The Information Technology Solutions Management for Human Services (ISM) is an affinity group of the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) is now accepting proposals for the ISM Annual Conference, September 26-29, 2021. The event will be held at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, an ideal setting to showcase our collective work which is laser focused on finding solutions to advance the health and human services sector.

ISM’s purpose is to promote IT solutions and best practices that enhance the delivery of health and human services. ISM shares innovative solutions, provides peer-to-peer learning opportunities, and members collaborate with private sector partners to create a modern, responsive health and human services system.

The 2021 ISM Annual Conference will be a hybrid event which will allow attendees the option to attend in-person or virtually. We will be recording all content for on-demand learning, post event. All current guidelines relating to COVID-19 will be a part of our conference including, but not limited to, social distancing, mask wearing and other safety measures.  APHSA always puts the health, safety, and well-being of our stakeholders first and foremost in these unique settings. 

ISM members represent the full range of functions in information technology and data management including broader leadership roles in health and human services. These functions may include:  Submissions are encouraged in the following topic areas:

Topic	Example
Data	Use of analytics, data governance
Security	Audit logging, disaster recovery, use of federated authentication services for applications, multi-factor authentication, compliance, and monitoring tools (on-perm or cloud)
Cloud	Cloud service models (Iaas, Paas, Saas) and experiences, cloud computing capacity and application agility, native cloud security monitoring tools, data recovery, back up, moving an on-premise application to the cloud, etc.
Artificial  Intelligence (AI)	Machine learning, robotics in Human Services, Internet of things, etc.
System Modernization	CCWIS implementation, Family First Services and Prevention Act, integrated eligibility systems
Integration and Interoperability	Service integration, systems interoperability
Human Centered Design	Solutions developed putting the end-user at the center
Social Concerns, and Social Determinants of Health and Well-Being	Emerging social risks in community, state, and national systems, and solutions designed to identify and create ways to create social and physical environments that promote good health for all, Cares Act
Procurement and Contract Management	Processes and policies for management, negotiation, execution, performance, and execution of contracts.  Processes and polices on risk reduction, cost control, service delivery and value when selecting vendors
Performance Management	Use of performance metrics to show progress in organization, department, employee, or process.
COVID-19 Learnings	Lessons learned from COVID-19 which helped to improve communities
Workforce Well-being	Building personal skills, organizational well-being, healthy workplace, virtual on-boarding, business operations
As a Service	PAAS, SAAS, IAAS
Low Code/No Code	Drag and drop application components
Innovation	New and creative solutions states are implementing

Within these categories, ISM is interested in proposals that have practical application to advance human services policy priorities that rely on technology solutions. Priority will be given to submissions which align with the APHSA Strategic Playbook.  

The proposal should identify how the following will be addressed in the presentation:

• The relevance of the topic to one or more of the proposal categories
• Innovative, evidence-based, best, or promising practices or important foundational content
• Which program the proposal will highlight (e.g.: Medicaid, SNAP, TANF, Childcare, Child Welfare, Juvenile Justice, Child Support)

Selection Process:
The ISM Conference Planning Committee reviews all submitted proposals. Submissions of like topics may be asked to combine sessions or reframe them, if applicable. As the event will be presented in a hybrid format, we will consider sessions for both in-person or virtual presentation, pre-recording with live Q&A and panelists presenting both in-person and virtually. Each proposal is evaluated for relevancy and consistency with the goals and strategic focuses of the association and the conference theme using the following criteria:

• Does the topic align with one or more of the categories listed in the call for proposals?
• Do the proposed methods allow for learner interaction and engagement? Review the session types here.
• Does the proposal content reflect important foundational content or innovative, evidence-based, best, or promising practices that advance human services policy priorities?
• Does the presenter’s bio and previous experience in conference presentations/training delivery support their expertise in the proposal topic/training delivery?
• Submissions from private, for-profit businesses (invited Platinum Sponsors) must include either non-profit partners or public-sector partners.

Workshop descriptions and biographies will be used in official conference materials which includes the online agenda and conference bot. All material is subject to editing for corrections and consistency without notification to the presenter. A submission is not a guarantee to present until an approval letter is received from the APHSA Conference Team.

Submission Guidelines and Deliverable Schedule
Please be sure to follow the instructions throughout the submission process carefully.  As part of your submission, you are required to include a short abstract (no more than 350 words) of the session along with the proposed names and organizations of any presenters.  Proposals are due by Friday, April 9, 2021. The guidelines and deliverable schedule can be accessed here.
 
Deliverable Schedule

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