Just identifying these operational mechanisms in general terms, however, does not tell the full value story. Each mechanism can involve more than one kind of value generator. These mechanisms show how IT investments can link to increased public value, but not how that increase is produced. Each mechanism has the potential to generate more than one kind of public value increase, depending on the details of the situation. The framework recognizes four basic kinds of public value generators, listed below, each with a different range of measurements and implications for assessment:

• Increases in efficiency — obtaining increased outputs or goal attainment with the same resources, or obtaining he same outputs or goals with lower resource consumption. In our Austria and Pennsylvania case studies, for example, new ERP systems helped achieve substantial efficiencies in financial management and other core administrative functions of government.
• Increases in effectiveness — increasing the quality and/or quantity of the desirable thing. Our case study of Service New Brunswick, for example, reports how an online registry for land data can contribute to improvements in property tax administration.
• Enablement — providing means or allowing otherwise infeasible or prohibited desirable activity, or preventing or reducing undesirable events or outcomes. In our Washington State Digital Archives case study, for example, putting birth and marriage records online enabled research by local historians and genealogists.
• Intrinsic enhancements — changing the environment or circumstances of a stakeholder in ways that are valued for their own sake. For example, our Israel case showed how enhanced financial accounting and reporting in the Merkava ERP opened government financial decision making to greater transparency.

The examples above illustrate public returns that accrue in addition to, and largely independently of, internal efficiency gains that may accompany the IT investment. These value generators can also operate together, increasing the overall return. Research by the local historians mentioned above was enabled by access to previously inaccessible records; online access to these records also made research much more efficient compared to paper records. Access to crime mapping information by citizens could also improve the efficiency of choosing a place to live or locate a business.