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2. Granting Network Access to NON-STANDARD devices
Accès au réseau autorisé pour les appareils hors normes
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COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
That Council receive this report for information.
RECOMMANDATION DU COMITÉ
Que le Conseil prenne connaissance du présent rapport.
Documentation
1. Deputy City Manager’s Report, City Operations, dated 22 August 2011 (ACS2011-COS-ITS-0006).
Report to/Rapport au :
Information Technology Sub-Committee
Sous-comité de la technologie de l’information
and / et
Finance and Economic Development Committee/
Comité des finances et du développement économique
and Council / et au Conseil
22 August 2011 / le 22 août 2011
Submitted by / Soumis par :
Steve Kanellakos, Deputy City Manager / directeur municipal adjoint,
City Operations / Opérations municipales
Contact Person/Personne-ressource: Guy Michaud, Director/directeur
Information Technology Services Department/ Services de technologie de l’information Information Technology Services / Services de technologie de l’information
613‑580‑2424, ext./poste 12880
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SUBJECT:
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OBJET :
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Accès au réseau autorisé pour les appareils hors normes |
That the Information Technology Sub Committee recommend that the Finance and Economic Development Committee recommend that Council receive this report for information.
Que le Sous-comité de la technologie de l’information recommande au Comité des finances et du développement économique de recommander à son tour au Conseil de prendre connaissance du présent rapport.
Background
This report is being provided to Council as a response to motion 14/4 from the June 8th meeting of Council:
“THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that staff be directed to provide a report on granting network access to Apple products and the Blackberry Playbook by August 2011.”
DISCUSSION
It is the understanding of staff that the intent of this motion is to facilitate access by the City’s Elected Officials to Council and Standing Committee material from Apple products and the Blackberry Playbook, as opposed to accessing other material housed on the City’s network through these devices, such as corporate shared drives and intranet, by Elected Officials or staff. Therefore the report focuses on providing solutions to the understood intent of the motion.
The solutions described are provided in short, medium and long-term time frames.
Short Term (by end of third quarter 2011):
· The Clerk’s office will be saving PDF versions of all Council and Standing Committee material in addition to Microsoft Word (Word) versions on the Council Shared Drive. This will facilitate the usability of these documents to Apple product users.
· Wi-Fi access to the City’s network using City standard devices is currently available in the Champlain meeting room; however, staff will also be installing Wi-Fi Internet access for Elected Officials and Media, which will allow Elected Officials using Apple products or Blackberry Playbooks to gain access to the internet during Committee meetings.
· Live video webcasts of all Council meetings are now available for viewing on mobile devices, including Apple, Blackberry, and Android products, through Ottawa.ca as well as live audio webcasts for all Standing Committee meetings.
Medium Term (by end first quarter 2012):
· Staff from the Clerk’s Office and the ITS department are currently working on an Electronic Agenda Tool (IT Project IT002506), which is currently scheduled to launch in Q1 2012. This solution will provide Elected Officials access to all Council and Standing Committee material via the Internet through a secure log-in, allowing for access from any location with an internet connection.
· This solution will be piloted with members of the IT Sub-Committee in Q4 2011.
Long Term (2012 and beyond):
· Current practices within the corporation facilitate the access to the corporate network through managed devices only. This access control ensures that the network and its assets are adequately protected from security risks such as viruses and unpatched devices.
· The number and variety of managed devices has been limited to approved Windows based PCs and laptops as well as Blackberry Smartphones in order to reduce the costs associated with the support, testing, and maintenance of a large number and variety of devices.
· Staff recognize the potential value to the corporation for allowing access to the network from multiple devices, including non-Windows based platforms and non-city assets, and technology advancements are being made which allow for secure access to corporate networks by “non-managed” computing devices, and therefore the ITS department has included the studying of this requirement in their 2012 workplan.
· The results of this study, including associated costs and organizational impacts, will be shared with Council members through the IT Sub-Committee in 2012 so that investment decisions can be made.
· The ITS department is also currently investigating Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) options as part of its IT Roadmap, including a pilot for the Ottawa Public Library in 2012. VDI technology may facilitate the secure access of non-city computing assets to the corporate network; however, details and costs of these options will not be known until 2012 and will be incorporated into the aforementioned study.
In summary, Elected Representatives will have access to all Council and Standing Committee documentation via a web browser and internet connection from multiple devices by the first quarter of 2012; Wi-Fi internet access will be available in the Champlain meeting room, as it is currently in Council Chambers, by the end of September 2011, allowing Elected Representatives access the internet with Apple products and Blackberry Playbooks; and in 2012 staff will be studying the options for allowing both Elected Officials and Staff to access the corporate network from multiple devices including Apple products and the Blackberry Playbook.
There are no rural implications associated with this report.
Consultation has taken place between the City Clerk & Solicitor Department and the Information Technology Services Department.
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
RISK MANAGEMENT IMPLICATIONS
Technology Implications
Technology implications are described within the discussion section of this report.
Initial capital investments and ongoing operating costs for the short and medium term initiatives outlined within this report will be funded from existing resources within the Information Technology Services and City Clerk departments’ operating and capital budgets.
The Financial implications associated with the long-term initiatives will be brought forward to Council members through the IT Sub-Committee in future reports.
The City Operations Department will action any direction received as part of consideration of this report.