The task of assessing value is challenging because not every aspect of public value is relevant for a particular investment. The workshop started with the investigation of three basic elements for analyzing public value: the investment (an enterprise IT governance framework), the government operations affected (state and local, agencies and authorities) and the stakeholders (state and local CIOs, program units, and citizens). Focusing on one or two of these elements alone cannot reveal the full spectrum of potential value or how it can be assessed. And missing an element can result in stakeholder resistance, flawed technology decisions, or poor integration and disruptions of existing processes. As stated earlier, the public value of an initiative is found by focusing on the overlap of these three elements and determining how the IT investment then produces value for the relevant stakeholders.

When asked about value, participants provided responses that fell into two general categories: the first related to the value proposition of enhanced IT governance and the second related to design elements of the same. Table 1 lists responses related to value and Table 2 lists those related to the design characteristics and governance elements provided by participants.

Table 1. Values
Reduce redundancy and establish prioritization mechanisms	Reduction of redundancy by providing IT solutions to common business problems Prioritize projects Complement rather than replace existing domain structures Avoid reinventing the wheel
Foster sharing of services and information through agency collaboration	Shared services where appropriate. Domain specific services where appropriate, e.g., community of interest, able to measure savings Information sharing Foster Collaboration among agencies to improve info sharing without forcing collaboration Creation of a collaborative environment for sharing information To solve common business problems To deploy common technical solution To share staff expertise Ensure interoperability where appropriate
Establish standards	Standard for knowledge interchange Guidance and standards for agencies
Improve quality of services	Improve quality Enhance the citizen’s, public’s experience Make it easier for public to deal with government Direct value to citizens Move society forward through innovative use of IT Citizen interactions with government are simplified, services are accessible, personalized, timely Citizen services are dispensed from NYS as a single enterprise Enhance agency operational/business initiatives Improvement of services
Reduce product cycle time	Reduce product cycle time to market Handle complexity of the organization to reduce time to market – accomplish something
Reduce political directions and swings	Eliminate political directions and swings Create consistency of vision through political change
Reduce costs	Reduce overall state costs w/out sacrificing quality or timeliness of delivery of products and services Create opportunities for individual agencies to reduce costs and create efficiencies Shared services should reduce costs and improve services True cost savings not avoidance, i.e. unfunded mandate; total cost savings to citizens Identify public ROI including cost avoidance and revenue generation Reduced costs
Align IT with business of the state	Providing vision for the use of IT services Align IT with agency goals Align executive and legislative requirements Align with business needs, provide adequate resources, clearly define resources “The Process” Provide a framework so tactical and strategic decisions can be made

 

Table 2. Characteristics and Design Elements
The governance framework needs to be flexible to account for agency needs	Needs to be flexible Acknowledge/respect and provide value to agency initiatives Flexible but able to reassess decisions/goals Recognition of generation changes Central repository of IT decisions so desired behavior is understood and can be leveraged Enterprise governance needs to be flexible if an agency or authority doesn’t fit the mold exactly Services are online at reasonable fees, costs Leverage diverse and deep skills and experiences of public and private partners Provide a forum for on-going communications Should be a living document viewed as a work in progress
Stakeholder participation in governance	Agency participation in governance --- not dictatorship Include all levels (stakeholders), functional, locals, citizens, etc. Stakeholders need to be valued contributors in the process
Clear delineation of roles, responsibilities, decision	Clear understanding of roles, responsibilities, and decision making authority Provide a framework so tactical and strategic decisions can be made
Establish measurement processes	Establish measurement process for the governance effort itself – how effective is IT governance There needs to be some type of pre-established measureable goal to indicate success or failure at the end of the process Pre- and post-assessment audits need to be preformed to measure success
The framework needs to build capacity at several levels	Establish a skill set for both functioning within IT Governance and to facilitate a strong IT governance process