Consistent with the Department's mission, business goals and objectives, the Department of Human Services, Office of Information Systems, will use Information Technology to:

• Provide technology to assist employees in delivering effective and efficient service to customers;
• Provide technology to customers and the general public that will increase awareness and access to services and human service related information;
• Unify service delivery;
• Facilitate collaboration; and
• Provide technology to assist management in making informed decisions.

The Office of Information Systems (OIS) is responsible for implementing and managing the Department of Human Services Information Technology (IT) strategy. OIS works toward leveraging common information technologies and a common infrastructure to allow for data sharing and collaboration among the Divisions, the Institutions, other Departments, and our social service extranet partners. This approach provides the dual benefit of making the entire DHS operation more cost-effective while maximizing service access and delivery capability to clients and beneficiaries.

OIS provides IT support on a number of different fronts:

• PC-LAN and Voice communications support for the Commissioner and the department’s central office staff
• Support for Department-wide centralized IT and telecommunication systems
• Management of video conferencing systems and network
• Management of wide area (WAN) & local area network (LAN) systems, security and data communications for Department wide operations.
• Extra-net support for social service and IT vendor service providers including County Welfare Agencies, County administrative offices, and numerous other partners like Tier and Deluxe.
• Management of the Department's central UNIX systems and database environments, electronic mail, calendaring, and all related services
• Development & maintenance of applications and web environments in support of DHS central office or Department wide requirements
• Coordination/approval for department-wide technology purchases and initiatives
• Technical assistance to Division IT operations
• IT policy development, guidance, planning guidelines, training, and fiscal monitoring
• Support for social service collaborative activities.
• Liaison to the State Office of Information Technology & the State CIO

OIS is organized into the following units:

• Administrative Support
• Network Operations & System Integration
• Application Development & Support
• Enterprise Business Systems
• Communications & Collaboration
• Strategies and Initiatives