"Caltrans has submitted a proposed budget to the California Department of Finance, but it has not been approved," Caltrans CIO George Akiyama told Techwire.
If it is approved, the money will go toward developing an Enterprise Privacy Office, according to Akiyama. The office will improve on the current Cybersecurity Program by paying for consulting services, training, software and hardware. The proposal could include $2.1 million in 2019-20 and again in 2020-21.
"This will allow Caltrans to address risks identified in a number of assessments and audits, as well as assess Caltrans’ compliance with credit card processing standards," Akiyama said.
Some of those services may come from vendor pools, but that isn't necessarily the plan.
"It depends on the situation. Caltrans Information Technology assesses each situation, weighs all the options, and picks the best solution," Akiyama said.
The Legislative Analyst's Office (LAO), a nonpartisan entity that reviews all legislation before state lawmakers, included a few sentences about a coexisting request for an IT refresh when reviewing Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed 2018-19 budget.
"We recommend the Legislature reject the Governor’s proposed budget bill language authorizing the Department of Finance to increase Caltrans’ budget by up to $12 million after the enactment of the budget to replace information technology (IT) equipment," the LAO report read. "Instead, we recommend the Legislature require Caltrans to submit a plan for equipment replacements during 2018‑19 for legislative review."
All budget items are waiting on approval for the 2018-19 fiscal year, which begins in July.
