In 2008, CTG partnered with governments at all levels, from the United Nations to New York counties, in projects to improve IT governance, interoperability, information sharing, mobile technology, and IT investments. In addition, CTG staff provided expert guidance in the areas of electronic records and e-rulemaking by participating on committees and working groups in both the state and federal arenas.

Effective enterprise-level governance for investment and implementation is central to achieving IT’s transformative potential for government. Achieving new enterprise-level efficiencies and enhancements in government performance requires IT governance frameworks that match the scope and challenges of this task. CTG is working with state and federal agencies to build the kinds of governance frameworks that address these challenges and provide new governance capability.

CTG is working collaboratively with key stakeholders within New York State, such as the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), the CIO Council, and key policy makers, to create an enhanced sustainable enterprise IT governance framework. CTG is drawing on the established IT governance frameworks already in place within New York State and a review of other states to inform the process.

This 16 month project was launched in 2008 with the first of four workshops bringing together over 30 CIOs and IT directors from both state and local government to explore these issues and to raise the question about the value of enhancing enterprise IT governance within New York. The project will conclude in early summer of 2009.

The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) is seeking to improve its current policies and procedures that support investment decision making and performance assessment for information technology systems and IT infrastructure. SSA decided to partner with CTG to explore new governance models as a strategy for improving the decision making process for the over $1 billion the agency invests in IT each year.

The initial focus of the work with SSA was on identifying the key IT governance processes and the ways in which they support the strategic goals of the agency. The project will continue to examine how management processes and information sharing can better support the strategic goals of SSA, enhance performance assessment, and document the value of IT investments. During the latter half of 2008, CTG collected data through interviews with key SSA program and IT leaders and conducted an extensive review of existing IT decision making processes. CTG then presented its initial analysis to SSA along with a set of recommendations on focus areas for improving IT management capabilities and governance processes.

Very few government services are provided or important public issues addressed by a single organization acting alone. Investigating child abuse, for example, may require information from schools, sex offender registries, welfare agencies, criminal history repositories, health care providers, and even Web site hosts. Many similar issues in our complex society demand that information and other resources be shared across many organizational and jurisdictional boundaries. Information technology is an essential enabler of this sharing, but it must be applied with a solid understanding of the context of use; in particular the political, organizational, and economic realities likely to influence the information sharing effort.

This National Science Foundation funded project began with a study of eight information integration initiatives in criminal justice and public health across five states: New York, Colorado, Connecticut, North Carolina, and Oregon. Based on data collected from these eight cases, researchers at CTG created a new model of the complex socio-technical relationships that underlie and influence efforts to respond to public problems through the sharing of information across the boundaries of organizations.

CTG is currently testing this model of cross-boundary information sharing captured in these case studies with data collected through a national survey of public health and public safety professionals. The results of this analysis will provide the foundation for future research and material for academic and practitioner publications.

Governments struggle with the challenge of effectively sharing authority, resources, and information across organizational boundaries within and outside those governments, i.e., becoming interoperable. While differing in their specific political structures and even degrees of civil society and rule of law, governments around the world tend to share this challenge. The degree of complexity of the conditions do vary, but the struggle of working together across the boundaries of organizations remains intense, whether there are simply two agencies or a multi-level, multi-sector network of organizations.

“I recently read Improving Government Interoperability: A Capability Framework for Government Managers and found great value in the capability model presented. The framework offer[s] a practical approach to [assessing] the complex challenges posed by increasing information exchange across multiple networks. Your papers have been circulated as recommended reading here in Oregon state government.”
—Rick Howard, Chief Information Officer, Department of Human Services, Oregon

Based on our research, CTG has learned about the challenges of working across the traditional boundaries of agencies, levels of government, and with the private sector. These challenges extend well beyond the technology, including conflicts and constraints in the current political, social, and economic environment. Often the government capabilities necessary to affect changes across the boundaries of organizations are missing.

To help government leaders and other key policy makers enable rather than hinder interoperability efforts, CTG has developed the Government Interoperability Improvement Framework. This framework is designed to provide government decision makers with a practical and efficient tool to help them assess current governmentwide capabilities and then plan for improving those capabilities needed to meet specific interoperability goals.

The transformative potential of information technology is easy to describe, but very hard to achieve. That potential can simplify operations, enhance services, and transform the business of government. These potential benefits, however, come with a large catalog of risks, along with political and organizational resistance to changing the way government programs work. Understanding the value proposition for IT investments, in light of the resistance and risks, can help decision makers better understand how to maximize their resources.

For the past three years, CTG, in collaboration with the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS), has been assessing the use of mobile technologies in child protective services (CPS) in New York State. The goal of the assessment is to learn how mobile technology affects the conduct and outputs of CPS work. The results will enhance understanding of what influences mobile technology use in order to inform future IT investments.

In 2008, CTG assessed the use of mobile technologies in three Local Social Service Districts in New York State. The assessment combined data from previous assessments with a new laptop computer deployment to explore how mobile technology affects CPS work after an initial adjustment period. The assessment examined productivity results through analysis of data from the state central database as well as caseworkers’ satisfaction through group interviews.

CTG found that laptop use does appear to increase caseworker productivity and satisfaction. More importantly, however, this assessment identified areas where modifications to management and policy guidelines could be implemented to increase the value of the overall investment.

In 2008, CTG participated in the New York State E-Records Workgroup that produced the report, A Strategy for Openness: Enhancing E-Records Access in New York State. The report examines how the state can provide choice, interoperability, and vendor neutrality in electronic document creation while ensuring electronic records are preserved and remain accessible. It also makes recommendations to promote openness and transparency aimed at ensuring public records remain freely accessible, rather than locked into proprietary systems and software applications.

In 2008, the Committee on the Status and Future of Federal e-Rulemaking issued a report to the President and Congress on the current state and future potential of federal e-rulemaking— the systems and processes that support the dialog and decisions that surround federal regulations. Sharon Dawes, CTG senior fellow, was one of more than 20 experts, researchers and practitioners, who served on the committee.