Oct 2009 >Download PDF

This report describes how a diverse mix of individuals and organizations representing two countries, three states, multiple levels of government, private industry, academia, and the public were able to successfully organize and then respond to improve air quality along the U.S. and Mexican border. The focal point of this study is the Joint Advisory Committee for the Improvement of Air Quality in the Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua/El Paso, Texas/Doña Ana County, New Mexico Air Basin (the JAC). It was through the JAC that this diverse mix of key actors were able to navigate the complex web of political, cultural, legal, and economic factors that posed challenges to developing a unified response to this shared air quality problem. The JAC’s strategies and methods were powerfully shaped by the characteristics of the physical setting and the organizational and political context. Many of these strategies and methods have considerable promise for other air shed regions, but must be tailored to the unique physical and social situations of each one.

Oct 2009 >Download PDF

Creating interoperability in the governmental context requires government leaders to take responsibility for improving the capabilities of government agencies to effectively partner with other agencies and governments as well as the private sector, non-profit groups, and research institutions. Governance is a foundational capability for creating and improving government interoperability. Recent research conducted by the CTG draws on a comparative case study of IT governance to illustrate that while effective governance structures include a consistent set of elements or capabilities, there are also a wide range of context specific issues that must be responded to in the governance design, development, and implementation processes.

Sep 2009 >Download PDF

This report summarizes the results of a national survey of cross-boundary information sharing in the public sector conducted by the Center for Technology in Government (CTG). This national study, conducted by CTG and supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation, was designed to understand how effective information integration and sharing occurs within and across boundaries of organizations. The purpose of the survey was to test the generalizability of a preliminary theoretical model of how policy, organizational, social, and technical factors interact to create criminal justice and public health information sharing capabilities. CTG developed this model based on the data collected and analyzed during earlier phases of the research project.

Aug 2009 >Download PDF

Today, digital government (DG) research is being conducted all over the world. Most of this work is focused within the geographic and political contexts of individual countries. However, given the growing influence of global economic, social, technical, and political forces, the questions embedded in digital government research are now expanding to international dimensions. A reconnaissance study such as this one focuses on the defining characteristics of a topic rather an in-depth analysis. In this report, we describe the size, scope, variety, and trajectory of the field illustrated with selected studies and organizational profiles. This study is part of a multi-year effort funded by the United States (US) National Science Foundation (NSF) to create a framework for a sustainable global community of digital government researchers and research sponsors.

Aug 2009 >Download PDF

New levels of capability for coordinated action across organizational boundaries are required in order for government to realize the transformative potential of technology and cope with new economic imperatives. This report outlines five recommendations for change developed through a collaborative, consensus-driven process conducted by CTG on behalf of the New York State CIO community. These recommendations are targeted at building new capability for enterprise information technology investment decision making for New York State. The recommendations extend existing enterprise IT governance capability by introducing a new level of transparency in decision making, increasing the opportunity for alignment of IT investments with New York State’s strategic priorities, and fostering the development of policies and standards to guide those investments.

Aug 2009 >Download PDF

Over the last fifteen years, the role of IT in state government has grown in prominence, which has drawn attention to how IT is governed at the state level. This report reviews enterprise IT governance arrangements in thirteen states (California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Virginia). These states were selected to create a diverse set of examples and to gain a broad picture of state enterprise IT governance efforts in the United States. There are a total of five data summaries included within the report. First is a high-level comparison of state enterprise IT governance elements. This comparison is followed by a more detailed overview of three enterprise IT governance components: state CIO Councils, state executive IT boards, and budgetary authority for IT decisions. Finally, the report concludes with in-depth profiles and models of state enterprise IT governance arrangements in each of the thirteen states. Together, these resources provide one of the most comprehensive reviews of public sector IT governance currently available.

Dec 2008 >Download PDF

NYS's Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) and the Center for Technology in Government (CTG) partnered to conduct an extended study of the use of connected laptops in child protective services (CPS). Previous pilot and demonstration assessments established a solid foundation of information to support a reasonably clear picture of the short term impacts of deploying and using laptops in CPS work. This assessment allowed a longer time period for data collection (8-10 months) and provided an opportunity to learn more about how laptops are integrated into CPS work, including examining mobility, productivity and satisfaction. This study also examines the long-term impacts and conditions necessary to maximize current and future mobile technology investments in NYS's child protective services.

Dec 2008 >Download PDF

This draft report summarizes the results from the first of four rounds of workshops designed to engage our project partners in Creating an Enterprise IT Governance Framework for New York State Government. The first two events involved New York state and local CIOs at two locations, Albany and New York City. Participants shared their expertise and provided input about how IT governance could be enhanced within New York State, with a particular focus on the potential value of enterprise governance.

Oct 2008 >Download PDF

While public officials at all levels of government play important roles in interoperability efforts, government leaders alone have the power to alleviate the institutional constraints that impede these potentially transformative, but highly complex enterprise initiatives. Unfortunately, while leaders have the unique power to make these changes, experience shows that the policy environments they have created, or in many cases inherited, often limit the capability of governments to share authority, to collaborate, and to jointly and strategically manage enterprise initiatives. To change this, leaders must understand the link between their policy decisions and the capability of governments to create the systems necessary to share information and other resources across boundaries. This paper is for government leaders and presents a unique focus on creation of the policy and management capability, rather than technical capability, necessary to create interoperable government. It presents a set of recommendations to guide these leaders in the development of policies and principles for action.

Oct 2008 >Download PDF

This paper presents a framework for governments as they begin to move beyond the vision of a more effective government to the reality. Governments are finding that a typical hierarchical bureaucracy is not necessarily the best form of organization to meet citizen and other demands. Rather, governments are finding that a network form of organization where new groupings of persons and organizations must learn to work together and share information, exchange knowledge, and respond to demands in new ways is more appropriate. Interoperability is key to the success of these government networks. The framework focuses first on understanding the capabilities needed to develop and manage (i.e., plan, select, control, and evaluate) initiatives to improve interoperability among government agencies and their network partners, and second on determining the right mix of capabilities needed to share information across a network of organizations. The complete framework is provided for immediate use by government managers to assess existing and needed capabilities for improving government interoperability.

Mar 2008 >Download PDF

NYS's Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) and the Center for Technology in Government (CTG) partnered to learn more about the impact of mobile technology use in child protective services (CPS) in New York State. In the Demonstration Project in 23 Local Social Service Districts, 450 laptops and tablets were deployed to CPS caseworkers in 23 NYS Local Social Services Districts. CTG conducted the independent assessment where the evaluation focused on mobility, productivity, and satisfaction as well as addressed environmental factors in statewide IT deployment. The summary report looks at high level impacts across all districts and the profiles detail findings from each individual district.

Jan 2008 >Download PDF

This report is based on the lessons learned from CTG’s XML Testbed. The success of the Testbed rested on the enthusiastic participation of five New York State (NYS) agencies who committed to extensive hours of workshops, training, and prototype development. CTG extends its thanks to the NYS Department of Civil Service, NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal, NYS Higher Education Services Corporation, NYS Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, and the NYS Office of Cultural Education, State Education Department. The Testbed was undertaken in partnership with the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations (GOER), the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), and the Office for Technology (OFT).

Jan 2008 >Download PDF

This assessment report was done under contract with the NYS Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) and in conjunction with the NYC Administration for Children Services (ACS). This project involved a large scale deployment of wireless laptops to CPS workers in New York City's ACS. The pilot ran from August – October 2007 and involved approximately 135 child protective services workers and supervisors in the Staten Island and Williams Street (Manhattan) offices. The report shows the complexity of deploying technology into a well established profession. The study focused on mobility, productivity, and satisfaction, and includes a set of recommendations and future considerations.

Aug 2007 >Download PDF

In an increasingly interconnected world, neither the public nor the private sector can claim sole stewardship of the critical infrastructure. These interdependencies require new kinds of coordination in a variety of areas, particularly in response to incidents that threaten the stability of the critical infrastructure. Events such as the World Trade Center attacks and Hurricane Katrina have generated new discussions among stakeholders about the coordination necessary to ensure continuity of operation of the critical infrastructure.

Aug 2007 >Download PDF

The Electronic Commons: a community led natural resource knowledge portal was a collaborative program developed by the Wood Education and Resource Center of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, Northeastern Area States, and Northern Initiatives. The program was designed to increase understanding of the benefits and challenges in using information technology for communication and knowledge sharing. Eight project teams were funded to explore technology-based strategies such as Web sites and Webinars as tools for sharing knowledge on natural-resource topics of concern to their communities and to build communities of practice.

Jun 2007 >Download PDF

Many of the new directions and developments on the Web have a basis in XML, which is becoming a critical technology for all types of information services. The features of XML emphasized in this Executive Briefing—open standard, reusability, technologically neutral—make it an ideal strategy for preparing for the future, while achieving efficiencies today.

Jan 2007 >Download PDF

This assessment report was prepared by the Center for Technology in Government (CTG) under a contract with the NYS Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS). The purpose of the work was to assess the performance of mobile technology deployed in a pilot test program with child protective service (CPS) workers. The mobile technologies were deployed to a sample of CPS workers for use in their field work and reporting responsibilities. The pilot was conducted in three Local Departments of Social Services (Local Districts): the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (NYC/ACS), Westchester County Department of Social Services, Family and Children's Services, and Monroe County Department of Human Services, Child and Family Services Division. OCFS engaged the Center for Technology in Government to conduct this assessment and provide a report to the Commissioner of OCFS to assist in decision making and planning for possible further deployment of these technologies.

Dec 2006 >Download PDF

Information technology (IT) workforce issues have been a concern in New York State since the 1980s and were designated high priority areas in the 2004 and 2005 New York State Enterprise Information Technology Strategic Plans. As a result, in early 2005, the CIO Council HR Committee organized a partnership of state agencies, labor unions, and the Center for Technology in Government (CTG) to help design and administer two surveys. This report provides the key findings of the IT workforce skills assessment surveys administered during March and April 2006; involving nearly 5,000 IT professionals employed in state agencies, authorities, and boards.

Dec 2006 >Download PDF

This document reports on a project conducted by CTG on behalf of the New York State Department of Correctional Services (NYS DOCS) to explore the likely benefits and associated costs of an Electronic Health Record (EHR) for NYS DOCS. The project, moving towards an electronic health record for NYS DOCS, was initiated in the summer of 2005 by the former New York State Department of Correctional Services Commissioner, Glenn Goord.

Oct 2006 >Download PDF

This white paper provides an analysis process that starts with a high level view of the IT investment and then drills down through successive steps to identify the specific measures and methods that will reveal and document public value. The assessment can be tailored to the size and nature of a particular investment decision. The framework is broad in scope so that it can be applied to virtually any government IT investment – from simple Web sites to government-wide information systems and architectures.

Sep 2006 >Download PDF

Service New Brunswick was launched in a time of high pressure from citizens in New Brunswick, Canada for improved service delivery. Today it serves the province through its award winning service delivery model, and also and maybe more importantly in the long run, through its innovations in economic development.

Sep 2006 >Download PDF

The goal of the Austrian Federal Budgeting and Bookkeeping System project was to redesign and integrate the electronic workflow of the federal government’s budget and bookkeeping processes. The strategy they chose was to implement a single Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software standard throughout the federal government, along with the adoption of necessary legal authority.

Sep 2006 >Download PDF

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Integrated Enterprise System Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software implementation put in place the technical infrastructure and enterprise standards for core government administrative functions with improved public value.

Sep 2006 >Download PDF

The Government of Israel’s Merkava Project is an effort to restructure the financial, logistics, and human resource components of government-wide administration into an integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Merkava is also part of a comprehensive eGovernment initiative that includes five layers of new technologies and operational systems for enhanced internal operations and improved benefits and services to citizens.

Sep 2006 >Download PDF

Washington State’s investment in digital archiving for government records provides a highly focused and successful example of pursuing public value through information technology.

Jul 2006 >Download PDF

This report provides a baseline for state government digital information preservation capabilities and activities. It includes an analysis of the results across states and territories and presents several observations on the current digital preservation environment based on CTG’s 2006 State Government Digital Information Preservation Survey.

Jul 2006

This Web-based resource provides profiles of state government digital information preservation efforts within the United States based on the information collected from the 2006 State Government Digital Information Preservation Survey. The profiles are organized by state or territory and the library, archives, and records management units that were represented in the survey response.

Jun 2005 >Download PDF

This report presents the findings of a reconnaissance study on the use of parcel data in New York State. It documents the current and potential uses of parcel data, its value to many different kinds of organizations, and the typical flow of data across government and non-governmental boundaries.

Apr 2005 >Download PDF

This report describes the technical development of the New York State-Local Internet Gateway Prototype. Each phase is highlighted including prototype design, development, testing, and support. It concludes with lessons learned and considerations for future development.

Oct 2004 >Download PDF

Governments around the world are experimenting with public service delivery systems that rely on cross-boundary collaboration among government agencies or between government and the private and non-profit sectors. This Overview summarizes a more complete guide that presents the success factors and case studies for 12 collaborations from around the globe.

Aug 2004 >Download PDF

The experience of September 11th was not an experience that government sustained by itself. Rather, it was an experience that crossed the public, private and nonprofit sectors and holds lessons for organizations of all kinds and sizes. In June 2004, the Center for Technology in Government (CTG) at the University at Albany, SUNY, put together a panel that represented these different perspectives.

1 Jul 2004 >Download PDF

This current practices study contributes to a community-wide knowledge building effort by examining the factors that influenced the success of selected justice information integration initiatives.

Jul 2004 >Download PDF

This current practices research report identifies and describes exemplary practices in providing electronic access to information.

Jul 2004 >Download PDF

This project administered an online survey exploring the opinions and preferences of the digital government (DG) research community with respect to the need for, feasibility, and sustainability of a dedicated digital government journal.

Jul 2004 >Download PDF

In the fall of 2002, the Center for Technology in Government (CTG) at the University at Albany conducted current practice research to identify and examine existing government to government (G2G) portal projects.

Jun 2004 >Download PDF

Research into what organizations did in the midst of the World Trade Center crises and response provides valuable lessons for improving crisis response and emergency management and planning. Equally important, the lessons reveal that interdependencies of human, organizational, and technological resources may benefit overall government operations in normal times.

May 2004 >Download PDF

This project report details the Gateway Prototype project from conceptualization and development to findings and recommendations. The Prototype was developed to create a single point of contact among state and local governments to test and evaluate mechanisms for government-to-government (G2G) business relationships.

Apr 2004

This online demonstration shows the features and functions of the New York State-Local Internet Gateway Prototype. The Prototype was built to identify, demonstrate, and evaluate key factors associated with the design, development, and deployment of a single point of contact for G2G work among state and local governments in New York State.

Dec 2002 >Download PDF

E-Government is changing the way government conducts business and captures records created during that business. This paper provides a framework for developing new e-government systems that foster electronic records management.

Sep 2002 >Download PDF

As Web sites have grown in size, complexity, and prominence, site management has become a growing concern for Webmasters, system administrators, and organizations as a whole. This paper discusses how XML technology simplifies the entire site management process.

Jul 2002 >Download PDF

The research enterprise has grown into a $112-billion endeavor involving thousands of organizations representing every scientific discipline and field of knowledge. This report discusses the challenges facing that research enterprise, offers a vision of the ideal research enterprise, and lays out a supporting research and action agenda to help achieve it.

Jun 2002 >Download PDF

This paper is based on testimony presented to the New York City Council on a sustainable definition and model of electronic government.

Mar 2002 >Download PDF

Policies about online government information were a focus of attention following September 11th. This document provides a thought-provoking examination of how information policy issues were reassessed in response to those events.

Feb 2001 >Download PDF

This executive briefing draws from real agency experience to provide a practical resource for the use of information by government professionals.

Oct 2000 >Download PDF

Governments in the US are using a variety of methods to find out what citizens want from electronic government services. This report presents those methods, and weighs the pros and cons of each of them.

Jul 2000 >Download PDF

The Office of the New York State Comptroller decided to conduct an extensive stakeholder needs analysis before making any decisions about how to design and develop a next generation Central Accounting System (CAS). CTG worked with the agency on this project, and developed a set of recommendations for next steps in devising a plan for the CAS.

Jun 2000 >Download PDF

In order to implement the state's new annual reassessment program, the New York State Office of Real Property Services set out to identify the needs of the local assessment community. CTG worked with this agency on the project, and produced a report that presents a collaboratively developed set of recommendations for moving the Annual Reassessment Program forward.

Apr 2000 >Download PDF

Collaborative partnerships in the public sector are helping to pave the way for new innovations in information and service delivery. This white paper summarizes the findings of a preliminary review of collaborative public sector service delivery methods.

Feb 2000 >Download PDF

Organizations spend millions of dollars putting information together in data warehouses, but as many as 50 to 80 percent of those projects fail. This report, which summarizes the fourth seminar in the UIG Seminar Series, highlights the lessons learned from the creation of the prototype Homeless Information Management System.

Oct 1999 >Download PDF

Every government function depends on information, and each function has a set of policies behind it. This report, which summarizes the third seminar in the Using Information in Government Seminar Series, addresses the use of government information and the policies that govern that use.

Sep 1999 >Download PDF

This study provides a complex but optimistic picture for improving the integration of justice information. It provides an analysis of the current integration realities and discusses enablers and barriers to criminal justice information integration.

May 1999 >Download PDF

Having the right skills, competencies, and technical tools can help government managers use information more effectively in their work. This report, which summarizes the second seminar in the UIG Seminar Series, focuses on ways to get the most from government information.

1999 >Download PDF

Public and private sector organizations recognize the importance of information sharing as a way to improve planning and increase productivity. Because of this trend, the use of multiple data sources for enterprise level planning and decision making has become even more important. This paper identifies current research and practical experiences in the use of multiple data sources to support performance measurement, strategic planning, and interorganizational business processes.

1999 >Download PDF

A multitude of private and public institutions are now using e-commerce to deliver products and services to customers and clients. For many of these organizations, jumping into the world of e-commerce means they must link legacy systems and their attached databases to new Web-based applications and distributed databases. The ramifications of this process are examined in this report.

Mar 1999 >Download PDF

Information technology plays a crucial role in the public sector, and has the potential to transform the way government works. This report provides a set of recommendations for the National Science Foundation to design its Digital Government Research Program to help support that transformation.

Feb 1999 >Download PDF

Proper data management is instrumental for successful information systems. This report, which summarizes the first seminar in the UIG Seminar Series, focuses on data quality management, data tools and techniques, long term maintenance and preservation, and real life experiences with data issues.

Oct 1998 >Download PDF

The quality of data in data warehouses is crucial to the effective use of the warehouse. This paper examines the issues associated with data quality and maps the issues to features available in data quality software tools. Examples of the tools are also included.

Oct 1998 >Download PDF

Bringing an array of geographic information into a central system provides increased value to users, but coordinating that presents considerable challenges. This report describes how the New York State GIS Coordination Program was initiated and developed. It looks at the problems encountered and solutions tried, and focuses on data sharing and public-private sector partnerships.

Jul 1998 >Download PDF

In an environment where business is increasingly conducted electronically, the management of electronic records is crucial. This report describes tools that help incorporate electronic records requirements into the design of new information systems.

Apr 1998 >Download PDF

The functional requirements of records include the reliability of the system in which the records reside, how the records are captured, and how they are maintained. This paper discusses the background, development, and usage of the functional requirements in CTG's Models for Action project.

Feb 1998 >Download PDF

There are many different methods and techniques used to direct the life cycle of a software development project. This document provides an overview of common models that are used to guide the analysis, design, development, and maintenance of information systems.

Nov 1997 >Download PDF

With many different workflow management software solutions on the market, a variety of approaches to workflow management exist. This paper provides an introduction to Workflow Management Systems through a two-tiered approach: a functional review and a technical overview.

Oct 1997 >Download PDF

This report is a summary of the discussions that took place during the workshop A Step Beyond Research: Fostering IT Innovations in Government. The workshop involved 32 scholars from Europe and North American in an exploration of the issues and opportunities for applied research to support IT innovation in government.

Oct 1997 >Download PDF

This paper provides the practical perspective of studying government information technology issues. It is one of two papers that served as the background for discussions at an applied research workshop hosted by CTG in October 1997.

Oct 1997 >Download PDF

This paper provides the research perspective of studying government information technology issues. It is one of two papers that served as the background for discussions at an applied research workshop hosted by CTG in October 1997.

Oct 1997 >Download PDF

A state-local information system is one that links state and local agencies together in a coherent service delivery or administrative environment. This report discusses the findings of a research project that examined eleven state-local projects in New York State.

Aug 1997 >Download PDF

Knowing the key concepts of electronic recordkeeping is essential as agencies move from a largely paper-based business process to an electronic system. The report covers those key concepts.

Dec 1996 >Download PDF

Government is all about information and service delivery. The Web seems perfectly suited for that work. This report presents a set of practical tools to help government agencies refine and narrow the objectives of the Web services they are developing.

Dec 1996 >Download PDF

This report describes the results of research that tested the feasibility of using the Web to deliver services to citizens and conduct business among government agencies.

Apr 1996 >Download PDF

As more government agencies use the Web, policies that guide Internet use are in their infancy. This paper presents the results of a survey conducted to collect and review government Internet policies between April and July 1996.

Apr 1996 >Download PDF

A day-long seminar on Internet Security was presented on April 2, 1996 by the Center for Technology in Government in conjunction with our corporate and public sector partners. It was the first of a series of annual Internet security days held in New York State. This summary highlights the seminar sessions and results.

Dec 1995 >Download PDF

Substantial opportunity exists to share spatial data, knowledge, and other resources across programs in the public and private sectors. This report discusses the mechanisms for evaluating public sector geographic information systems (GIS).

Dec 1995 >Download PDF

The information needed to review a building permit application in New York's Adirondack Park comes from a range of sources. This report describes the work undertaken to develop and evaluate a prototype system to combine document records and geographic data into a unified "electronic reference desk".

Dec 1995 >Download PDF

Coordinating geographic information collected by different agencies and local governments can help promote three program areas of vital importance in New York State: economic development, environmental conservation, and public health and safety.

Dec 1995 >Download PDF

The New York State Geographic Information System (GIS) Clearinghouse Cooperative project was undertaken to show the extent to which spatial data needs overlap among key policy and applications areas. This report demonstrates how data sharing strategies can reduce the cost and increase the value of GIS.

Dec 1995 >Download PDF

Developing the New York State (NYS) Geographic Information System (GIS) Clearinghouse prototype required the adoption of standards and an effective search mechanism. This report presents how these were implemented in the NYS GIS Clearinghouse project.

Oct 1995 >Download PDF

This report covers the findings from an evaluation of a prototype map retrieval system developed for the Adirondack Park Agency. Recommendations for a future system development strategy are included.

Oct 1995 >Download PDF

Building an electronic reference desk that integrated government records and geographic information relied on a number of technical components. This report presents the technical results responsible for the development of that system.

Sep 1995 >Download PDF

With the assistance of an expert panel representing both practitioners and consumers of mental health services, a computer-assisted decision model was developed to support psychiatric assessments in emergency rooms.

Aug 1995 >Download PDF

Field testing a prototype is critical to gauge its value for users. This report describes the results of the field test of a prototype decision support tool developed to help emergency physicians conduct psychiatric assessments.

May 1995 >Download PDF

The telephone is the means by which most people deal with the government. This report presents the results of a project that developed a prototype voice response system for the NYS Office of Regulatory and Management Assistance.

Mar 1995 >Download PDF

A prototype voice response system was designed to improve the way business permit inquiries were handled by the New York State Office of Regulatory and Management Assistance. This report presents the results of testing that prototype system.

Nov 1994 >Download PDF

Information technology tools and applications are supporting all types of government work. This report presents the results of a series of prototyping experiments conducted by CTG and state agencies on custom workflow, project management, document management, and meeting support systems using groupware tools.

Nov 1994 >Download PDF

Paperwork. Few words evoke such a negative picture of government operations. This report presents the results of a prototyping project that demonstrated document imaging and work flow solutions in the vehicle title operation at the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).