COSCA/NACM Joint Technology Committee

Statement of Purpose and National Agenda

I. To set a coordinated national agenda on the issues, problems, and uses of technology in court management.

1. To serve as review board for NACM and COSCA when they are asked for representation, comment, endorsement, or recommendations regarding grants, projects, plans, or directions in technological areas.
2. To assure effective, capable representation on committees or boards which guide, direct, or otherwise influence major projects affecting or affected by the organizations' national agenda.
3. To represent state and local courts during all stages of the development of policies, procedures, and forms regarding federal initiatives that create new reporting or other procedural requirements upon state and local courts.

II. To enable NACM and COSCA members to be pro-active in developing and implementing technology.

1. To advance the development of applications for a wide variety of existing and emerging technologies in the court environment.
   1. Promote the development and adoption of standards for the exchange of data, documents, and other electronic information between courts and other individuals and institutions.
   2. Encourage the development and expanded use of technologies that aid in providing services to the public, such as access to case information, court schedules, service unit locations, etc., through the Internet, kiosks, and other forms of public access to court information.
   3. Assist in developing the next generation of court case management systems, focusing on expanding the types of information managed and the functions performed, including specialized applications like coordinated justice information systems (CJIS), drug court systems, family court case processing, and juvenile case management.
2. To investigate and evaluate future and emerging technology tools in the public and private sectors and their potential to assist in the administration of justice.
   1. Review progress with videoconferencing and data conferencing technologies.
3. To assemble, create, organize, and disseminate information about new technology through articles, education programs, etc.
   1. Collect relevant published materials on court technology and judicial administration and consolidate information resources in a single location, on an Internet world wide web site, a CD-ROM, or both.
4. To maintain and support vendor liaison activities (e.g., FACT) to encourage the development of appropriate technology tools.
   1. Support initiatives of vendors to examine the current operation of courts and design creative solutions to the challenges of implementing technology in the courts and justice community.
   2. Create a list of court needs that vendors should consider for research and development.

III. To improve the administration of justice through better use of technology tools.

1. To provide information about courts as learning organizations and their use of technology to turn data into information and information into knowledge.
2. To evaluate the ways in which technology is changing judicial branch operations.
3. To ensure that emerging automation technology refines and improves information available to judges and court managers, enhancing policy development and the administration of the courts.
4. To study policy issues, legal questions, court rules, operational procedures, and management practices to identify and remove barriers to the use of technology.
   1. Continue to monitor privacy, security, and public access issues and the often overlapping and conflicting problems they present.
   2. Monitor the continuing debate concerning the current system of legal citation and the obstacles it imposes on electronic research.
   3. Develop improved acquisition procedures that provide the flexibility, rapid response, and extraordinary detail necessary for technology procurement.
   4. Prepare a model Request for Proposals (RFP) for automation and other court technology projects.
   5. Create a strategy for the transition between generations of technology, including operation of legacy systems and the creation of data warehouses.
5. To provide direction for the construction and renovation of courthouse facilities to minimize the expense of future technology upgrades and expansion.