Most of the items in the PTI Store are PDF files for you to use with the Adobe Reader or compatible viewer software such as Foxit Reader or Apple Preview.

Read more    03-02-2009

Multi-channel contact centers - a 311 telephone number, a city or county website, or walk-up help desks - provide citizens quick and easy access to local government. For elected leaders, these centers help you stay in touch with your constituents.

To help elected leaders better understand the role that these centers can play in connecting with constituents, and to help elected leaders understand the technologies that bring these centers to life, PTI has published the brief guide The Value of Multi-Channel Contact Centers: A Checklist for Local Elected Officials.

Read more    03-13-2009

Citizen call centers, along with integrated online and interactive voice response telephone systems, provide local governments with an opportunity to significantly enhance citizen services and improve government accountability and transparency.

Through call manager telephony systems, CRM/work order systems and web-based applications, local governments can coordinate service delivery and generate excellent, real-time performance data to identify high complaint areas, specific improvement needs and customer communication requirements.

Read more    11-04-2008

Alan R. Shark, D.P.A. & Sylviane Toporkoff, Ph.D., executive editors and contributing authors

With 27 chapters from 44 authors and contributors from ten countries, this exciting book captures the latest in theory and practice in how governments can use the latest technology to reach out to citizens, and the many methods and benefits of doing so.

Order now from Amazon.com

Paperback: 346 pages, published by Public Technology Institute and ITEMS International: $39.95

Read more    06-30-2008

2006-2007 Technology Solutions: Web and E-Government Services provides examples of how local governments are using web-based tools to improve services and electronic government operations.

Each example describes the problem or issue the local government needed to solve, details of how it addressed the problem, and the results of that solution or implementation.

These programs are specific to web services and were submitted as part of the PTI 2006-2007 Technology Solutions Award competition. This annual program recognizes PTI members that have demonstrated how, through the use of technology, local government has improved community services, improved internal operations or reduced costs.

Examples contained in this report:

Read more    07-13-2007

E-Government: A Strategic Planning Guide for Local Officials

Electronic government cannot fill a pothole, but it can give a citizen the opportunity to inform its government about a pothole problem and to check on the status of when the job will be done.

E-government cannot give a motorist a speeding ticket, but it allows the offender the option of paying the fine from home with a credit card instead of waiting in line and paying with cash.

E-government cannot take over the decision-making process during a city council meeting, but it can give citizens the opportunity to find out what’s on the agenda, listen or watch a public meeting from home or library and to communicate with their elected leadership through E-mail.

Clearly, E-government doesn’t replace the basic functions of local government, but it puts information and services on an entirely new medium that is accessible to citizens, businesses and government employees, according to their needs and priorities, not just government’s.

Electronic government has become so diverse and ubiquitous—just like technology in general—in its implementation and use that it’s virtually impossible to have one person cover the entire spectrum. Nor is it simply the responsibility of one person or job position. So PTI and National Information Consortium convened a focus group of leading E-gov officials - a diverse mixture of CIOs, managers and even a finance director—to discuss the topic and then had PTI members review the subsequent drafts of this guidebook.

Price: $12.50 for members and $25.00 for nonmembers.

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06-03-2002     Send a link     Topics:  Web Management & E-Government     Print version

As E-government activity matures and increases, jurisdictions will come under growing pressure to maximize the return on these investments (ROI). This publication describes the factors affecting E-government ROI, and makes recommendations for maximizing those returns.

Advice contained here comes from the experiences of a diverse range of local jurisdictions while collected through interviews with city and county IT officials. The final form of this document was shaped by a focus group conducted by PTI in 2002 that brought together CIOs and IT directors from a number of leading local government jurisdictions and private-sector experts.

The result of this broad spectrum of input is a collection of practical ideas for defining E-government ROI and ensuring that E-government spending delivers the most bang for the buck.

Price: $25.00 for members and $50.00 for nonmembers.

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02-22-2002     Send a link     Topics:  Telecommunications & IT  Web Management & E-Government     Print version

The genesis of Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network was a downturn in the Silicon Valley economy and the exodus of companies to other regions and states due in part to their frustration with regulatory and attitudinal challenges at city halls in Silicon Valley. Other regions and states were taking advantage of this frustration and recruiting our companies.

After a one-and-a-half-year planning process that brought together business leaders, elected officials, academics, and consultants, Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network was incorporated in 1993 and the Regulatory Streamlining Council was formed. This Council created the foundation for Smart Permit.

After hearing stories of cities taking up to three years to complete a permit for a company whose product became obsolete in 18 months or less, the Council convinced several cities to undertake streamlining of their permitting processes. The second major project, streamlining the number of building code amendments, involved leadership from four cities and participation by 29 jurisdictions.

The results were incredible. The codes were unified throughout the region and the number of amendments reduced from 400 to 11. Other regions in California and across the nation took notice.

With a foundation of timeliness and simplification, the third project was undertaken – put the permitting process online, with electronic connections between architects, contractors, and city halls. A small staff at Joint Venture and Smart Valley with volunteers from industry and local government provided leadership for the Smart Permit project. The results of these efforts are captured in this guidebook.

Price: $15.00 for members and $25.00 for nonmembers.

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01-31-2002     Send a link     Topics:  Web Management & E-Government     Print version