Orange County NC Website
34 <br /> 1 Jim Northrup said the main reason for the drop was the company changed the scoring <br /> 2 metrics and that affected the score. He said one of the things was web-headers and they were <br /> 3 not configured properly and could allow interference, so they have started making corrections with <br /> 4 that and have worked with Civic Plus. He said it takes about 6 months to a year to register those <br /> 5 improvements in the scores. He said that it should be back to 770 or 780 by October. <br /> 6 Commissioner Richards asked if 850 is a realistic goal. <br /> 7 Jim Northrup said that he believes it is. He said that even at 850, they still are not at 100%. <br /> 8 He said that 100% is not realistic but 850 is achievable. <br /> 9 Vice-Chair McKee asked if exposure from international operators is a concern. <br /> 10 Jim Northrup said that they have so many different layers to help capture when things <br /> 11 happen locally but that the general threat has been non-NATO countries. He said those are <br /> 12 blocked and no traffic is allowed. He said sometimes residents live in countries around the world <br /> 13 who need to access website and will have to contact county to make an exception. He said that <br /> 14 happens 4-5 times a year because they block a lot of traffic from those non-NATO countries. <br /> 15 Vice-Chair McKee said he is not expecting the attacks to go away. <br /> 16 Jim Northrup said they have put a lot of effort into data integrity and ensuring the data is <br /> 17 protected through a layered security approach. He said there are about five different ways the <br /> 18 network is being protected. <br /> 19 Commissioner Fowler asked if previously the Microsoft contract was a different term. <br /> 20 Jim Northrup said the county is moving to the Microsoft Office 365 subscription model and <br /> 21 they previously bought licenses about every six years for updates. He said that it is more <br /> 22 expensive to go to the subscription model but the benefit for collaboration is much greater. <br /> 23 Commissioner Fowler asked about Digital Cheetah Animal Services. <br /> 24 Jim Northrup said it is a new volunteer management tool for Animal Services and they can <br /> 25 also do online training. <br /> 26 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked about FY 23-24 highlights for the rural broadband <br /> 27 initiative. <br /> 28 Jim Northrup said they are currently contracted with Lumos with the ARPA funds, and they <br /> 29 have been meeting with them monthly for progress reports. He said they are a little behind on <br /> 30 Phase 1, but only by about a month. He said they will have caught up by September in Phase 2. <br /> 31 He said that they are getting phone calls now and once the trucks start, they will get a lot of calls <br /> 32 and those calls are given to Lumos. He said that close to ten calls or emails a week are coming <br /> 33 in asking about the project. He said that they are looking at close to 99% of households in Orange <br /> 34 County that will be covered, and the project will be completed in 2025. <br /> 35 Vice-Chair McKee asked if it was December 2024 or 2025. <br /> 36 Travis Myren said December 2024. <br /> 37 Jim Northrup said it was December 2024. <br /> 38 Vice-Chair McKee said there is a drop-dead date for the use of the funds and those funds <br /> 39 have to be spent.. <br /> 40 Jim Northrup said it is not just Lumos that is laying fiber in Orange County now and that <br /> 41 Spectrum and Brightspeed are improving their networks. He said they are not going to address <br /> 42 rural residents, so the investment from the county is important. <br /> 43 Commissioner Greene said this is what they hoped would happen. <br /> 44 Commissioner Portie-Ascott asked if there is hope for the 1% of households not covered. <br /> 45 Travis Myren said the county will work with Lumos to see if those can be covered in the <br /> 46 existing project. <br /> 47 Vice-Chair McKee said they have projected more coverage than what the contract calls <br /> 48 for. <br /> 49 Jim Northrup said they are also going to be overlying on areas that already have <br /> 50 broadband and will be direct competitors to Spectrum and Brightspeed. He said as they are <br />