Agency Projects

Several agencies currently have major IT projects in progress that have been identified in their IT plans. A few of these are:

Justice

The Montana Criminal Justice Information System Project (MCJISP) is a multi-agency initiative launched to ensure that Montana keeps pace with the critical need to gather and provide timely and accurate criminal justice information. To provide specific direction for the project, the MCJISP Advisory Group established the following two operational goals:

  • Every Montana criminal justice agency shall be able to determine the Montana correctional status within two minutes, with status currency to 24 hours.
  • Every Montana criminal justice agency shall be able to obtain the Montana criminal history record of a person who has one within 4 minutes, with a history currency of 24 hours.

Motor Highway Patrol Computer Aided Dispatch is a platform that will eventually allow for a networked Mobile Data system throughout Montana. It will provide all local, state, and federal law enforcement and emergency response agencies interoperability and agency communications necessary for critical emergency response. The primary uses of this system will be access to criminal and driver files, report writing, standardized and streamlined arrest processes and report formats, silent dispatching, reduced audio radio traffic and confusion, interlink multiple agencies, provide for more efficient officers and dispatchers, and generate quality data records.

Fish, Wildlife, and Parks

FWP has recently implemented its Automated Licensing System (ALS) at 355 license agent locations. This system allows citizens throughout the state to automatically renew their hunting and fishing licenses at these agency locations. The system will gather accurate geographic data and allow it to be immediately available for use within a centralized database.

Revenue

DOR is implementing the Integrated Revenue Information System, known as the IRIS Project. The 2003 Montana Legislature approved replacing the Department of Revenue's current information system with a new commercial off-the-shelf system. The initial phase of IRIS included the implementation of a new tax - rental vehicle - and the migration of employer withholding, lodging facilities, cigarette, and combined oil and gas taxes (completed September 2004). Following the success of the initial phase, authorization was given to implement corporate license tax (completed January 2005) and individual income tax (target completion date: September 2005). DOR will consider future phases for migrating additional tax types and evaluating other opportunities to further automate certain business activities, depending on the availability of funding.

Transportation

The 511/IVR (Interactive Voice Response) project aims to improve weather information in Montana. This project will develop and integrate the pavement temperature thermal model developed by Western Transportation Institute/ Montana State University with the #SAFE system that is available in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. Information will be provided to the traveling public in Montana through the new 511 phone number. The project will integrate these road-weather systems with other dissemination devices within Montana and adjoining states. The new system will provide more information with greater accuracy to the traveling public.

Montana's Intelligent Transportation System/Commercial Vehicle Operations (ITS/CVO) project is designed to encourage coordinated, efficient and safe commercial vehicle operations throughout the state. The overall project plan addresses the Commercial Vehicle Information System Network (CVISN) initiative, and explains how Montana is addressing each primary CVISN element including electronic roadside inspection and reporting, EDI processing of commercial vehicle credentials and permits over the Internet, participation in the national IRO and IFTA clearinghouse projects, electronic vehicle screening at weigh stations, and the automation of critical port-of-entry and international boarder crossing weigh stations.