Center for Public Technology Information Technology for Small Municipalities.

Center for Public Technology

Information Technology

for Small Municipalities

Center for Public Technology 2

Overview

I. Understanding e-government

II. The Leg-Up Project

III. The Value of IT Adoption and Investment

IV. Trends in E-Government Adoption

V. Moving forward into the E-Gov Arena


Technology is becoming the vehicle from which

accurate, reliable, and timely

information is produced for

strategizing, identifying objectives,

improving productivity, and

facilitating service delivery


knowing how to best integrate strategic goals,

information, and technology into common

organizational procedures & knowing how to

apply management strategies to information

technology adoption efforts

The challenge for managers is:


E-Government Defined

Government’s use of technology, particularly web-based Internet applications, to enhance access to and delivery of,

government services to citizens, business partners, employees, and other

governmental agencies.

G2G, G2B, G2C, G2E


Stage 1: Web site provides limited

information about local government

Stage 2: Web site provides interactive information about local govt.

Stage 3: Web site allows citizens to retrieve and return information

Stage 4

: Web

site

provides netw

ork and

linkag

es for

intergovern

mental

service

sTechnology LevelLow

High

Ser

vice

Lev

elL

ow

Hig

h

Source: The 24/7 Agency, Swedish Agency for Public Management

Stages of E-Government


Integrated Electronic Services and Information(Local, State, and Federal Governments)

Clients

Government

Citizens Institutions Businesses Suppliers Partners Staff

Clients don’t carehow government

is organized!

One Client

One Government


Benefits of On-line Services

• Improves access and reduce costs • 50 to 80 percent cost savings over face-to-face,

telephone, and postal based efforts • Increases efficiency; easier than the other three

channels • Organized in ways that fit the needs of citizens • Eliminates many of the problems associated with

distance and time



• Responsiveness – “on line all the time”, improved services, better access, at the convenience of the citizen



• Visibility – more information available to more people, expands gov’t reach for distributing and collecting information, and assessing outcomes

• Efficiency – time and cost savings– E.g. Check processing from $.43 to $.02– Just in time inventory saves warehousing

costs



• Performance gains – eliminates duplicate data entry– Streamlining processes - reduces paperwork, hand-

offs, processing time– Refocus attention to other areas– Employees perform better when decoupled from face

to face activities

• Integration – virtual integration of agencies who must coordinate efforts on-line

• One-stop shopping


Challenges of E-Government

• Rapidly changing technology

• Lack of skilled staff

• Lack of project management

• Lack of top management support

• Goal misalignment

• Lack of sufficient investment

• Poor investment choices


a feast of choices & a famine of benefits

30% of all projects are canceled before completion

30% experience schedule delays

50% exceed original cost estimates

12% completed on time and on budget

The Standish Group, 1995Cats-Baril & Thompson, 1995


What does e-government

look like to you?


GIS: Portray data in a graphical / spatial context


Utility Bill Payments


Online Building Permits


Leg-Up

• Local E-Government Utilization Project

• Funded by US Dept of Commerce (TOP)

• Managed by e-NC Authority

• Supported by CPT


Leg-UP Governments

• 55 local governments from rural areas– Mix of counties and municipalities

• Two stages for project– Website design and deployment– Transactional deployment


Sample Projects

• Online utility bill payment

• Internal integration of databases and connectivity (wireless)

• Online building permits

• Online parking ticket payment

• Electronic data exchange (replacing sneaker mail)


Best Practices

• Keep scope small and targeted

• Ensure goal alignment

• Evaluate projects used by other local governments (don’t reinvent the wheel)

• Plan for training your staff and stakeholders

• Good project management is critical


Challenges

• Lack of staff time to devote to project• Lack of technical competency• Difficulty in specifying requirements

– Business– Technical

• Smaller governments face more challenges

• Political/ turf issues must be managed


Why You Should Adopt E-Gov

• Internal Efficiency – Streamline processes– Reduce hand-offs

• Effectiveness – Citizen and business convenience

• Strategic Advantage– External relations– Economic development


Trends in E-Government Adoption

• E-gov adoption is growing exponentially– Federal– State– Local


36%

21%

19%

34%

17%

23%

23%

13%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Government moreaccountable to citizens

Greater public access toinformation

More effective/cost effectivegovernment

More convenient governmentservices

Public Government Officials

The Council for Excellence in Government, September 2000

We Believe in the Power of E-


89%

72%

58%

31%

8%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100% Have Homepages

Allowrequests/comments

Allow downloads

Allow onlinecompletion offorms/apps

Allow financialtransactions

Municipal Responses to E-Government


Trends in E-Government Adoption

• Many new forms of deployment– Stand alone services– Web services– Co-development (public-private)


Moving into the E-Gov Arena

• How to successfully achieve the potential benefits of information technology adoption

• Two critical factors– Make the business case– Good project management


The Business Case

• Perform Due diligence– Business assessment– Financial assessment– Risk assessment


Business Assessment

• Describe the existing Situation or Problem• Describe the proposed changes• Other alternatives considered• Description of the proposed technology• Major Deliverables• Measurements• Roles and Responsibilities• Project management Schedule and Reporting


Financial Assessment

• Development Costs• Personnel Services• Professional/contract

services• Training costs• Hardware costs• Software costs• Network costs• Financing costs

• Licensing and Maintenance Fees

• Space• IT Infrastructure• Operating costs


Key questions…

• Will this lower expenditures?

• Will this increase revenues?

• Are there hidden effects or requirements?

• Are costs avoided?

• Can you confidently answer the questions above?


Risk Assessment

• Identify potential threats• Categorize the risk: 0 to 5• Identify the probability• Is the project a Strategic Match• Is it an Operational Match• Does it match the business processes• Can the effort be managed


Project Management Tips

Einstein’s Theory of PM:

The rate of failure increases in direct proportion to the importance of the person receiving the service.


What is PM?

• Project Management is a formalized and structured method of managing change

• Develops specifically defined products (Outputs)

• To achieve planned benefits (Outcomes)


Why Use PM?

• Using sound project management techniques will help increase the likelihood that your project will be:

– On time– Within budget– To an acceptable level of quality

• Will deliver its Outputs and achieve its Outcomes/Benefits (your goals)


‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’

‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the cat.

‘I don’t much care where’--, said Alice.

‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’

said the cat.Lewis Carroll


Key Elements of Project Mgmt

– Planning & Scoping– Governance– Organizational Change Management– Stakeholder Management (including

Communication Management)– Risk Management


More Key Elements

– Issues Management–Resource Management–Quality Management

–Evaluation

–Status Reporting

–Project Closure


• E-government is not a cure-all; it is simply another medium for communicating with citizens, businesses, and other governments-- a means not an end.

• Historically, government has used the stovepipe approach– e-government demands an enterprise approach.

• E-government must be complementary to your organization; you need to test the water before jumping in.


Contact Information

Kevin FitzGerald

UNC SOG


(919) 962-4301

[email protected]

Shannon Schelin

UNC SOG


(919) 962-5438

[email protected]

Center for Public Technology Information Technology for Small Municipalities.

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