The Web, because of its accessibility and visual appeal, has a special allure for all kinds of people and organizations. As a result, many people seem to make premature investments in a “Web presence” without fully understanding why, how, and for what benefit they might do this. The decision to provide services over the World Wide Web is, like other information technology (IT) decisions, a complex and expensive one. The project therefore followed a methodology designed to mitigate the risks associated with major IT investment by the public sector.

Often, technology enables the creation of new products and new processes that are substantial improvements in terms of quality and cost over other ways of doing the job. A well-accepted principle in IT management states that successful technology applications flow from aligning the technology with the programmatic or business objectives of the organization. In order to reap the benefits of strategic technology applications, it is necessary to take a comprehensive look at the technology and the environment where it will be applied. The Center worked with the seven agencies to conduct this kind of assessment.

The project activities were focused in two areas:

• the development, testing, and evaluation of prototype Web sites for each of the participating agencies. Throughout this process, CTG worked with the agencies to identify the technology, management, and policy barriers encountered as well as to identify lessons they were learning,
• the development of practical tools, based on the project experiences, that would also assist other organizations in their efforts to provide Web-based services.