Most local government managers would like to use information technology (IT) that helps their organizations serve the community by reducing costs, expanding services, and eliminating risk. Sometimes it's not so easy. This book is intended to be a practical guide for local government managers wanting to maximize the value of IT in their organizations. It provides recommendations for aligning IT with local government's strategic vision, identifying opportunities to leverage technology, as well as tackling the ever-challenging step of getting started. Simply adopting individual technologies to fulfill each need as it arises is not the answer. This short-sighted approach has helped to install many of the incompatible technologies that live within local governments today. Technology must be approached from the broader perspective as facilitator of an integrated organization that works together. As our governments adopt more complex technologies, quality management systems are needed to ensure that there is alignment - not conflict - with the goals of the business. If problems exist within the IT infrastructure, there are a whole host of headaches and issues that can slow or even stop government services. At the core, it is important to understand industry norms and how your IT group compares in terms of functionality, structure and cost to other successful government IT systems. If organizational processes are designed collectively and IT is managed properly, local government managers will be empowered to save taxpayer dollars, reduce business risk, enhance services delivered to the community, and even identify new revenue streams. Local governments are in the process of a metamorphosis. Organizations are transitioning from a collection of isolated departments with separate functions and deliverables, to a unified business that shares information through linked processes. At the heart of the transformation is visionary leadership combined with dynamic and clear management of the technology. Along with this spirit of transformation, we must be able to use our IT resources more wisely. Communities are increasing their demands for services, while challenging economic times are intensifying downward fiscal pressures. As a result, local governments are searching for ways to lower their cost to serve - examining both what services are provided and how they are delivered. Changing political leadership and evolving technologies can often make achieving effective IT seem impossible. Written by management and IT experts with years of hands-on experience working with city and county managers, Transforming Government is a hands-on manual that outlines the steps to align IT with local government's strategic vision, maximize the value of IT, and begin the transformation.
