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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to the review of information technology systems used by a |
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state agency for compatibility with open standards. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 441.203, Government Code, is amended by |
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adding Subsection (m) to read as follows: |
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(m) The council, in cooperation with the Department of |
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Information Resources, shall: |
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(1) review each state agency's existing information |
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technology system to determine whether the system is compatible |
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with open standards; and |
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(2) consult with and provide assistance to state |
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agencies on: |
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(A) enhancing the state agency's information |
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technology system to achieve compatibility with open standards |
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where appropriate; and |
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(B) identifying and recommending information |
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technology systems that are compatible with open standards and |
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recognized best practices, including: |
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(i) open standards for document formats for |
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creating, exchanging, and maintaining electronic texts, |
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presentations, and spreadsheets, to replace outdated systems that |
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are to be retired or upgraded; |
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(ii) open standards for database systems |
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based on the Structured Query Language (SQL) standard defined by |
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the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), to replace |
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outdated systems based on nonrelational database technologies that |
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are to be retired or upgraded; |
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(iii) recognized best practices for the |
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structuring of data held in databases or disk file systems used by |
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mission-critical transaction processing applications, such that |
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the data is held in normalized relational data tables, to replace |
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outdated methods of data organization based on nonrelational or |
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highly nonnormalized data models, other than data warehouses and |
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business intelligence applications, that are to be retired or |
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upgraded; |
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(iv) open standards for computer |
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programming languages used for the development and maintenance of |
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applications, such that the programming languages used shall |
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conform to standards recognized by national or international |
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standards bodies, to replace applications developed in outdated |
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programming languages that are to be retired or upgraded; and |
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(v) open standards for operating system |
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hardware interface layers, such that operating systems used in |
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mission-critical applications are not tied exclusively to a single |
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brand of computer hardware or to a single type of microprocessor, to |
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replace outdated systems that are to be retired or updated. |
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SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |