 National Association of Counties * Washington, D.C. Vol. 32, No. 23 * December 18, 2000 Previous story | Table of Contents | Next story Best practices are ’Tried and True’
Neighbors Fairfax County, Va., and Montgomery County, Md., are among the jurisdictions cited for their work in a soon-to-be-released publication titled Tried and True. Published by Public Technology, Inc. (PTI), the non-profit technology arm of the National Association of Counties, the National League of Cities and the International City/County Management Association, the white paper highlights the work of a number of local government jurisdictions in the area of management risk in the technology arena. The white paper is part of the Technology Risk Assessment Project (TechRisk) directed by PTI with the assistance of the Public Entity Risk Institute and follows Risk and Reward: Helping Local Government Leaders Understand Technology and Risk Liability Issues. Whereas Risk and Reward explains the intricate relationship local government has with technology and the importance of knowing and evaluating the risks, Tried and True gives examples of how local governments avoid or overcome technology risks. Tried and True illustrates the need for local governments, if they are going to participate in e-services, to know the risks and benefits before an investment is made in a technology. In Fairfax County, electronic government initiatives embrace a multi-faceted strategy with a single-minded goal: utilize the benefits of emerging technologies to extend and expand the ability of government to provide information and services to county residents, businesses, civic groups and other interested parties. The e-government projects significantly enhance the availability of county government information or services to a broad segment of the public through information technologies. The technologies require limited staff intervention, thereby minimizing the risks involved and the potential for error. A prime consideration in the development of the overall strategy was to ensure inclusion of all county residents, regardless of whether they have a PC and modem. Fairfax County’s overall strategy was to address the “digital divide” issue from the outset by offering e-government through more than a single vehicle. Montgomery County has an excellent example of IT policy and a contingency plan in the county’s Information Technology Strategic Plan that provides an overview of the current status of information technology in the jurisdiction. It also specifies the information technology goals, objectives, strategies and actions necessary if county departments are to continue meeting their business objectives and provide needed services to the community. The Maryland county also has guidelines to create a comprehensive contingency plan, making those in the organization keenly aware of the potential impact of doing without certain key business processes in an emergency situation. For example, a power outage for an hour or two will be handled differently from an interruption of two weeks or more. Tried and True will be available in January and, like Risk and Reward, may be downloaded from the PTI Web site www.pti.org for free, or purchased in hardcopy for $10 for government and $12 for others by calling 800-PTI-8976. For further information on the TechRisk project, contact Tomaysa Sterling, PTI research associate, at sterling@pti.org or (202) 626-2470. |