The dictionary defines partnership as "two or more people engaged in the same enterprise, sharing its profits and risks, and acting as trusted agents for one another." When we say partnership, we mean this active, interdependent, trustful relationship.

Governments, like most organizations, have transformed their sense of organizational boundaries and interorganizational relationships. A new level of interdependence among government jurisdictions and agencies is being fostered by public policies that assume a high level of information sharing and interaction. In this environment, old ways of relating to one another are increasingly ineffective.

In the paper-based world, local governments received one-size-fits-all directives, prescriptions, and instructions from state agencies and responded by sending the required reports, forms, and money back into a monolith called ‘The State.’ State agency consideration of local conditions, processes, and technical capability was not an issue. Each local agency worked out its own methods. Everyone was an independent actor. Today, with extensive information sharing requirements built in to most programs, we rely more and more on computerized systems that need to connect to all local jurisdictions. Local operating realities now often clash with state-level system requirements. In order to administer these more complex programs and take advantage of these new tools, both levels of government must view each other as partners in an overall effort to deliver services to the citizen or to improve the administrative functioning of government.

The particular need for partnership models in state-local projects stems from their unique nature. For example, in most of the projects we reviewed, the local participation resulted from local motivation to participate in an improvement effort. The local involvement was not mandated and funding was, in general, not provided by the state. Collaborative efforts built on partnership models of behavior are required to manage this new kind of engagement. The art of identifying appropriate partners, and building and maintaining active, trustful relationships must be practiced in all information systems projects, but particularly in state-local projects. The partnership model is often the best way to engage non-government participants as well: non- profit service agencies, professional associations, and private sector organizations may all be engaged in the partnership.