CMO Technology & E-Government 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A municipality wants to implement a cloud-based ERP system. Which procurement approach best ensures vendor accountability and service continuity?
- Single-source negotiation with the lowest bidder
- Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with defined uptime, response times, and penalty clauses (Correct answer)
- Verbal agreements reviewed annually at budget meetings
- Requiring the vendor to use on-premises servers only
Correct answer: Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with defined uptime, response times, and penalty clauses
SLAs formally define performance expectations and consequences for non-compliance, protecting the municipality's investment and service continuity.
Question 2: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), municipal websites must conform to which web accessibility standard?
- ISO 27001
- WCAG 2.1 Level AA (Correct answer)
- NIST SP 800-53
- Section 889 of the NDAA
Correct answer: WCAG 2.1 Level AA
The DOJ has clarified that municipal websites must meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA to satisfy ADA Title II accessibility requirements.
Question 3: Which approach best protects a municipality from ransomware attacks targeting critical infrastructure systems?
- Disabling all remote access permanently
- Implementing offline, air-gapped backups tested regularly for restoration (Correct answer)
- Paying ransoms quickly to minimize downtime
- Using only open-source software
Correct answer: Implementing offline, air-gapped backups tested regularly for restoration
Offline backups that are regularly tested are the most effective defense because ransomware cannot encrypt air-gapped copies.
Question 4: A city launches an open data portal. Which license is most appropriate for maximizing public reuse of municipal datasets?
- Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) (Correct answer)
- All Rights Reserved copyright
- GNU GPL v3
- Proprietary municipal license
Correct answer: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)
CC BY allows broad public reuse including commercial applications while requiring attribution, aligning with open government goals.
Question 5: What is the primary purpose of a municipal IT governance framework?
- To replace the IT department with outsourced vendors
- To align technology investments with organizational strategy and ensure accountability (Correct answer)
- To eliminate the need for cybersecurity policies
- To manage only hardware procurement decisions
Correct answer: To align technology investments with organizational strategy and ensure accountability
IT governance frameworks align technology spending and decisions with municipal priorities and establish clear accountability structures.
Question 6: A city experiences a data breach exposing resident PII. Which action should occur FIRST?
- Issue a press release to media outlets
- Activate the incident response plan and notify legal counsel (Correct answer)
- Delete all affected databases
- Restore from backup immediately without investigation
Correct answer: Activate the incident response plan and notify legal counsel
Activating the incident response plan and engaging legal counsel ensures legally compliant breach response and preserves evidence.
Question 7: Which technology enables real-time monitoring of traffic signals, water sensors, and utility meters across a city?
- Blockchain ledger systems
- Internet of Things (IoT) sensor networks (Correct answer)
- Static HTML websites
- Legacy COBOL mainframes
Correct answer: Internet of Things (IoT) sensor networks
IoT networks connect physical devices to digital systems, enabling real-time data collection and remote monitoring of municipal infrastructure.
CMO Technology & E-Government 2
A municipality wants to implement a cloud-based ERP system.
Which procurement approach best ensures vendor accountability and service continuity?