HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

1329

TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2017

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

S.D. 1

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 


     SECTION 1.  The confluence of the Internet, the world wide web, mobile device developments, and other technological advances have helped governments to enhance services without expending significant government funds.  However, government entities often do not have the resources or organizational culture to develop innovative solutions.  To address this shortfall, communities and government entities have increasingly collaborated to present events, typically lasting as short as a weekend to as long as a month, where software developers compete for prizes by creating proof of concepts to address a specified challenge.  These events, known as hackathons, often lead to the discovery of new ways to leverage existing government platforms into expanded services for the public.

     In 2016, Governor David Ige and the office of enterprise technology services held the inaugural Hawaii annual code challenge to engage the local technology community to help modernize state government.  The challenge gathered local talent to develop modern tools and applications to provide enhanced government services to the public.  The event also provided opportunities for students to network and present their skills to the public and private-sector professional communities and allowed the government departments to showcase their open datasets, present their current challenges, and request potential solutions.  Through this collaborative environment, members of the public interacted directly with government resources and subject matter experts to help create innovative solutions and drive civic engagement.

     The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds for grants to participants in the 2017 and 2018 application challenges in Hawaii so that the proof of concepts created during the challenges can be developed into prototypes.

     SECTION 2.  (a)  The high technology development corporation shall:

     (1)  Use the funds appropriated by this Act, along with any matching funds, to issue grants to help convert proof of concepts developed in Hawaii during application challenges into prototypes suitable for local and state government use;

     (2)  Obtain donations from corporate, philanthropic, and other nongovernment sources; provided that moneys from donations shall account for not less than fifty per cent of moneys expended on a project-by-project basis;

     (3)  Require that all applications that are the subject of any grant issued be made open source so that anyone may use those applications free of charge based upon open source licensing;

     (4)  Not require that a participant win an application challenge in order to be eligible for a grant; and

     (5)  Submit a report to the legislature no later than twenty days before the convening of the 2018 and 2019 regular sessions on the:

         (A)  Number and dollar amounts of the grants; and

         (B)  Progress of any applications developed.

     (b)  The high technology development corporation may expend some of the funds appropriated by this Act to support application challenge events, manage prototype implementation process, and execute an adoption plan for the project, including marketing, outreach, and communications.

     (c)  No funds appropriated by this Act may be awarded as a prize for any application challenge.

     (d)  For the purposes of this Act, the following definitions apply:

     "Application" means the apps or applications that result from the application challenges, including but not limited to the broad categories of web apps, mobile apps, computing devices, sensors, augmented reality, and virtual reality.

     "Application challenge" generally refers to events that bring teams together to collaborate and innovate solutions for a given theme or problem set; examples of events include the Hawaii Annual Code Challenge, AT&T Hackathon, and Reboot the Commute.

     SECTION 3.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $        or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2017-2018 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2018-2019 for the purposes set forth in section 2 of this Act.

     The sums appropriated shall be expended by the high technology development corporation for the purposes of this Act.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2038.


 


 

Report Title:

Technology; Application Challenges; Grant; Appropriation

 

Description:

Appropriates funds for grants to participants in application challenges so that the proof of concepts created during the challenges can be developed into prototypes suitable for local and state government.  Requires matching funds.  Effective 7/1/2038.  (SD1)

 

 

 

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