PTI and NACo-NLC Today: 'An Innovative Outpost for New Things to Come'

Shutterstock

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

As forces continue to shape shared governance and collaboration in the tech ecosystem, the Public Technology Institute's new partnership is ready to propel local governments forward.

The Public Technology Institute was formed in 1971 when the idea of using technology for government service delivery was a mystery to many public administrators. At the time the U.S. was deeply involved in the space program, deploying technology to send men to the moon. The idea of interest to many local elected leaders and city and county managers was “couldn’t we deploy similar technologies on earth to better serve our communities?”

Over these past four decades, the mysteries of technology have evolved into wonderment, and then towards implementation schemes, to mastery and finally to leadership.

Now, working more closely with NACo and NLC, PTI will have the opportunity to leverage its resources and the ability to work with and through a much wider audience of CIOs, technologists, public managers and elected leaders.

The timing for this new and exciting partnership could not be better. Technology is no longer something that operates out of a stand-alone IT department as it was once was. Indeed, technology has become granular and permeates into almost everything we do personally and professionally. Certainly, the CIO continues to play a critically important role in leading the organization’s digital strategy and maintaining the overall information and communications network. However, there is a growing recognition of shared governance and partnership where other major players (agencies, departments, other governments, the community) must participate and collaborate as never before.

There are at least 6 forces that contribute to this growing trend of shared governance and collaboration in the technology ecosystem.   

  1. Interconnectedness. Everything has become more interconnected (which now includes the Internet of Everything (IoE)). There are now billions of data points that transverse the Internet every second of every day. Interconnectedness also covers our growing desire to be mobile and yet instantaneously connected to our multiple devices and our networks of choice across the globe.  People have different requirements and preferences and a one-size-fits-all approach is no longer adequate. Active communication and planning is essential for an organization to thrive. 
  2. Security. The need for secure systems and the protection of government data, transactions, and citizen information has never been greater. Security in today’s environment requires an all-hands holistic approach to help educate and develop enforceable policies, guidelines and advanced systems.
  3. Purchasing. Because so much is interconnected, purchasing decisions must consider just how a new product or service will impact the overall network—from a security, compatibility, resource management perspective. Today’s product offerings have shorter life cycles, and require more careful collaboration when considering capital projects (CAPEX) vs. operating fund projects (OPEX). Cloud and managed services are driving much of this change and decision-rights must be carefully managed in both dynamic policy-making as well as implementation, training and implementation.      
  4. Open and Big Data. From politicians of all parties representing all levels of government there is a continuous cry for greater transparency in government. Most often “open data” is cited as a principal means for publishing data and information. While open and big data are often mentioned together – they are related but different. While open data is data and information made available to the public, big data is a discipline unto itself. With everything we are collecting in regards to raw as well as structured and unstructured data, the discussion should not be how and where to store the data as it is should be how to interpret and make better data-driven decisions.
  5. Cloud-based services. Perhaps the most significant trend to occur in the past two decades is cloud-based services in all its many forms. This movement continues to gain strength as state and local governments wrestle with declining budgets and the ability to attract and maintain the required workforce. When implemented correctly, cloud-based services can save time and money, provide more modern infrastructure platforms, provide greater access and the potential for greater collaboration and take pressure away from owning expensive data systems to be able to focus on information management  
  6. The Growth of Apps and Social Media. Thanks to the cloud and the abundance of broadband and mobile devices, government apps have become an accepted way for reaching out to the public for many informational and transactional applications. Apps and social media have quickly been adopted to create a better citizen engagement experience. By their very nature, apps and social media can be managed on different platforms and by different people thus creating the need for more coordination and cooperation among the main players. 

These are but a few examples of how technology governance has been evolving and will continue for years to come. This requires a shared governance model from the inception of an idea through its execution and finally a periodic evaluation that measures performance. PTI welcomes the challenge—and opportunity!—to serve as the hub for greater collaboration, coordination and planning with regards to technology at the local level. Of course, there is still one charge that dates to PTI’s beginning in 1971: To serve as an innovative outpost for new things to come! What might we learn from going to Mars?     

Dr. Alan R. Shark is executive director and CEO of the Public Technology Institute and an associate professor of practice at Rutgers University. 

NEXT STORY: Birmingham gets smart

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.