Public service is the common thread woven through the fabric of our work. Representatives of more than 100 local, state, and federal government agencies have worked with us this year to devise information-based strategies to help them meet their program and service goals. Our government partnerships assure that our work remains relevant and usable in the real world. They also raise essential policy, management, and technical issues that can be explored on many levels-as practical, conceptual, and theoretical problems.

Through interviews, focus groups, workshops, and seminars, our work with government partners provides invaluable insight into the issues of contemporary government. Their willingness to participate and share their rich and varied experience is vital to our ability to craft models, tools, and guides that contribute to better, more effective government.