TECHNOLOGY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING Wednesday – October 8th, 2025 – 6:30PM City Hall – Boards and Commissions Room – Room 1101 301 W 2nd St., Austin, TX 78701 Some members of the BOARD/COMMISSION may be participating by videoconference. The meeting may be viewed online at: http://www.austintexas.gov/page/watch-atxn-live Public comment will be allowed in-person or remotely via telephone. Speakers may only register to speak on an item once either in-person or remotely and will be allowed up to three minutes to provide their comments. Registration no later than noon the day before the meeting is required for remote participation by telephone. To register to speak remotely, email Dan Martinez at dan.martinez@austintexas.gov. CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS/COMMISSIONERS: Steven Apodaca, Chair Keith Pena-Villa Suzanne Heritage Rachel Frock Nicholas Eastwood Milena Pribic Carina Alderete, Vice Chair Brian AM Williams Thomas Rice Benjamin Combee Ibiye Anga AGENDA CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL The first ten speakers who register to speak no later than noon the day before the meeting will be allowed a three-minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Technology Commission meeting on September 10th, 2025. DISCUSSION ITEMS 2. Review of Digital Inclusion Week activities across the City of Austin and Austin Free Net’s Tech for All Fest (Jasmin Vargas, Chief Executive Officer, Austin Free-Net) DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS 3. Discussion and approval of the Grant for Technology Opportunities FY26 Improvement Action Plan 4. Approval of the 2026 Technology Commission meeting calendar 5. Review of the current status and approval of consolidation of the Technology Commission’s working groups WORKING GROUP UPDATES 6. Public Surveillance working group updates on continued conversations with stakeholders and possible revaluation of group’s status (Keith Pena-Villa, Mayor’s Appointee, Technology Commission) 7. Artificial Intelligence Working Group updates on the group’s recommendation and any feedback from Austin City Council Members (Brian AM Williams, District 1 Appointee, Technology Commission) the status of 8. Town Hall listening session working group post meeting updates after discussion with district 2 and district 3 offices on a joint planning effort (Suzanne Heritage, District 4, Technology Commission) FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the American with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. Meeting locations are planned with wheelchair access. If you require Sign Language Interpreters or alternative formats, please give …
GTOPs FY26 Improvement Action Plan Overview Austin Economic Development October 8th, 2025 Item 1 - Review Process Updates Discontinuation of Review Binder Grant portal issues and application length delayed printing of binders in 2025. A replacement option will be offered for review panelists to keep track of their notes and comments. Enhanced oversight of Q+A GTOPs staff will assist with scheduling of Q+A cohorts/sessions and sit in on panel meetings due to issues with panelists coordinating these sessions themselves. Application Review Tutorial In an effort to assist panelists and increase the quality of reviews, staff will create a walkthrough doc or video on how to review an application and best practices for review panelists. Item 2 – GTOPs Application Process Discontinuation of Office Hours GTOPs Office Hours were not utilized by our community, we will no longer host these pre- scheduled sessions. But we will make ourselves as available as possible for 1:1 assistance with applicants. Mini and Capacity Timeline Change Delays in GTOPS Core led to decreased bandwidth for Mini and Capacity pathways. Timelines will be adjusted to all begin in January. Alignment of timelines will increase focus and streamline processes. Spanish language assist for Cap + Mini GTOPs staff provides Spanish language assistance for Core applicants, as required by AED. Cap and Mini will adopt this policy and implement. Item 2 – GTOPs Application Process COA Vendor Registration Requirement 2025 saw delays in contracting due to awardees not having previously registered as a city vendor. This requirement will be enforced and one of the required application fields will request the applicant City vendor code. Set GTOPs Protest Window To avoid delays incurred by the protest process, a one- week window will be set for applicants to submit a GTOPs decision protest. Another week will be reserved for the adjudication process. Enhancements to the GTOPS applicant guide The applicant guide will be updated to reflect changes or highlight key items; boilerplate is required reading, read fundable/non- fundable items list, AI use guidelines, PIR notice, no PMs for Capacity Item 3 – Performance Reporting Updates Item 4 – Contracting Process Streamlining Guidance on performance reporting for GTOPS Mini GTOPs Mini awardees and applicants have historically struggled with creating and keeping up with performance measure requirements for this program. GTOPs staff will overhaul the process by creating a guide on Mini reporting and create a standardized and detailed template. Consolidation of …
M E M O R A N D U M TO: The City of Austin’s Technology Commission FROM: Dan Martinez, Business Process Specialist Austin Economic Development – Community Technology Initiative DATE: October 8, 2025 SUBJECT: Grant For Technology Opportunities Program 2026 Action Plan Background The City of Austin’s Digital Inclusion Strategic Plan, as adopted by Resolution No. 20141120-074, includes every Austin resident having an opportunity to be fully engaged in digital society, accessing and using digital and communications technology. Austin Economic Development (AED)– Community Technology Initiative is the lead office for implementation of this plan. The Grant for Technology Opportunities Program (GTOPs) is a grant administered by AED – Community Technology Initiative directed at improving the community's ability to fully participate in the digital society to achieve the goals of the Digital Inclusion Strategic Plan. Purpose and Process The purpose of this report is to review the significant changes coming to the 2026 cycle of the GTOPs. Each year, AED – Community Technology Initiative performs a review of the prior grant cycle in preparation for the next year of grants. For this year’s annual strategic planning and review process, feedback surveys were deployed to all GTOPs applicants and reviewers. Contractor closeout reports also have process feedback questions, the response of which were included in the analysis. Lastly, staff observations collected throughout the year were considered. From these data sources, an Action Plan was drafted. This Action Plan is being presented to the Technology Commission for evaluation and feedback. Please feel free to contact me at dan.martinez@austintexas.gov if you need additional information. Dan Martinez, Business Process Specialist Date ______________________________ __________________ cc: Khotan Harmon, Community Technology Officer, AED – Community Technology Attachments Attachment A – GTOPs 2026 Action Plan Attachment A: GTOPs 2026 Action Plan Action Item 1: Enhancements to the GTOPs Review Process 1. Discontinuation of the Grant Review Binder: Traditionally, GTOPs Core review panelists are offered the option to have all application materials compiled into a physical review binder. Some panelists prefer to have a physical version to more easily read and keep notes on. This past cycle, issues with the grant application portal and the increased length of application materials led to extensive delays in compiling and printing these binders. GTOPs staff recommends replacing this binder with a staff designed note taking document and digital compilation of all application materials. 2. GTOPs Staff Enhanced Oversight of Q+A Proccess: Efforts …
2026 Meeting Schedule Community Technology & Telecommunications Commission The commission shall meet the 2nd Wednesday of the month. MEETING DATES January 14 February 11 March 11 MEETING DATES & EVENTS Commission members serve for a term of four years beginning March 1st on the year of appointment. GTOPS 2026 Update – Applications Received. Meeting will be held outside of central City to avoid SXSW. Commission FY 27 Budget Recommendations due no later than mid-April. April 8 GTOPs 2026 Award Recommendations. Election of Officers at the first regular meeting after April 1, 2026 Terms of office shall be one year, beginning May 1st and ending April 30th. May 13 June 10 July 8 August 12 September 9 October 14 November 4 December 9 Work Plan Retreat / Regular Meeting Terms for newly elected officers start (May 1, 2026 to April 30, 2027) Commission Annual Report Due to City Clerk July 31st 2026 GTOPs Review and 2027 Recommendations Digital Inclusion Week 2026 Adopt a meeting schedule for the upcoming year, including makeup meeting dates for holiday and cancelled meetings. NO MEETING SCHEDULED FOR THIS DATE Commented [DM1]: SXSW starts on March 12th, maybe this is okay Commented [DM2]: The regular date would be Nov 11 but 11/11 is Veterans day
