The XML Testbed involved a series of presentations, training sessions, workshops, and discussions to support the development of agency-specific XML prototypes and business cases:

• Two training sessions were focused on XML programming and its advantages as well as the challenges when used for Web site management.
• Another two-day training session provided the basics of project management, including defining a problem, identifying stakeholders, analyzing workflows and business processes, and developing cost-benefit analysis. Each team developed a written business case for their prototype as a result of this training.
• A final training class was devoted to project management issues such as work breakdown structures, challenges of project management, competing priorities, and how to garner executive sponsorship.
• Six workshops were organized for participants to present their progress in both the development of their business cases and their XML prototypes. The teams were assigned specific tasks to complete between workshops. In addition, each workshop featured a presentation by an industry expert, a Webmaster with relevant expertise, or a university professor that highlighted some potential applications, capabilities, and limits of XML. Several workshops fostered discussions between and within the teams. Opportunities were also provided for people in similar roles (content providers, content reviewers, Web developers) to exchange ideas and concerns.
• Finally, communication among team members was encouraged for solving common questions and problems through the use of emails, office hours with the CTG project team members, and individual project team meetings.

To participate in the Testbed, an agency needed to meet specific requirements established by CTG. The team members had to represent all the roles involved in the Web publishing process from content creation to publishing on the Web. Through the development of their business cases, the agency teams needed to gain the necessary knowledge about their business problem in detail through investigating the workflow and business process currently followed, identifying relevant stakeholders, garnering executive support not only for the prototype but also for the potential future project, and identifying where resistance to change could arise within the organizational units involved in the process. They also had to detail their ideal state—how the process would change by using XML as a Web management tool.

Agency teams were trained in the use of XML and were asked to develop a prototype based on their original agency proposals. Throughout this project, the project teams had the opportunity to further their knowledge about XML for content management and then apply it immediately to an aspect of their environment. Their learning occurred in the context of their organizations. They were able to identify the potential enablers and constraints facing an XML project. The comprehensive prototyping experience not only allowed participants to understand a technology, but also to understand a specific technology application (XML for Web site content management) immersed in a specific context (their state government agency).

The key factor in the Testbed was that participants were engaged and focused on a real project that directly impacted their organization and were asked to work on the project as if they were going to implement it at their site.