In order to achieve the purposes of this chapter, the heads of agencies and instrumentalities shall have the following duties:
(a) Publish an electronic page that contains the information necessary for citizens to be able to know the mission, services offered, geographical location of offices, working hours, and telephone numbers of each agency, which page shall be connected to the official web portal of the Government of Puerto Rico, as established.
(b) To publish the following on their Internet web page, as a mechanism to provide transparency to government transactions, and above all, to expedite further the access to the information held by the government for its inspection by the citizens:
(1) All documents pertaining to the processes for publication, holding and awarding of all public works bids;
(2) all agency contracts that entail the disbursement of public funds;
(3) all documents concerning managerial transactions, except for confidential documents concerning personnel matters, and
(4) any information concerning the status of public works projects, including, but not limited to, change orders and time extensions, among others.
(c) Develop the necessary activities and efforts directed to the active incorporation of the use of information and telecommunications technologies in Government operations, with special attention to the following areas: services to citizens, procurement and bids, orientation and disclosure of subjects of social, cultural and economic interest to citizens through the Government portal.
(d) Support, in respect to the electronic government, the efforts to develop, maintain and promote government services and information, as well as to focus its efforts and resources to comply with the work plans for the conversion of transactions into electronic media.
(e) Develop execution measures capable of measuring how the electronic government furthers the objectives of the agency or instrumentality.
(f) Consider the impact of the development of these services on persons who do not have Internet access and engage in the efforts necessary, through programs and alliances with the private sector and with nonprofit organizations, in order to ensure that all sectors of society gain access thereto.
(g) Comply with the provisions of the present chapter, the information management policies and the technological standards relative to computer technology issued by the Office of Management and Budget.
(h) Impart the instructions necessary to ensure compliance with this chapter and the norms to be issued thereunder, ascertaining that management policies on information management and the guidelines that the Office of Management and Budget issues under this chapter are communicated promptly and effectively to the corresponding personnel.
(i) Structure the respective areas of information systems of each agency, in order for each of them to be in charge of implementing information management policies and guidelines in that respect as issued by the Office of Management and Budget.
(j) Government electronic pages shall be designed in universal language pursuant to the parameters established in §§ 8310-8316 of this title, known as the “Act to Guarantee Access to Information to Disabled Persons”, in order for the technological assistance equipment of persons with disabilities to be able to recognize them and offer them access.
(k) The Office of Management and Budget shall be responsible for publishing all documents pertaining to the bid publication, holding, and award process of every public work and procurement of goods and services of every government agency in a single webpage. Said webpage shall be known as the Exclusive Government Bids Database and shall include, without it being construed as a limitation, the bid notices, a description thereof, participating bidders, the bid award or cancellation dates, the successful bidders, and any other information that the Office of Management and Budget may deem necessary and convenient. Every agency of the Executive Branch and every public corporation shall be required to electronically submit to the Office of Management and Budget all information pertaining to the bid publication, holding, and award process of every public work and procurement of goods and services. All agencies of the Executive Branch and public corporations shall use said Database as the official means to disclose said information, and for the purposes of all legal computation, the date of publication thereof shall be taken into account regardless of any other webpage used for the same purposes. For purposes of this section, the disbursement of public funds for the publication in the media of documents required under this chapter is hereby prohibited, except for those authorized and justified by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
History —June 22, 2004, No. 151, § 7; June 6, 2006, No. 113, § 3; Dec. 24, 2011, No. 273, § 1; Aug. 24, 2012, No. 205, § 1, eff. 60 days after Aug. 24, 2012.