09-26-2012 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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I�IEI'RD14NET CONNECTING COMMUNITIES Date: 03/23/2012 Item No.: B -2 Description: Paperless packets and the use of tablet computers. Submitted by: Terre Heiser, IT Manager 1 BACKGROUND 2 In the Chinese calendar, 2011 was the Year of the Rabbit. In the public sector calendar, 2011 was the Year 3 of the iPad. Last year saw a proliferation of city councils and public boards across the United States turn to 4 the iPad to reduce material and labor costs associated with distributing meeting information packets and 5 materials. "Paperless Packets" is the latest buzzword and everyone is scrambling to find some way to ditch s the paper and go electronic. And it looks like 2012 (the Year of the Dragon) will be a very "hot" year for 7 tablet sales in the U.S. as a new wave of electronic handheld devices hit the market and even more public 8 agencies gear up to go paperless. 9 10 But before you run off and purchase a cart full of iPads, thoughtful consideration must be given to the 11 process of delivering electronic packets to elected officials and board members as well as understanding the 12 advantages and disadvantages of paperless packets. 13 14 This report seeks to provide a narrative of the paperless packet process and cover the following: 15 16 1. Distribution of Electronic. Packets (Methods of Delivery) 17 2. Modifying individual packet and digital notes. 18 3. Safeguarding individual electronic data. 19 4. Selecting an electronic device. 20 5. Supporting and managing devices. 21 6. Other considerations 22 23 While it seems everyone thinks they need an iPad to be paperless, going paperless can be achieved with any 24 electronic computing device. The first step in the process is not to decide what device to purchase but to 25 develop a process for creating and distributing an electronic (paperless) information packet. A number of 26 cities have been posting electronic packets on their websites for years. Roseville first started posting packets 27 in 2000 and notebook computers have been around much longer than that. Roseville had purchased a 28 notebook computer for every council member to be able to read the packet but the process was never fully 29 adopted and the program dropped. So what changed over the last 12 years? Perhaps we now have a different 30 generation of elected officials that are eager to use technology. More likely it is that after 12 years, most of 31 us have adapted to notebooks, tablets, and other portable electronic devices and consider these devices an 32 integral part of daily life and the comfort level using these devices has increased dramatically. 33 3a Creating the electronic packet is not part of this discussion. It is generally accepted that the packet will be 35 created as an Adobe Acrobat (PDF) document. Originally a proprietary format developed and controlled by Page 1 of 5 5