Coordinated state-local information systems offer the hope of integrated services to citizens and streamlined operations within government. Many government and professional organizations are searching for ways to make these essential systems more successful. But there is very little reliable information about what makes state-local projects succeed or fail. This study, sponsored by the New York State Governor's Task Force on Information Resource Management (now the NYS Office for Technology), was one of the first attempts in the US to analyze and document practices that lead to success.

The objective of this project was to identify and document the practices associated with successful state-local information systems by studying the experiences of eleven existing initiatives in New York State

The main result of the project is a handbook of best practices called Tying a Sensible Knot: A Practical Guide to State-Local Information Systems. It presents a variety of practices that project managers and participants can use to develop successful state-local information systems. The project also uncovered issues that constrain success, but that cannot be addressed by single project teams acting on their own. These constraints are the result of environmental factors that reduce the effectiveness and increase the cost of all state-local systems. The final project report discusses these systemic constraints on effective systems and offers recommendations for mitigating them.

State-local information systems must recognize and account for enormous diversity of community settings, organizational cultures, structures, staff. This report, based on eleven initiatives in New York State, presents principles and practices for ideal state-local information systems.

The best practices uncovered and illustrated in this project are summarized below:

• New York State Governor's Task Force on Information Resource Management (now the New York State Office for Technology)

• David Connelly, Public Administration, Graduate Assistant
• Sharon Dawes, Director
• Ann DiCaterino, Project Support Manager
• David Filbert, Political Science, Graduate Assistant
• Darryl Green, Project Support Manager
• Kai Larsen, Information Science, Graduate Assistant
• Jung-Sub Lee, Intern, National Computerization Agency, Republic of South Korea
• Claire McInerney, Information Coordinator
• Theresa Pardo, Project Coordinator

Co-Chairs

• Stanley France, Director, Schoharie County Central Data Processing
• Thomas Griffen, Executive Director, Office of Real Property Services

Members:

• Pamela Akison, Department of Health
• Joseph Cain, Department of Health, Immunization Program
• Edward DeFranco, Division of Criminal Justice Services
• JoAmy Guild, Department of Agriculture and Markets
• Richard Harris, Office of Real Property Services
• Terry Maxwell, NYS Forum for Information Resource
• Management
• Anne Marie Rainville, Governor's Task Force on IRM (now known as the NYS Office for Technology)
• Mary Redmond, State Library
• Gary Rinaldi, Department of Health, Immunization Program
• Peg Sauer, Department of Environmental Conservation
• Bonita Scott, Office of Real Property Services
• Jeffrey Swain, Office of the State Comptroller
• Paul Szwedo, Office of Real Property Services
• Steve Walter, State Office of the Aging
• George Warner, Department of Social Services
• Bill Wray, Department of Social Services

• Department of Agriculture and Markets
• Department of Civil Service
• Department of Motor Vehicles
• Department of Social Services
• Department of Environmental Conservation Department of Health
• Division of Probation and Correctional Alternatives
• Department of State
• Division of Criminal Justice Services
• Empire State Development
• Governor's Task Force on IRM
• NYS Library
• Office of Probation, Community Corrections
• Office of the State Comptroller
• Office of Real Property Services
• State Archives and Records Administration
• State Board of Elections
• State Office for the Aging

• Association of Town Clerks
• Local Government Information Technology Directors
• NYS Association of Towns
• NYS Government Finance Officers Association

• Albany County
• Chautauqua County
• Chemung County
• Columbia County
• Cortland County
• Dutchess County
• Delaware County
• Monroe County
• Nassau County
• Onondaga County
• Oswego County
• Orange County
• Otsego County
• Rockland County
• Saratoga County
• Schoharie County
• Suffolk County
• Ulster County
• Westchester County

• Oswego
• Rochester
• Rome
• New York City, Department for the Aging
• Rye, Finance Department
• Yonkers

• Bergen
• Binghamton
• Byron
• Canton
• Champion
• Clifton Park
• Cobleskill
• Cortlandville
• East Fishkill
• Edinburg
• Ellery
• Hamburg
• Huntingto
• Lancaster
• Lebanon
• Malta
• Marcellus
• Mendon
• New Lebanon
• North Hempstead
• North Collins
• Perth
• Pittsford
• Putnam Valley
• Schodack
• Somerset
• Unadilla
• Union
• Williamson

• Garden City
• Port Chester

• National Center for Health Statistics
• Upper Hudson Primary Consortium
• NYS Forum for Information Resource Management

This project was funded by a portion of CTG's New York State budget allocation plus in-kind contributions of professional expertise provided by more than 150 state and local government participants.

The objective of this project was to identify and document the practices associated with successful state-local information systems by studying the experiences of these eleven initiatives in New York State:

• Aging Network: Client Based Service Management System Project
• Electronic Filing of Local Government Annual Financial Reports
• Electronic Death Certificate Project
• Electronic Transfer of Dog License Data
• Hunting and Fishing Licenses
• Immunization Information Systems Project
• Probation Automation Project
• Real Property System Version 4
• SALESNET (Real Property Transfer Reporting)
• Local Social Services District Imaging Project
• Electronic Voter Registration

Information needed to support the project objective was gathered in four ways: (1) a literature and current practice review; (2) an effort to describe the eleven participating projects in a standard, comparable way; (3) a survey of both state and local participants in each project; and (4) focus group interviews with the project teams. The Governor's Task Force established a Special Work Group on State-Local Information Systems to serve as both a planning and advisory body for the overall project.

A partnership between the University at Albany's Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy and New York State to develop a professional learning community focused on intergovernmental effectiveness. Program goals are to capture and share knowledge about how successful intergovernmental work occurs.

The Office of Intergovernmental Solutions is part of the US General Services Administration. It aims to build a community of intergovernmental managers to identify, analyze, and help solve major issues affecting electronic governments in the 21st century. This Web site is a place where government officials can go to learn about practices in other governments to find sources of information and experts in related initiatives.

Center for Technology in Government
University at Albany, SUNY
187 Wolf Road, Suite 301
Albany, NY 12205
(518) 442-3892 (phone)
(518) 442-3886 (fax)