, UH, AGENDA ITEM NUMBER FIVE. THAT'S THE DISCUSSION, SELECTION AND APPROVAL OF THE GRANT, UH, ON OF THE G OS GRANT. UH, AND I THINK DAN AND JESSE HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT FOR US. ALRIGHTY, Y'ALL DRUM ROLL PLEASE. UH, JUST KIDDING. UM, BUT THE SELECTED CANDIDATES, UH, WE HAVE A TOP EIGHT. WE HAVE A TOP EIGHT. UM, SO THE APPLICANTS THAT YOU GUYS HAVE ALL, UH, DECIDED, UH, TO SERVE ON THIS REVIEW PANEL ARE APPLICANT'S NUMBER NINE, ONE TWELVE, TEN EIGHT, TWO, SIX, AND SEVEN. AND I WILL NOTE THAT APPLICANT SEVEN SCORED THE SAME AS APPLICANT THREE, UH, BUT APPLICANT THREE WAS NOT WITHIN THE AUSTIN JURISDICTION, SO WE HAD TO DISQUALIFY THEM FROM THESE, UH, THE TOP EIGHT SELECTED. BUT EVERYBODY ELSE, UH, NINE ONE TWELVE TEN EIGHT TWO SIX SEVEN, UH, WILL SERVE ON THE GTOP S CORE REVIEW PANEL THIS YEAR. THANK YOU ALL. OKAY, THANKS, DAN. GREAT, THANK YOU. AND RELATED TO THAT, DO WE HAVE, UH, HOW MANY BACKUPS DO WE HAVE WITH THE ELIMINATION OF THE, UM, UH, OF THE [01:10:01] INDIVIDUALS THAT YOU HAD MENTIONED FROM THE PANEL? UH, AT THE MOMENT, ONLY ONE. OKAY. UH, BUT THE, THE PURPOSE OF HAVING EIGHT APPLICANTS, UH, WE HAD SEVEN IN PAST CYCLES, SO WE BUILT AN AUTOMATIC BACKUP INTO IT. SO, UM, WE'LL INCLUDE, IF NONE OF THEM DROP OUT, WE'LL INCLUDE ALL EIGHT SETS OF SCORES. UM, BUT AT MINIMUM WE WANT TO HAVE FIVE, LIKE THAT'S THE, THE LEAST WE CAN SKIM BY IT WITH. OKAY. UM, SO WE HAVE THESE REDUNDANCIES ALREADY IN PLACE. OKAY. SO WE SHOULD BE ALL RIGHT. PERFECT, PERFECT. GOOD TO KNOW. WELL, THANK YOU FOR THAT. UM, I'M GONNA MOVE US BACKWARDS IN OUR, UH, AGENDA AGAIN. BACK TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER ONE. OH OH. THANK YOU, DAN. I, EXCUSE ME, I WAS AN ERROR. WE, UH, WE HAVE TO VOTE ON THIS, UH, COMMISSIONERS, SO IF EVERYONE COULD COME ON CAMERA, TURN YOUR AUDIO ON. I'LL WAIT FOR COMMISSIONERS. HERITAGE ANGA AND VICE CHAIR RETA TO COME ON. I WILL GIVE KARINA JUST ANOTHER FEW SECONDS HERE. YEAH. THANK YOU. . MM-HMM . ALRIGHT. ALL OF THOSE IN FAVOR OF ACCEPTING THE G TOPS REVIEW PANEL AS OUTLINED BY DAN. PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND AND SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. AYE. ANY ABSTENTIONS, ANYONE AGAINST? OKAY, THAT IS SIX IN FAVOR OF OUR, UH, NEWLY SELECTED GTOP S PANEL. THANKS, COMMISSIONERS FOR YOUR WORK WITH, UH, REVIEWING THE, UM, APPLICATIONS. I KNOW THAT, UM, WAS A DECENT AMOUNT OF WORK AND, UM, I THINK IT'LL BE GOOD BECAUSE, UH, YOU ALL HAVE SEEN THE IMPACT THAT THIS, UH, GRANT PROVIDES TO THE COMMUNITY, UM, THROUGH THE NONPROFIT, THROUGH THE GREAT WORK THAT THE NONPROFITS ARE DOING. UM, SO I'M GONNA MOVE US BACKWARDS [APPROVAL OF MINUTES] IN OUR AGENDA AGAIN TO AGENDA ITEM NUMBER ONE. AND THAT IS THE, UH, APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM OUR LAST MEETING ON NOVEMBER 13TH. UM, HOPEFULLY EVERYONE HAS HAD A CHANCE TO REVIEW, UH, THOSE MINUTES THAT DAN PROVIDED. UM, UNLESS ANYONE HAS A, ANY EDITS, I'LL LOOK FOR A MOTION TO APPROVE THOSE. SO, SUZANNE, I MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE MINUTES FROM LAST SESSION. I SECOND. OKAY. SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER SUPTA. ALL THOSE IN FAVOR OF APPROVING THE MINUTES, PLEASE RAISE YOUR HAND, SAY AYE. AYE. AYE. ANY ABSTENTIONS? ANYONE AGAINST? ALRIGHT, WE ARE UNANIMOUS. SO WITH THAT, UM, BRINGS US TO [FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ] OUR FINAL, UH, AGENDA ITEM. OH, EXCUSE ME. WE HAVE, UH, FUTURE, DO WE HAVE FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS? ANY FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO BRING UP? UM, NOW TO ADD TO EITHER THE NEXT OR SUBSEQUENT MEETINGS? I THINK WE'RE JUST ADDING, I JUST WANNA CONFIRM IF DAN IS STILL IN THE ROOM THAT WE'RE ADDING THAT KAAN WILL GIVE HER UPDATE LATER WHEN SHE'S BACK. YES, ABSOLUTELY. WE'VE CONFIRMED WITH KATAN, UM, SHE SHOULD BE IN, IN FEBRUARY. UM, SO YEAH, THAT'S, THAT'S GREEN LIGHT. UM, I, I DID WANNA PROVIDE ANOTHER UPDATE THAT SHOULD BE HAPPENING IN FEBRUARY. UM, IF, AND I, I DON'T, I THINK IT ONLY APPLIES TO ONE OF Y'ALL, UM, SINCE YOU'RE ALL RELATIVELY NEW COMMISSIONERS, BUT IF YOU'VE HAD A FOUR YEAR TERM, UM, I BELIEVE THAT TERM WILL COME TO A CLOSE AFTER THE FEBRUARY MEETING, UM, GIVEN THE 60 DAY, UH, YOU KNOW, A HOLDING PERIOD. UM, SO I I, I DON'T THINK THAT SHOULD AFFECT MANY OF YOU. JUST WANTED TO PUT THAT OUT THERE. YEAH, THANKS FOR THAT REMINDER, DAN. AND THEN, UM, LET'S, UH, SYNC UP OFFLINE SO WE CAN TRY AND GET ANOTHER GT OS UH, RECIPIENT TO PRESENT NEXT MONTH AS WELL. UM, OKAY. I THINK THAT IS IT. SO WE'LL MOVE ON TO ADJOURNMENT. UM, APPARENTLY I WAS INFORMED LAST TIME WE DON'T NEED TO TAKE A VOTE ON ADJOURNMENT. SO UNLESS, UH, ANYONE, UH, HAS A BURNING DESIRE TO STAY, UH, I THINK WE ARE ADJOURNED. THANK YOU ALL. HAVE A GREAT EVENING AND HAPPY NEW YEAR. THANKS ALL. HAVE A GOOD NIGHT. HAPPY NEW YEAR. HAPPY NEW YEAR. UM, CHEER, HAVE A YES, I I, I AM NOT SEEING ANY ANNOUNCEMENT ABOUT THE THREE 30 MEETING TOMORROW, SO IF YOU HAVE ANYTHING, CAN YOU FORWARD IT TO ME BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WAS NINE O'CLOCK TOMORROW. OKAY. I'LL GIVE YOU A CALL. OKAY. THANK YOU. [01:15:07] I. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.