ASSIGNMENT

Assignment

Assignment # 1

Information technology (IT) applications in local government

Abstract

Information technology (IT) applications in local government have been mostly used to advance the technical capacity of localities in delivering public services. As decision making responsibility moves from the U.S. federal government to local governments, academic researchers should address the need for developing intuitive decision support systems (DSS) for government managers and senior decision makers. The task-specific models of Web-based information systems (IS) discussed in this study can help local government managers capture information in multimedia format and facilitate information sharing between their department and other agencies without dependency on specific platforms, time differences, or locations in a cost-effective manner. Consequently, research should be encouraged to develop methods that respond to questions of training in the new IS environment and to provide solutions to facilitate service and system integration despite the environmental and political complexity surrounding local governments.

Author Keywords: Local government technology; Decision support systems in local government; Data integration and the World Wide Web

Table of Contents

Abstract2

1. Introduction5

2. Background: computerized DSS for local governments7

2.1. Data management system8

2.2. Model management system9

2.3. Communication base10

3. What does the internet portend for local governments?11

3.1. Intranet technology for local governments13

3.2. Advantages of intranets15

3.2.1. Increasing information availability and processing capacity15

3.2.2. Increasing economy of scale and minimal cost15

3.2.3. Data integration16

3.2.4. Security17

3.2.5. User interface and flexibility18

4. Conclusion19

References21

1. Introduction

The past three decades' advances in information technology (IT) and the prolific growth of distributed computing have altered the role of computers and automated information systems (IS) in local governments. Computer applications have changed from administrative tools used for record keeping to decision support systems (DSS) that create unprecedented opportunities for managers to access data, to transform data into information, and to perform sophisticated analyses to create knowledge for problem solving and decision making. Moreover, developments in the field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology have pushed spatial data analysis into the forefront of local government operations. At the same time, platform-independent network computing, enterprise-wide computing, and the recent, widespread popularity of the World Wide Web (WWW) have made user-friendly DSS more widely available. This trend has drastically changed the local government job environment as well as the way information and communication are managed relative to citizens or other agencies (Dawes 1996).

While the concept of viewing information as a critical organizational resource has been widely accepted in theory and practice, many local government users still do not fully understand how to manage and integrate the available data and thus enhance their effectiveness.1 Today, more than anytime in the past, there is a need to improve the technical capacity for improved decision making within local government organizations. This need requires designing and developing intuitive decision support tools to provide immediate solutions for problems faced by individual managers in municipalities and planning and mayors' offices. This need is more pressing with the advances in spatial decision support systems (SDSS), especially with the availability of GIS data sets that provide great potential to improve the productivity of local governments to track community development, safety, and manage public ...