Archive for the “Forum on the Advancement of Court Technology” Category

The National Association for Court Management 2010 Annual Conference is in New Orleans next week and I’m excited about the program and activities I have planned there. The conference theme is Wisdom in Action: Proven Court Practices and the week is jam packed with terrific content.

Let’s start with the governance issues with a NACM Board Meeting on July 19 and joint FACT Steering Committee and Joint Technology Committee meeting on July 20. There are a load of administrative issues that deserve attention and it’s a pleasure to be part of the policy solutions. Follow that with education events interspersed throughout the week, an ICM Fellows’ reception* on July 21, vendor show on July 22 and hosting duties for one of the education sessions. Cap off the week with me serving as faculty for a Best of Court Websites course that is repeated on July 23.

*Last year I was honored to be feted with the ICM Fellow STAR Award at a reception held in Boston at the 2009 NACM Annual Conference, so I plan to be front and center when this year’s recipient is named.

In between there is a lot of catching up, social events, business networking and marketing opportunities. I also plan to enjoy the wonderful city, its food and entertainment.

I admit that I’m not looking forward to the July heat and humidity in New Orleans, but I am looking forward to showing my support for the Gulf Coast in what seems to be a series of unfortunate setbacks that should in no way reflect poorly on the spirit and perspicacity of the local denizens.

Oh yeah, and in case you are tracking this blog so you know when to burglarize my house, I left a huge, hungry dog inside so back off !! Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez … Let the Good Times Roll !!

Photo credit = Tales from an Open Book blog

In the court technology world there are two major events that occur in alternating years. In odd numbered years, it’s the Court Technology Conference (CTC) and in even years it’s the e-Courts Conference, which is usually staged in Las Vegas. In 2010, we get a double treat … TWO e-Courts conferences !!

The East Coast version will be held September 13-15, 2010 at the Marriott Waterside Hotel in Tampa, Florida. The West Coast version will be back in Las Vegas at the Red Rock Casino and Resort on December 13-15, 2010.

According to the National Center for State Courts, the conferences will feature similar educational content and will provide ideas for courts facing challenging budgetary times on how to use technology to maintain their productivity, quality of justice, and customer service. The conferences features our smaller, more personal vendor exhibit and vendor showcase sessions.

So, which one will I attend? Easy … BOTH !! I am privileged to be a presenter at two sessions for both conferences, each occurring on the last session at the end of days one and two, as follows:

Day one, 3:50-4:50pm: Selling E-Filing – How to speed up acceptance, Success of e-filing is dependent upon acceptance and use by several distinct user groups, including judges, court staff, attorneys and pro se litigants. The panel will provide insight into increasing adoption by these various user groups. Robin Gibson serves as the moderator and I am a panelist representing the Forum on the Advancement of Court Technology along with a rotating cast of panelists at each conference.

Day two, 4:30-5pm: Technology Trends: cool and edgy, Brief presentations on tech topics, including e-signage, wireless networking, e-forms, video conferencing, bandwidth control through packet shaping, PDAs and mobile devices. The presenters are the inestimable Karl Heckert, CIO for the Arizona courts, and me.

Remember, technology is one of the key ingredients that will help courts to make it through this tough economic climate. The e-Courts Conference is a terrific way to learn how others are coping by attending the education sessions, and touch and feel the technology in the exhibit hall.

My tail is wagging already and I hope to see you at one of these must-see events. For more information or to register online, visit www.e-courts.org

Photo credit = Ecourts Conferences

Paul Wormeli at the IJIS Institute is the principle author of an annual Wormeli Report on the state of technology and funding initiatives in the criminal justice arena (you have to be an IJIS member to receive it). This year, Paul has asked that I contribute court-specific content in my capacity as chair of the Forum on the Advancement of Court Technology. Please help in this effort by commenting on this post.

I would categorize court IT trends in three categories: budget-related, infrastructure-related and green.

Budget-related

It is no coincidence that this category is listed first as efforts to cut costs and raise revenue are by far the biggest driver this past year and it looks as if the next year will be no different. In September, the Court IT Officers Consortium made this a focus at their annual meeting, with interesting results. There are a few particular areas worthy of note:

Increased use of electronic audio and video recording to capture the verbatim record – the promise of instant cost savings has pushed this technology to the forefront in many jurisdictions. The main advantage is reduced personnel costs, however, most authorities on this subject recommend staff monitoring of recording equipment in order to render recordings more useful through annotation and to avoid problems with equipment malfunction. I would advise reading the Florida courts’ December 2002, February 2005 and October 2007 reports on this topic to get a full picture of the administrative changes that are needed to support a successful migration of this sort in order to avoid unintended consequences and problems.

Paper-on-demand – as a more pragmatic application of imaging and paperless electronic processing of cases and files. This concept recognizes that it is nearly impossible to eliminate all paper, so produce it when needed and operate electronically to the furthest extent possible.

Video and teleconferencing – to cut down on meeting, training and travel costs.

Revenue enhancement – both by acquiring accounts receivable software and outsourcing collections and collection-related tasks such as noticing and skip-tracing.

Website service delivery – recognizing that reducing staffing and courthouse closures mean less customer service unless these services are available in alternative delivery methods. Static websites are becoming more dynamic and interactive with e-filing, fine payment and service delivery taking a higher priority than in the past.

E-filing – although this has been around for a long time, there is increased attention to begin if a court has not in the past, and to expand if courts have already put e-filing to limited use.

Infrastructure-related

Courts are no different than other IT enterprises in their increased attention to virtualization and cloud computing, although these are more trends than reality. Wireless applications and service delivery are also attracting attention, but similarly as a trend as opposed to widespread implementation. Probably the most interest and action is in use of open source software instead of costly name brand products (e.g., Open Office vs MS Office). All of these infrastructure issues are influenced, if not driven entirely, by budgetary concerns.

Green

The greening of business and government is also affecting the courts. The National Association for Court Management published a mini-guide in 2009 on Achieving and Sustaining the Green Court, covering courthouse design, facilities maintenance, energy use, recycling, reduction of solid waste, water efficiency, and the usual related topics; the publication also covers access to IT by staff and the public to make court operations more efficient and green (some of which are covered in Budget, above, such as Paper-on-demand, websites and teleconferencing).

So here the central question … are the operational differences of courts such that the IT trends are significantly different compared to general criminal justice agencies? I would say the electronic recording phenomenon for the verbatim record is one significant difference, and perhaps the depth and breadth of prospective applications for e-filing is another.

I encourage you to add to this discussion to ensure that Paul gets a fully rounded perspective on this fascinating topic. It’s easy, just comment, below!

Photo credit = Microsoft clip art

While most of us are carving another hole to expand our belts after a sumptuous Thanksgiving, let us ponder how the future of technology in our courts is determined. The clue can be found on Wednesday, December 2, where the Joint Technology Committee of NACM and COSCA meets in St Augustine, FL.

Most people think technology just happens. In practical terms, technology requires strong oversight, visionary planning, keen strategy and perseverance. Most industries have oversight and planning groups that attempt to address a myriad of tech-related questions such as what standards to apply, where to focus research & development efforts, what is needed to address market conditions and how to resolve conflicts. In the courts arena, that group is the Joint Technology Committee.

The committee is staffed by the National Center for State Courts and comprised (among others) of representatives from NACM, COSCA, NCSC, CITOC and FACT.

Here are some of the many projects on the Joint Tech plate:

Court Technology Framework - a conceptual framework that attempts to portray the complex role that technology plays in court operations.

Court IT Standards - common guidelines to describe how data exchanges, e-filing and case management systems are developed and deployed.

Data exchanges – the courts are being asked to adopt varying sets of standards so that data exchanged with external agencies comply with uniform formats. Some of these dynamics include the Global Justice XML Data Model, National Information Exchange Model and Information Exchange Package Documentations.

I am privileged to serve on this committee as an advisory member on behalf of the Forum on the Advancement of Court Technology representing the courts’ private sector partners in IT. While there are many challenges ahead with courts facing budget shortfalls amid calls for more services and demands for more data, it is groups like the Joint Tech Committee that somehow grease the wheels to get it done.

Photo credit = Microsoft clip art

ADDENDUM: For a PDF of the minutes from this meeting, CLICK HERE

The 2009 Court Technology Conference is right around the corner and the court technology community is abuzz with anticipation. This year, the confab will be held September 22-24 at the Denver, CO Convention Center. This is the 11th conference and the first to abandon the numerical title (in 2007 it was CTC10). There is so much to cover with this event, but let’s at least hit the highlights …

PREP

An event this big requires a lot of preparation. Attendance is expected to hit 1,500 and despite the economic downturn, pre-registration figures indicate this will be a popular event. Those planning to attend can visit CTC 2009’s cool blog for previews of the program and browse education sessions on the conference website. The event is expected to attract 125 vendors of technology-related products and services, and these guys are scurrying to outfit floor space with displays, wares and furnishings. I’ll be there in Booth #409, and I can assure you that the planning and set up is no small feat.

EDUCATION

This is a premier education opportunity for everything related to court technology. Plenary sessions feature National Public Radio justice and tech guru Ari Shapiro on how courts can leverage all manner of technology including blogs and social networks; VP for the Center for Applied Research Mal O’Connor will address the leadership challenges and business dilemmas unique to (courts), and outline ways in which court leaders can improve performance and lead change, even during times of economic constraint. Breakout sessions cover every tech-related subject under the sun, and include a handy matrix to decide whether you prefer technical or tactical content.

WEBSITES

I join the National Center for State Court’s Pam Burton and Free Range Studio’s Susan Sobel Finkelpearl for A Process for Web Design Success education session #E-14 on the opening day (Tuesday, September 22, 2:30-3:45pm). Pam will cover the process that NCSC went through for a massive redesign of their content rich site, I will discuss the Justice Served® Top 10 Court Website Awards and Susan will not only reveal the best strategies to decide what to put online, but she’ll actually do on the spot critiques of several existing court websites. To nominate a site for critique, click here.

PAPER-ON-DEMAND

Court View’s Paul Wieser and I tackle Paper-on-Demand on the last day of the conference (Thursday, September 24, 1:45-3:00pm) in education session #E-36. This is a FACT-sponsored session that will look at what POD is, its strengths and weaknesses, and short showcases featuring existing products and services to help courts with implementation. The end game is to engage the private sector to improve research and development so that courts will have the right products and services available when emerging technologies are ready for operational use.

VENDORS, SHOWCASES, AND KICK-THE-TECH-TIRES

Aside from all the education, attendees will spend hours combing the trade show floor seeing first hand all the terrific court technology on the market today. The vendor show includes showcase theaters where demos and presentations run almost non-stop. Even the education sessions set aside several Kick-the-Tech-Tires sessions where viewers can see a mock courtroom set-up with what-if software and hardware installations.

So come to Denver this month and drop by to see me at one of the education sessions or at booth #409 during the trade show. These Court Technology Conferences only happen once every two years, and even in bad economic times, upgrading service delivery using the right tech tools is not optional.

Photo credit = CTC 2009

As an active member of the National Association for Court Management, I attend a lot of NACM events. Their annual conference is set for next week in Boston.

While conferences and conventions mean fun and frolic for some (like our Sons of the Desert buddies pictured above), these events are chock full of important activities and education … for private contractors like me, they are also huge business and marketing opportunities.

As a private sector member, I am precluded from serving a leadership role in NACM’s Board of Directors, but I chair NACM’s public/private technology consortium called FACT, the Forum for the Advancement of Court Technology. The FACT Steering Committee meets from 10am until noon on July 7, after which there will be a lunch briefing of various tech initiatives and a 1:30pm meeting of the Joint Technology Committee of NACM and the Conference of State Court Administrators. The day will be a whirlwind of must-see activity.

On July 8, I will serve as logistics host for an education session, attend a reception for graduates of the Institute for Court Management (from which I am a fellow and for which I serve as senior faculty), and have a combination work/leisure dinner with other court consultants and stakeholders. On July 9, I co-present two education sessions on procurement reform in the courts community and join court vendors that evening in a pre-trade-show reception hosted by the National Center for State Courts.

I fly home on July 10 even though the conference continues, as I have other work commitments.

I posted my thoughts earlier this year that the world is run by those who show up. Those who are active in their professional association are usually active in other arenas, and these people tend to call the shots for the rest of the crowd who don’t bother to participate.

Sure, there will be socializing, a moderate-to-high amount of libations and some recreation … but there is also a lot of important court management professional development. I also like Boston a lot.

Photo Credit = Sons of the Desert International Laurel & Hardy Society

I chair an organization called FACT, the Forum on the Advancement of Court Technology. FACT is a consortium of public and private sector court and IT professionals addressing technology development, IT standards, procurement reform and education in the field of court management. 2009 marks the 20th anniversary of the organization, which is a part of the National Association for Court Management.

Normally, an organization celebrating its 20th anniversary would throw a party and take a victory lap in recognition of its longevity. FACT has chosen instead to focus on three of its major deliverables at the various court management gatherings this year. Here is a summary of our plans.

NACM Midyear Conference = IT Standards

FACT will devote a portion of its Steering Committee meeting at the NACM Midyear Conference to exploring the current state of court technology standards, and the opportunities and drawbacks to their successful implementation. The meeting is slated for Sunday, March 8 in the Medford Room of the Marriott Portland (Oregon) Downtown Waterfront Hotel. This is a terrific opportunity to turn an administrative meeting into a think tank discussion that produces tangible results.

NACM Annual Conference = Procurement Reform

FACT will host an education session at the NACM Annual Conference to explore opportunities to streamline the procurement process. This will be a three part effort consisting of (a) the development of a research paper by a leading procurement expert suggesting successful alternatives used in other public industries, (b) the formal “presenting” of the report and feedback session at the NACM conference, and (c) a poll of conference attendees to gauge interest and direction. The education sessions are slated for Thursday, July 9 at 10-11:30am and again at 2:45-4:45pm at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel.

CTC2009 = Product Development

FACT has applied to host an education session at CTC2009 to vet the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats associated with successful implementation of paper-on-demand - the concept of going electronic without giving up paper completely. This will give the public sector an opportunity to voice its needs, and the private industry to invest in research and development to produce the products and services to meet these needs.

These are all exciting opportunities, and you are cordially invited to participate in the dialogue. FACT will provide us the neutral forum for the public and private sector to get together in a sales-free environment to address these issues.

God, I love capitalism.

Photo credit = FACT