Child Care Administrator’s Improper Payments Information Technology Guide

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Glossary

This Glossary is provided to assist child care administrators with a quick reference of commonly used IT terms. These terms apply to the acquisition, development, implementation, or support of automated systems.

Acquisition – The act of acquiring goods and services (including construction) for the use of a governmental activity through purchase, rent, or lease. Includes the establishment of needs, description of requirements, selection of procurement method, selection of sources, solicitation of procurement, solicitation for offers, award of contract, financing, contraction administration, and related functions.

Amendment/change order – a written modification to a contract or purchase order or other agreements.

Application Service Provider (ASP) – offers enterprises access over the Internet to applications and related services that would otherwise have to be located in their own enterprise computers.

Appropriation – sum of money from public funds set aside for a specific purpose.

Best value-a result intended in the acquisition of all goods and services. Price must be one of the evaluation criteria when acquiring good and services. Other evaluation criteria may include, but are not limited to, environmental considerations, quality, and vendor performance.

Authorization System – an automated system usually associated with an eligibility system. The system places edits on the authorization and payment functions. These software edits match the demographic characteristics of the household against the State policy and approved rates to ensure the accuracy of benefit issuance.

Card technologies – any one of the different types of cards used to facilitate payment or other transactions, including credit cards, debit cards, or Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards.

Core competency – fundamental knowledge, ability, or expertise in a specific subject area or skill set.

Design specifications – a detailed description setting forth the required characteristics to be considered for award of contract, including sufficient detail to show how the product is to be manufactured.

Development environment – the set of processes and programming tools used to create the program or software product.

Development process – a set of tasks performed to meet the user requirements in a software development project.

Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) – an electronic system in the United States that allows State and Federal governments to provide benefits to authorized recipients via a plastic debit card. Common benefits provided via EBT include Food Stamps and cash assistance. EBT works much like a credit or debit card. Users must enter a Personal Identification Number (PIN) to use the card. Once used, the amount is deducted from the user’s benefit balance.

Eligibility System – an automated system used in the determination of eligibility for one or more government programs which can include but are not limited to subsidized child care, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance, Medicaid, and Food Stamps.

Enterprise framework – a complete environment for developing and implementing a comprehensive information system. Enterprise frameworks often include pre-built applications and development tools.

Hosting – business of housing, serving, and maintaining files for one or more Web sites.

Job shadowing - job shadowing involves someone spending time observing an individual doing a job. The “shadower” watches, listens, and learns what the job is about and what is involved in a typical day’s work.

Joint Application Development (JAD) – a methodology that involves the client or end user in the design and development of an application, through a succession of collaborative workshops called JAD sessions.

Object-oriented programming – a programming model organized around objects rather than actions and data rather than logic, based on the idea that what we really care about are the objects we want to manipulate, rather than the logic required to manipulate them.

Open source – describes a program whose source code is made available for use or modification as users or other developers see fit.

Payment system – automated system used to generate payments using one or more methods including checks, electronic funds transfer (EFT), and placing value on an EBT card.

Performance bond – a contract of guarantee, executed subsequent to award by a successful vendor to protect the buyer from loss due to the vendor's inability to complete the contract as agreed.

Proprietary – the only items that can perform a function and satisfy a need. This should not be confused with "single source." An item can be proprietary and yet available from more than one source. For example, if you need a camera lens for a Nikon camera, the only lens that will fit is a Nikon lens, thus, this lens is "proprietary." However, the Nikon lens is available from more than one source, thus, it is not single source.

Prototype review – Prototype review is a technique involving a group of stakeholders observing and commenting on a prototype of the application. Prototypes can be as simple as mock web pages or as sophisticated as another State’s system that may be under consideration for use.

Request for Information (RFI) – a written solicitation to vendors, requesting specific information regarding a technology or technological solution. States often issue a RFI prior to issuing a RFP. The information obtained is then used to assist the State in its RFP development.

Request for Proposal – a written solicitation that conveys to vendors a requirement for materials or services that the entity intends to purchase.

Return on investment (ROI) – how much profit or cost saving is being realized.

Risk management – the process of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the activities of an organization in order to minimize the effects of risk on an organization's capital and earnings.

Section 508 – In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to require Federal Agencies to make their electronic and IT accessible to people with disabilities. Inaccessible technology interferes with an individual's ability to obtain and use information quickly and easily. Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers in IT, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities and to encourage development of technologies that help achieve these goals. The law applies to all Federal Agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use electronic IT. Under Section 508 (29 U.S.C. ‘ 794d), Agencies must give disabled employees and members of the public access to information that is comparable to the access available to others.

Specification – a concise statement of a set of requirements to be satisfied by a product, material or process that indicates whenever appropriate the procedures to determine whether the requirements are satisfied. As far as practicable, it is desirable that the requirements are expressed numerically in terms of appropriate units, together with their limits. A specification may be a standard, a part of a standard, or independent of a standard.

Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) – The World Wide Web Consortium (W3) defines SOA as “a set of components which can be invoked, and whose interface descriptions can be published (made available) and discovered (found).” SOA is an information systems architectural framework. In an SOA environment, independent, discrete services communicate with one another, regardless of the technology on which they have been built. These smaller, discrete services can be grouped together to form a business process and be used repeatedly for other business processes.

Terms and conditions – a phrase generally applied to the rules under which all bids must be submitted and the stipulations included in most purchase contracts; often published by the purchasing authorities for the information of all potential vendors.

User interface – everything designed into an information device with which a human being may interact -- including display screen, keyboard, mouse, light pen, the appearance of a desktop, illuminated characters, help messages, and how an application program or a Web site invites interaction and responds to it.

Vendor – person or company that sells goods or services to someone else in the economic production chain.

Web services – services made available from a business's web server for web users or other web-connected programs.