Collaboration In The Development, Operation and Utilization of IT

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2009

When faced with the need for a solution to a technology problem, often the only two options explored are to look “in-house” or to purchase the solution from a vendor in the private sector. While “functional consolidation” has become common place as a collaborative means to save money and share resources for hard services like stormwater, fire, and solid waste; rarely did the government consider that there are thousands of local governments looking for the same technology solutions, and thus rarely in the technology sector did they ever consider collaboration as a way to achieve a solution. Several years ago the Board of County Commissioners embraced the private sector originated concepts of collaboration and consolidation in the realm of technology. This support was an early marker in a wave of collaborative public sector technology initiatives that grows daily and marked a significant shift in direction in how public sector operations approached the utilization of information technology. Sarasota County has been a recognized leader in these concepts locally, statewide, and nationally.