digital counties and cities best practice guide

8/3/2019 Digital Counties and Cities Best Practice Guide

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Digital CountiesanD Digital Citiessur ey

Best Practice Guide for Local Government

Produced by:


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IntroductIon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

category 1: It governance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

category 2: PublIc Safety, emergency

management and correctIonS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

IntegratedJusticeNetworks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

LawEnforcement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

OverallICTStrategicPlanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

MobileApplications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 GPS/AVLImplementations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

RecordsManagementSystems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Real-TimeCrimeWarehouses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

OtherInnovativeLawEnforcementSolutions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

EmergencyCommunications,911Computer-Aided

Dispatch(CAD)Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

FireandEmergencyMedicalServices(EMS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Corrections/Probation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

EmergencyManagement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

PublicOutreach/CommunityPolicing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

category 3: HealtH, SocIal & Human ServIceS . . . . . 20

IntegratedSocialServices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

ElectronicHealthRecords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

CommunicableDiseaseInformationandControl . . . . . . . . . . . .23

category 4: commerce, labor and

taxatIon economIc, buSIneSS, communIty

and Workforce develoPment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

category 5: fInance and admInIStratIon,Human reSourceS, lIcenSIng and PermIttIng. . .27

Finance,AdministrationandHumanResources. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Procurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

LicensingandPermitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

category 6: energy, envIronment, natural

reSourceS, ParkS and agrIculture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

GISApplications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

CustomerInteractionandWorkforceScheduling . . . . . . . . 30

ParksandRecreation,andEconomicPlanning . . . . . . . . . . . . .30

WorkCrewRouting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

OtherUniqueApplications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

RemoteLightingControls. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

SewerLineInspections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

ParksandRecreationBroadband/DigitalInclusion . . . . . . 31 SolarEnergy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

SmartBuildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

ITEnergyManagement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

DataCenterEnergyManagement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

PCEnergyManagement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

OtherGreenITFocusAreas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

category 7: cItIzen engagement, oPen

government and onlIne ServIce delIvery . . . . . . . . 34

Best-in-ClassCriteria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Best-in-ClassRecognition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

table of Contents


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The e.Republic, Inc. local government program, Digital

Communities, together with theCenter forDigitalGovernmentandGovernment Technology,proudlypresentthisinauguralBest

Practice Guide for Local Government. It includes examples of

innovative information and communications technology (ICT)

systemsandprogramsdrawnfromaward-winningcountiesand

citiesacrosstheUnitedStates.

Foroveradecade,theCenterforDigitalGovernment,together

with partnering organizations, The National Association of

Counties (NACo) and the National League of Cities (NLC), hasadministeredaseriesofsurveysabouttheuseofdigitaltechnolo-

giesbylocalgovernmenttoservicecitizens.

Intheirrstiterationlaunchedinthemid1990sthesur-

veysfocusedonacentralquestion:Whatandhowmanyservices

arebeingoeredonline?

Theseconditerationlaunchedintherstdecadeofthe

newcenturyexpandedtheview,askingquestionsaboutthe

architecture,infrastructureandpolicyframeworkinwhichdigital

technologieswerebeingused.

Beginningwiththe2010cycle,thesurveysshiftedfocustothe

resultsachievedthroughtheuseoftechnologybothinterms

ofoperatingecienciesandrealizingstrategicobjectives.Tobe

clear, they carried forward everythingof value from theearlier

approachbutarenowre-orientedaroundtheoutcomesofprevi-

ouswork.

The2010cycleisunlikeanyoftheprevioussurveysbecause

ofseismicshiftsintheeconomyand,byextension,ingovern-

mentbudgetsandservicedeliverybothintermsofdemand

andcapacitytomeetthisdemand.Manyjurisdictionshavemade

deep cuts across theboard, or eliminated entire functions, or

both,whileseekingnewmeansofsupportandcollaboration.Thisisatimewhenrelevanceandadaptabilityofgovernment(andby

extensionthepublicsectorinformationtechnologycommunity)

isbeingsubjectedtoaveryreal-worldtestonethatisbeing

conductedinfullpublicview,everydayandwitheveryencounter

betweencitizensandtheirgovernment.Theurgentquestionis

aroundhowwell,nimbleandagilegovernmentisatadaptingto

thecurrentenvironmentwiththefutureinsightwhichiswhat

adigitalcountyordigitalcitywoulddo.

Results and outcomes are at the heart of the many perfor-

mancemeasurementandmanagementprogramsusedbypublic

agencies.Whatwasgoodpracticebeforehasbecomeamatterof

survivalinthewakeofthescalcrisis.

Publicocialshavebeenclearaboutwhattheyseeasthenew

centralquestionbehindthesurveys:Whathaveyoudonewiththe

hand that youhavebeendealt? Thequestioncaptures both(a

whattheyareworkingoncurrently,and(b)whattheywouldliketo

learnabouttheirpeersacrossthecountry.

Itisthisinterestincollaborationandthedesirebylocalgovern

mentstoshareinformationandbestpracticeswitheachotherthat

hascausedustocreatethisguide.Surveyreviewers haveidentied someof the best andmost

innovativeprogramsandsystemscurrentlyimplementedincoun

ties andcitiesandhaveassembled them inthis document. The

briefdescriptionsareintendedtogivereadersanoverviewofwha

theirpeersaredoingsotheycandetermineifa similarapproach

mightmakesenseintheircommunity.

To that end, examples were selected from county and city

responseswithinsevenmajorcategoriesofservicedelivery.Selec

tionsweremadebasedontheinnovativenatureoftheapproach

itsconnectiontoastrategicpolicyagendawithintheimplement-

ing jurisdiction, results generated, and the likelihood that the

solutionmaybeadaptableandreplicableinothercommunities.

TheDigital Countiesand DigitalCities Surveys asked respon

dents to provide information on their activities in these seven

majorprogrammaticcategories:

ITGovernance

PublicSafety,EmergencyManagementandCorrections

Health,SocialandHumanServices

Commerce,LaborandTaxationEconomic,Business,

CommunityandWorkforceDevelopment

FinanceandAdministration,HumanResources,LicensingandPermitting

Energy,Environment,NaturalResources,ParksandAgriculture

CitizenEngagement,OpenGovernmentandOnlineService

Delivery

Thisguideprovides examplesfromeachof thosemajor cat

egoriesandinsomecasesfrommorespecicsubcategories

Whateverchallengesyouareencountering,itislikelyyouwillnd

informationinthisguidetohelpansweryourquestionsorpoin

youtosomeonewhomayhavealreadysolvedtheproblemand

withwhomyoucancollaborate.

introDuCtion


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Category 1: it governanCe

Thelong-termsustainabilityofICTinanyentityrequiresthat

leadershiprealizethevalueofinformationservicesandtherole

thatitcanplayindeliveringservicestothecitizenry.Thisbecomes

evenmoreapparentintoughnancialtimes,whenthedemand

for services expands and the resources to meet that demand

become less plentiful. ICT has the unique capabilitywhen

properlymanagedtohelpmeetthisdichotomyandsatisfy

thesechallengingdemands.

Howit accomplishesthatmissiongiventhemultitudeof

demandstoprovideserviceswhilekeepingtheenterprisemovingforwardwiththepaceoftechnologychangeisnosmalltask.

Inlargergovernmentalbodies,itrequiresasophisticatedgover-

nancestructureinordertobesuccessful.

Whilesuccessfulgovernancestructuresvarywidelydepending

onthedegreeofcentralizationordecentralizationoftheoverall

governmentalentity,mostlargegovernmentshaveimplemented

someformofafederation-typemodel.Thisallowsforeconomies

of scale through centralization, yet simultaneously delegates

someofthe ITresponsibilitiesonadecentralizedbasis.For the

centralICTfunctiontobesuccessfulinthisfederatedstructure,it

needstofollowanumberoffairlybasicrules.

1. rpi riships Thereneedstobeaninuential

chiefinformationocer(CIO)wholeadstheoverallICTfunction.

Thispersonmusteitherreportdirectlytothechiefelectedocial

(mayor,countyexecutive,etc.),and/orhaveanabilitytodirectly

involvesomeoneatthatlevelincriticaldecision-making.TheCIO

must have theauthority todirect and/or overseeall critical IT

projectsacrosstheenterprise.

2. Si It PThemainobjectiveoftheCIOmustbe

tomakesurethattheprioritiesoftheICTorganizationareprop-

erlyalignedwiththestrategicgoalsoftheadministration.Thereareanumberoftechniquesthatcanbeusedinaccomplishing

thisobjective,butthebestapproachistodevelopanoverallIT

strategicvisionfortheenterpriseandtoproperlydocumentitin

theformofanoverallITstrategicplan.Thebestplansareliving

documentsandareupdatedonaregularbasis.

3. g cisAformalstructureofITgov-

ernanceisestablishedwithactive,engagedcommitteesinplace

thatconsistofexecutiveleadersatthecityhallorcountyexecu-

tivelevel,aswellasseniorexecutiverepresentativesofcritical

operatingagencies.

4. rp Pis Various proven practices need

to be in place that will demonstrate repeatable results for IT

operations and program management. Enterprise architecture

techniquesandrigidfundingdecisionmodelsarealsoimportant

toestablishthepropermanagementdisciplines.

Sixentitiesdemonstratedbest-in-classleadershipinthiscat-

egory.Followingaredescriptionsoftheirsuccessfulpractices.

Hpi c, mi.

In2010,theHennepinCounty

Board and CIO began imple

menting several changes to the

structure of the enterprise IT

organization.ChangestotheITorganizationandthematurityo

thenewgovernance structurewill continue into next year. The

neworganizationalframeworkiscalledtheHennepinCountyFed

eratedModel. The coreofthefederatedmodelis anexpanded

andimprovedgovernancestructurethatprovidescountyleaders

withapredictableprocessforapprovingprojectstomovetothe

HennepinCountyBoardforapproval.

Responsibilitiesforexistinggroupshavebeenrevisedthrough

updated charters, while new groups like the Technology

AdvisoryCommitteehavebeenestablished.Thisyear,theHen

nepin County TechnologyAdvisory Committee was established

toprovideavehicleforstrategicdiscussionregardingtheroleo

business-driventechnologythroughoutthecounty.Participantsin

thestrategicdiscussionsincludethecountyboard,countyadmin

istration,theCIOandCIOsfromlocalprivateindustry.

TheInformationTechnologyGovernanceBoard(ITGB)consistsof the CIO, county administration and business directors from

throughoutthecounty.Theyaligninformationtechnologyinvest

mentswithstrategicbusinessobjectivestoensurethatfundsfo

IT are being directed toward enterprise priorities. The Technol

ogySteeringCommitteeconsistsoftheCIOandmanagersfrom

distributed IT groups throughout the county.The groupmake

recommendationstotheITGBregardingITspend,resourceallo

cation, project priorities, portfoliomanagement, shared service

deliveryandotherrelatedITissues.TheArchitectureReviewBoard

(ARB)isthegovernancefunctionwithintheEnterpriseArchitecture


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OperatingUnit.TheARBisacriticalfunctionforthecountythat

facilitatesadherencetotheenterprisearchitectureITstrategyand

standards.TheInformationTechnologyAdvisoryCouncilisaforum

forITmanagersandITsupervisorsthroughoutHennepinCountyto

communicateandcollaboratewitheachotherregardingtechnol-

ogyissuesthroughoutthecounty.

ki c, Wsh.

KingCountyreorganizedITin

the executive branch to report

to theCIO in2009, providing a

singlepointofaccountabilityto

enableimprovementsinstandards,reduceduplicationofeorts

andleverageeconomiesofscale.

Thecountyhasalsoestablishedabenetrealizationprocess

forall countyprojects to capture thebenetsrelated toan IT

investment.ThecountyhasafundingprocessforIT:

ConceptualReviewrequiringCIOandbudgetoceapproval

BudgetSubmittalrequiringexecutiveandcouncilapproval

FundingReleasesrequiringprojectreviewboardapproval

In2010,inadditiontoprovidingneededoversightonproject

requests,theCIOalsodevelopedanITbudgetadvisorytoguide

allagenciesinhowtoreduceITexpenses.Thecountyhasestab-

lishedthreeITgovernancecommitteesfocusedontechnology

strategy, business impacts and infrastructure. The committees

are composed of appropriate representatives from all county

agenciesandprovideadvicetotheexecutiveocerandtheCIO.

Throughthesecommittees,thecountydevelopeditsthirdstra-

tegictechnologyplanlastyear,whichguidesthecountyinitsITinvestmentsandalignstechnologywithbusinessneeds.

Information about the IT reorganization benets realization

andITbudgetadvisorycanbefoundatwww.kingcounty.gov/

business/oirm/governance/strategicadvisorycouncil/meetings/IT_

Reorg_Materials_SAC.aspx.

Information about the strategic technology plan can be

found at www.kingcounty.gov/business/oirm/governance/

strategicservices/strategicreports.aspx.

m c, m.

In2008,MontgomeryCounty

made specic commitment

to nancial systems overhaul

throughthe implementationo

anERPsystem,butalsobecametherstdocumentedorganiza

tiontoattemptinparallela311customercontactinitiative.

County leadership realized that the investment in technologywascrucialgiventheageofthecurrentsystemandtherisktha

createdasit tried tosupport thecountysnancialandhuman

resource systems. Forthe rst time, inter-departmentaldepen

denciesandgovernancewererequired tomoveforwardin the

implementationofenterprisesolutions.

Asaresult,steeringcommitteemodelshadtoevolvetosup-

portthebroader,cross-agencyinitiativeapprovalprocesses;and

evenmoreimportant,along-termorganizationplanwasneeded

tosupporttheseenterpriseinitiatives.Theorganizationumbrella

willencompassallenterprise-levelprojects,includingERP,MC311

MCtime, public safetymodernization andHHS enterpriseproj

ects. This organization which wouldmanage the busines

analytic,governanceandorganizationalaspectofchangesonanenterpriseprojectlevelwillreview,analyzeandprioritizebusi-

nessneedsfromacollaborativeview.

Collaborativemanagementeortsincludingoverallspon

sorshipbythecountyschiefadministrationocerenterprise

direction, and cross-departmental prioritizations have become

the focus of technology modernization program decisions

ThroughCountyStat,thecountystransparency-in-reportingpro-

cess,management andcounty residents canviewandclosely

monitorperformance.

County leaDership realizeD that

the investment in teChnologywas CruCial given the age of

the Current system anD the

risk that CreateD as it trieD to

support the Countys finanCial

anD human resourCe systems.


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o c, mih.

Oakland County is a best

practicemodelofimplementing

successful repetitive processes.

Oakland Countys Project

Management Oce (PMO) is responsible for establishing and

maintainingmethods,standards andguidelines for thecountys

projectmanagementprocesses, including a24-month ITmasterplanprepared incooperationwith ITleadershipgroups.Leader-

shipgroupsarecomprisedofallcountydepartmentsandagencies

thatmonitor,control,prioritizeandoverseealltechnologyprojects.

ThemasterplanprovidesanoverviewoftheavailableITresources

and their allocation to various county customers andapproved

projects.Italsoprovidesastatusoftheprogressofthisplanand

anexplanationofanyextremepositiveornegativevariancefrom

theoriginalplan.

OaklandCountyalsousestheInformationTechnologyInfrastruc-

tureLibrary(ITIL)methodology,frameworkandstandardstomanage

servicedeliveryandsupport.OaklandCountyhasimplementedITIL

components such as service support, servicemanagement, inci-

dentmanagementandproblemmanagement.Thusfar,ITILprocess

implementation hashelped the county operatemoreeectively,

deliverstrongerservicestothecommunityandbetteralignITwith

thecountysbusinessandeconomicdevelopmentgoals.Thisalign-

ment has enabled the county to reduce operational costswhile

launchingneweconomicdevelopmentinitiatives.

OaklandCountysaward-winningProjectManagementOce

hasaproventrackrecordof success,andservesasamodelfor

organizations looking to improve productivity, eciency andreturnoninvestments.Completedetailscanbeviewedonlineat

www.oakgov.com/pmo.

During thenext 12 to24months, amajor project-planning

initiativewillfocusonthearchitectureofamoreevolvedgovern-

mentcloud,includingthecreationofasustainablefundingand

governancemodel.ThiswillenableOaklandCountytoexpandits

sharedservicesandhostedapplicationstoothergovernments.

Throughthisenhancedcomputingcloud,othergovernmentswill

be able toconsume technology servicesprovidedby Oakland

Countyatsignicantlylowercoststhanalternativeoptions.

o c, ci.

InOrangeCounty, through a

strategic planning process, the

CIOledthedesignofacounty-

wide federated governance

model which allows IT topartnerwith county executives and

businessleaderstoensurethatthereisappropriateoversightand

thattechnologyneedsaremet.Todate,thecountyhas implementedthefollowing:

TechnologyCouncil-TheTechnologyCouncilprovidesover

sightanddirectsthevariousenterprisearchitecturegroupstha

wereestablishedtoaddresscounty-widetechnologystandards

andguidelines.Italsoreviewsimplementationstatusofongoing

county-wideITinitiatives.

Business, Application, Data & Information and Security

ArchitectureGroupsThesearchitecturegroupswereformed

withrepresentationfromcentralITandeachcountyagency

ITdepartment.Eachgroupestablisheditschartersinlinewith

thecountyITgovernancemodel.Thegoalsofeachofthese

groupsaretoestablishcounty-widestandards;bestpractices

and provide forums for sharing of information, applications

andbestpracticeswithineachITdiscipline.Theoverallgoa

istoleveragecross-countytechnicalexpertiseandcost-saving

opportunities.

ITProjectReview Board The ITProject Review Board wa

establishedwithrepresentationfrombothcountybusinessexec-

utivesandtechnologists.TheboardreviewsITprojectbusiness

casesandratesthembasedonpre-determinedcriteria;andpri

oritizes projectsand recommendsproject initiatives totheCIOandCEOthatshouldbefunded.Thisyear,projectratingcriterion

wasmorestringentduetothecurrentbudgetchallenges.Only

projectsthatwereneededtosupportcriticaltechnicalinfrastruc-

ture (dueto obsolescence),hadan18-monthprojectedROI,o

weremandatedwereapprovedforfunding.

ITBusinessCouncilTheITBusinessCouncilreviewsITpolicy

recommendations.TheITBusinessCouncilhelditsrstmeeting

inJanuary2009toreview/approvea newcounty-wide security

policy recommended by the technology council. A review o

therecommended technology projects forFY 2009-10 andFY


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Category 2: publiC safety, emergenCy management

anD CorreCtionsTheoverall criteria for identifying thebest-in-classpractices

in thecategoryof public safety, emergencymanagement and

corrections isbest statedby summarizingNACos public safety

philosophy that, It is only through a county partnershipwith

otherlevelsofgovernmentintheAmericansystemoffederalism

thatafull-scalecomprehensiveapproachmaybetakentocrime

andpublicsafetyproblems.Thispointisfurtheremphasizedby

themayor of Louisville, Ky., the2nd-highest-ranked-city in the

CenterforDigitalGovernments2010DigitalCitiesSurvey,who

statedtohisconstituentsthat,NothingwasmoreimportanttoournewcityofLouisvillethantomakecertainouremergency

responderswerelinkedtogethersotheycouldworktogetheras

aneectiveteamtohelpcitizensintimesofneed.

Integratingthe tools of justice and law enforcement isno

easytask.JustaskanyofthethousandsofITprofessionalswho

workatiteverydayacrossthecountry.Inafieldwhereresponse

and dispatch times are measured in seconds, the availabil-

ityandperformance of the systems and peoplethatsupport

them are critical. Law enforcement, emergencymanagement

andfirefightingareverytacticalfunctions,yettheinformation

technologythatisrequiredtobettermanageandadminister,

reducecrime,andmakeourneighborhoodssaferrequiresa

highlevelofstrategicfocus.

Everyoneofthecitiesandcountiesthatrankedinthetop10in

thelargestpopulationcategoriesoftheCentersDigitalSurveys

(250,000peopleandaboveforcities,and500,000andabovefor

counties) are featured inthissectionforundertakingabest-in-

classuseofsomecomponentofinformationorcommunications

technologyforimprovingpublicsafety,emergencymanagement

orcorrections.Theexamplesarevariedandincludeanumberof

trulyinnovativesolutions.

I Jsi nws

Todaysadvancedcommunicationstechnologiesandmore

recently,Software-as-a-Service(SaaS)architecturesareallow-

ingfortheintegrationoflawenforcementandjusticenetworks

acrossthecountry.Bytyingtogetherpolicedepartments,sher-

isoces,districtattorneys,correctionalfacilities,probationary

ocers,courtsandothercomponentsofthejusticesystem,we

areseeingamovementawayfrompaper-basedprocesses.Gov-

ernmentsareimplementingmuchmoreecientprocessesfor

handlingarraignments,schedulingappearances,reducingdupl

cateadministrativefunctionsandsharinginformation.

Fourlocalitiesstandoutashavingmovedaggressivelyw

theintegrationoftechnologyinthisarea:

BexarCounty,Texas

MontgomeryCounty,Md.

PalmBeachCounty,Fla.

SacramentoCounty,Calif.

b c, ts

Bexar Countys Criminal Int

grated Justice System (CIJS)

major initiative within the Bex

CountyITdepartmentseeks

modernizeandfullyintegratethecomplex,diverselegacysystem

that areinplace today.CIJSwillusestate-of-the-art technologi

workowsanddatasharing, thus eliminatingdoubledataentr

acrossthenumerouscurrentsystems.ThenewCIJSwillautoma

historicallymanualandpaper-basedproceduresandallowforana

lytic assessmentsof case data toassist in identifying bottlenec

and less-than-optimal processes. Due to these optimizations, it

estimatedthatCIJSwillreduceinitialbondingprocessesbyover2

percentandcaseadjudicationtimesby25to30percent,thusredu

ingjailpopulationsandstreamliningcriminaljusticeprocesses.

m c, m

MontgomeryCounty creatanIntegratedJusticeInformati

System(IJIS)thatintegratesda

from several law enforceme

and criminal justice data sources, enabling personnel to retrie

information for investigations and processing without having

access several systems.Onemoduleof IJIS that recently becam

operationalis thestateattorneysocecasemanagementsyste

whichhelpedmeetnew legislativemandates and increasedp

ductivity for the oce.IJISwasonepartofamulti-partstrateg

ITplanthatincludedapublicsafetysystemmodernizationplan


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communication interoperability plan, a computer-aided dispatch

roadmapandapublicsafetyenterprisearchitecture.Theseplansare

documentedintherstthreeocialpaperspublishedontheMont-

gomeryCountyPortallocatedathttp://montgomerycountymd.gov/

index.asp,underthePublicSafetyEnterpriseStrategieslink.

P bh c, f.

Palm Beach County imple-mented the Law Enforcement

Exchange (LEX) System which

connects multiple law enforce-

ment data sources, thus enabling ocers to query crime

information stored in these databases. The goal of the LEX

organizationis,Toestablishanecientandeectivetechnol-

ogy-enabledlawenforcemententerprisesystemforenhancing

thesafety,securityandqualityoflawenforcementforperson-

nelandcitizens....TheLEXsystemconnectsdisparatesoftware

anddatabasesystemsmaintainedatvariouslocationsinorderto

easilyaccessdataonaperson,anactivity(e.g.,burglary),prop-

ertyorvehicle.WithautomatedLEXsearches,hundredsofhours

ofstatimearesaved.Accesstothesystemisstrictlylimited

tolawenforcement.Therearecurrently10localagenciesand

3 state agencies contributingandsharingdata to thesystem.

Policechiefs,thestateattorneyandthesheriareallworking

togethertodevelopthegovernancestructure,proceduresand

funding fortheongoingmaintenanceandsustainabilityof the

system. Discussions are being held to consider how the LEX

systemmightbeexpandedtobecometheregionallawenforce-

mentdatasharingsolutionforsoutheastFlorida.

S c, ci.

Sacramento County has one

of the most integrated Crimi

nal Justice Information Systems

(CJIS) in the state of California

however,thesystemisagingandSacramentoCountyhasstarted

an initiative to replace CJIS. Using Java.Net technology, the

NationalInformationExchangeModel(NIEM)andWebservicesSacramentoCountyhas successfullycompleted the states rs

encryptedCaliforniaLawEnforcementTrackingSystem(iCLETS)

tooer real-time interface todepartmental case managemen

systems.Thecountyalsoinitiatedanewprojectto replacethe

CJISwarrantsrepository.Inaddition,theSacramentoCountySher

isDepartmenthastaken thelead intheregion toimplemen

COPLINK.COPLINKisatactical,line-levelsolutiontotheproblem

of inaccessible or irretrievable information asa resultof dispa

ratelawenforcementinformationsystemsthatlackacommon

platform. The sheris department in collaborationwith13

counties,morethan20citypolicedepartments,andotherstate

andfederalagencieswillbeabletoexchangecriminaljustice

data,reduceredundancies,poolresourcesandshareexpenses.

lw e

Withpublicsafety/lawenforcementatthetopofmostloca

governmentsprioritiesandwithalargenumberofnew,inno-

vativetechnologiestochoosefromthebestcaseexample

ofICTusagearenumerousandquitevaried.Inordertofocus

attentiononthoseeffortsthataremostnoteworthy,wehave

organizedthebestcaseexamplesintothefollowingcategories OverallICTStrategicPlanning

MobileApplications

GPS/AVLImplementations

RecordsManagementSystems

Real-TimeCrimeWarehouses

OtherInnovativeSolutions

OverallICTStrategicPlanning

WhilemanyITinitiativesinlawenforcementareoftenone-o

eortsfundedbyfederalorothergrantmoneylimitingthe

the sheriffs Department in

Collaboration with 13 Counties,

more than 20 City poliCe

Departments, anD other state anD

feDeral agenCies has joineD this

projeCt to share Criminal justiCe

Data, reDuCe reDunDanCies, pool

resourCes anD share expenses.


10/40


11/40

theeld.Inaddition totheWi-Fisystem,thenewtechnologies

includeautomatedeldreporting(AFR),portalsformanagement

reviewsofoperationsandcrimeanalysisreporting.

Prine geores county, md.

The police department and

thecourtsarepilotinganelec-

tronic citation application,whichwillallowocerstoscan

operatorslicensesandpopulatedriverinformationoncitations.

Thiswillelectronicallygenerateapapercitation,whilesimultane-

ouslytransmittingthecitationdatatothecourtsandstatepolice.

Thissystemisexpectedtoreducedataentryerrorsandtheaver-

age time duration of trac stops. The mobile data computer

(MDC)requirementsarebeingmetbytheuseofaprivatewireless

network.Throughthiseort,thepolice,reandsherinowhave

accessintheirvehiclestotheInternet,variousdatasourcesand

services (such as themotor vehicles administration), e-Tickets,

countyWebmail,andcomputer-aideddispatchinformation.

GPS/AVLImplementations

Inadditiontomobileapplications,theexpandeduseofwire-

less systems is allowing global positioning system (GPS) and

automaticvehiclelocation(AVL)technologiestobedeployedon

policeandothervehicles.Thesetechnologies,whileinitiallycaus-

ingocersintheeldsomeconcernthattheyarebeingclosely

watched,actuallyhavesignicantbenetsasourtwobest-in-

classlocalitiesdemonstrate.

Wshs c, n.y.

The electronic ticket applica-

tion,pilotedfortheYonkersPolice

Department, allows ocers to

scan a motorists license and

registration, therefore avoiding

manualdataentryofinformationtogenerateatracticketorinci-

dentreportinthepolicecar.AGPSGatePoliceAVLcarapplication

isusedtotrackpolicecarsonamapwithreal-timestatusinforma-

tion.Historicalinformationisreadilyavailableintheuserinterface

andreportscanbecreatedforfurtheranalysis.Inadditiontoallow-

ingfasterdispatch,e-mailnoticationscanbesentforeventsthat

requireattention,suchasvehicletheftandexcessiveidling.Metrics

wereestablished tomonitorthe systems performance,which to

datehasbeenexcellent.

Wis-S, n.c.

Winston-Salem has also

installed an AVL system in its

patrol cars andis having similar

results.TheAVLsolutionisinte-

gratedwithCADsoftware,allowingtheclosestocertorespond

toanevent.TheAVLimplementationisimprovingresponsetime,

decision-makingandocersafety.Vehiclesaretrackedcontinu-

ouslyandcanbevisuallyanalyzedinwaysnototherwisepossible.

Actual vehicle routes are stored and then analyzedto improve

futureresponses.Camerasarealsoinstalledinallpolicevehicles,

andthey automaticallybegin recordingwhen certaincriteria is

met.Alargedatastoragesystemenablesthevideostobemain-

tainedasneededandsearchedbasedonarangeofcriteria.The

video documentation has been used to make convictions for

which there would otherwise have not been sucient proof.

Thevideosmayalsobeusedasatoolforocertrainingorfor

evidenceonbehalfofocerswhohavebeenaccusedofinap-

propriatebehavior.

RecordsManagementSystemsCritically important at the center of any law enforcement

agencyisitsrecordsmanagementsystem(RMS).Manyofthese

systemsareoutdatedanddonotutilizetodaysmodernsystem

features, such as remote data entry or user-friendly interfaces.

Twolocalitieshavemadegreatprogressinupdatingtheirrecords

managementsystems.FairfaxCounty,Va.mentionedearlier

isone,andSanAntonio,Texas,istheother.


12/40

S ai, ts

In addition todeploying the

new RMS, San Antonio is also

deploying an automated field

reporting(AFR)systemforboth

the police and fire departments. These systems will also be

leveraged by some of the other jurisdictionswithin the San

Antonioregion.Thenewsystemswillsignificantlyexpandtheavailabilityofinformationandwilldramaticallyimprovecrime

reporting,crimeandintelligenceanalysis,andtheimplemen-

tationofanewintelligence-ledpolicingstrategy(ILPS)within

theSanAntonioPoliceDepartment(SAPD).Examplesoffuture

anticipatedbenefitsinclude:

handwritten reporting being replaced by a fully automated

crimeandbookingsystemutilizingmobile computersin the

policecars;

anexpanded amountandqualityof informationavailable in

thefuturetosupportimprovedstrategicandtacticalplanning;

enhanced ability to interface with multiple data, video and

voice systems thatcanbeavailableto improveocer safety,

crimeghtingandproblemsolving;and

automated internalprocesses, such as annual uniformcrime

reportingtotheFBIandinternalqualitycontrolaudits.

Real-TimeCrimeWarehouses

Data warehouse technology andbusiness intelligence soft-

ware are becomingcommon tools inlaw enforcementsbattle

againstcrimeandterrorism.Notonlyarethesetoolsimportant

tohelpapprehendcriminalsbasedoninformationaboutperpe-tratorsfrompriorcrimesthatisstoredinthedatabase,butdata

trendingtechniquesarealsousedtoavertcrimebeforeitoccurs.

Information from 311 systems about minor incidents such as

noisecomplaintscanalsobestoredandmatchedwith911data

andusedtohelpavoidgreaterproblemssuchasghts, shoot-

ingsorothercrimes.Followingareexamplesofsomeofthemore

advancedusesofthistechnology.

bs, mss.

Bostonsreal-timecrimecente

isusedextensively,andisrespon-

sible for monitoring ongoing

incidents and relaying relevan

informationtopoliceeldunits.

chi, I.

The Chicago Police Depart

ments (CPD) Citizen and Law

EnforcementAnalysisandReport-

ing System (CLEAR) has allowed

CPDtostreamlinemanyprocesseswhilealsogivingocersinthe

eldapowerfultooltoassistinapprehendingsuspects.Itscurrently

beingusedthroughoutIllinoisandisrecognizedbytheU.S.Justice

Departmentasabestpractice.In2010,CPDappliedfor,andreceived

agrantthatwillallowCPDandregionalpartnerstoleverageCLEAR

tosharedataacrossjurisdictionalborderstobetterprevent,prepare

forandrespondtocriminalactivity,majorincidents,nationaldisas

tersandterroristattacks.TheU.S.Departmentof Justice,Oceo

CommunityOrientedPolicingServices,recognizedthepotentialo

theCLEARsystemandprovidedcloseto$6milliontobematched

bynearly$2million incity funding, toenhance andexpand the

CLEARsystemtocreatearegionalinformationsharingsystemcalled

R-CLEAR(RegionalCLEAR).Thisexpansionwillallowpolicedepart

ments fromnorthwest Indiana and southernWisconsin to share

datawithover17,000lawenforcementusersfromover400 locastateandfederalcriminaljusticeagenciestoidentifycriminalsand

solvecrimes.

S l ci, uh

The newly commissioned Sal

Lake Information Center (SLIC

is the citys fusion center. Fusion

centersacrossthenationfocuson


13/40

gatheringintelligencetoenablelawenforcementtobecome

predictiveratherthanreactive.Thegoalistomovelawenforce-

mentintothemodeofpreventingcriminalactivityratherthan

arresting those responsible after the fact thus creating a

safercommunity.TheSLICusesdifferenttypesoftechnology,

including data warehousing, data harvesting and analytical

technologies.Byintegratingthepolicerecordssystemwiththe

citysGISsystemandapplyinganalyticaltools,theSLICisable

tomaptrends,patternsandmakeprojectionsastowhattypeof

activityislikelytooccurinanygivenplace.

OtherInnovativeLawEnforcementSolutions

ThetypesofinnovativeICTsolutionsthatarebeingusedin

todayslawenforcementagenciesappeartobeendless.Inaddi-

tion tothosealreadymentioned,ChicagoandBostonareboth

makinguseofsophisticatedgunshotdetectiontechnology.Gun-

shotdetectionisanacousticaltechnologythathelpsdetectand

locategunre.Onaverage,noticationsarrive1to2minutesprior

to911calls,andsometimesintheabsenceofacall.Thetechnol-

ogyhelpsimproveresponsetime,identifyhotspotareas,recover

evidenceandlocateindividualsinpossessionofguns.

Videosurveillanceisbecomingmoresophisticatedinanumber

ofcitiesaroundthecountry.Perhapsmostinnovativeishowitis

now beingused inNew York City.Working inpartnershipwith

privateentitiesinbothLowerandMidtownManhattan,theNYPD

hascreatednetworksofthousandsofvideocamerastoprovide

real-timevideosurveillance.Takingthisonestepforward,theyhave

networkedthesecamerasbacktoacentrallocationwherethey

canmonitorthenetworkusingadvancedvideoanalyticsoftware.

Whenfullycongured,theanalyticscanalertpoliceinrealtime

toavarietyofpotentiallysuspiciousobjectsoractivities,includ-ingunattendedparcels,movementinrestrictedareasandunusual

loitering.Thetechnologyenablesinvestigatorstosearchmultiple

camerassimultaneouslytoretrieveincidentsofconcern.Theproj-

ectwillcontinuetoexpandtoinclude3,000camerasintotal.More

informationontheinitiativemaybefoundathttp://bit.ly/dzo9HU.

e ciis, 911 cp-

ai disph (cad) Sss

The lifeblood of police, re andemergencymedicalopera-

tionsisthe911callcenter,theassociatedCADsystem(s)andthe

emergency communications radio networks. Integrating these

systemsacrossthediverseagenciesthatmakeuppublicsafety

oracrossmultiplejurisdictionsis,tosaytheleast,adicultand

challengingproject.Couplethiswithevolvingtechnology tha

includes electronic dispatch, GIS and GPS/AVL technologies

integratedalarmandgunshotdetectionsystems,cellular-based

technologies including mobile phones, text-based service

andbroadbandcapabilitiesandthesenewsystemsbecome

amarvel of thelatest ICT technologies, nottomentiona very

sophisticatedbusinessoperation.Anumberoflocalitieshaveimplementednewe911systems

andarebeingidentiedasbest-in-classexamplesofe911,CAD

technologyandemergencycommunications.

a, c.

Workingwiththeredepart

ment, Auroras IT departmen

delivered a network-based re

stationalertingsystemintegrated

withCAD.Thisredundantalertingrequirementwasrequiredfo

thecitytoachieveanISOratingof2(thehighestintheDenver

metroregion)whichinuencestheinsurancepremiumforhome

andbusinesseswithincitylimits.Becauseofthischange,there

departments8-minute response time statistics have improved

from88percenttoitsall-timebestof92percent.Thecityalso

implemented an IP-based e911 telephone software answering

systemintheemergencydispatchcenter,whichpositionsitfor

next-generationCADand911systemsthatallowbroadenedlines

of communication (texting and receiving pictures, videos andaudiofromsmartphones).

Separately,inaneorttoemphasizeself-serviceonlinechan

nelsandreducesomeofthee911andpoliceworkload,thecity

isusing a third-party hostedWeb application foronline trac

accident reporting. This time-saving application allowscitizens

involvedinatracaccident(non-injury,lessthan$1,000damage

nodrugs involved) to report online andreceive police reports

automaticallyusedforinsuranceclaims.Theinformationcollected

istransferredelectronicallytoAuroraspolicerecordsystemand

intotheColoradoDMV.


14/40

fi c, v.

TheFairfaxCounty,Va.,Oce

ofEmergencyManagementand

Sheris Oceworking with

thePoliceDepartment,Fireand

Rescue ServicesDepartment andDepartment of Public Safety

Communications have executed a complex procurement

addressingmulti-agency technologyand systemrequirements.This includes CAD, police records managements, re records

management, re emergency medical service reporting and

CMSfortheSherisOce.ThiscomplexCADandRMSproject

isstill inprocessand,whencompleted,willresultin signicant

improvements to public safety, including a multi-jurisdictional

mapthatsupportsthemostecientroutingtopointswithinthe

county andneighboring jurisdictions; a newGIS-enabledCAD

system,whichwillallowtheclosestandmostappropriateunitto

respond;andmobiledigitalconnectivitytotheRMS,whichwill

allowocerstosubmitelectronicreports.

ThecountyemploysauniqueCAD2CADexchangeastan-

dards-basedservice-orientedapproach(SOA)todataexchange

whichallowsjurisdictionstoviewthereal-timestatusofre

unitsandrequestresourcesfromoneanotherdirectlyfromwithin

theirownjurisdiction.Reductionindispatchtimeandturnout

timeisthebenchmarkusedtomeasureresults.Alexandriasprior

averagetimeofgettingamedicalunitonitswaywas90seconds.

Thecityisnowdoingthiswithin20seconds.Thisisa78percent

reductionintime.

Hp, v.

ThecityofHamptoncompleted

a major 911 emergency com-

munications systems upgrade to

providestate-of-the-artradioand

telephonetechnologiestothepublicandrstresponders.In2010,

deployment of a new P25 standards-based interoperable public

safety/city agency 800MHz radio systemwith2,000 subscrib-

erswascompleted. The systemprovides rst responderswith

radio-to-radiointeroperabilityacrossotherlocalityandregional

systems. Radio system improvements include better on-stree

andin-buildingcoverage,modernizedinfrastructure,enhanced

redundancyand survivability, complete interoperabilitywith

regionalfirstresponderagencies,andimplementationofmiti

gationstrategiesatcommunicationssitesforwindandflood.

Thesystem is integratedwith theenterprise telephonenet

worktoensurediversecallrouting,flexible911resilienciesand

disasterrecovery.

lisi, k.

The city combined its 911 and

311 operationsand, in2010, Louis

villeMetroopenedthe$90million

MetroSafebuilding. MetroSafe is a

jointoperation toconsolidatecommunications for911,metropolice

reandrescueandemergencymedicalservices.Inaddition,MetroSafe

oersinteroperabilityforallremaining911PSAPswithinitsjurisdiction

Thecityalsocompletedamassiveoverhaulofitsemergencycommuni-

cationsnetwork.Thenewnetworkallows59governmentagencieswith

over5,000radiostosharevoiceanddata.Italsoincreasesandstream

linesservicesthroughnewerapplications,infrastructureanddevices.

consolidatesPSAPs,andmergesredispatchwithMetroSafe.Thenew

automatedcalldistribution(ACD)systemhasresultedinfasterresponse

timesforcalls,from60to70percentofcallsansweredtoover90percen

ofemergencycallsansweredinlessthansixseconds.

nw y, n.y.

The city moved forward with

its unique, privately managed

publicsafetybroadbandnetwork

known as NYCWIN. NYCWIN, a

rst-of-its-kind4Gprivatebroadbandnetwork,supportsnumerous

remoteandmobileusersthroughoutthecity.Partneringnotonl

withpublicsafety,butalsowithothercityagencies,NYCWINpro

videsfastaccesstomyriadmobileapplications.ByutilizingNYCWIN

theNewYorkCityDepartmentofTransportationhasembarkedon


15/40

anexpansionprogramtocoverallofitsmorethan12,000signal-

izedintersections.Byreplacingoutdated,leasedcoppercircuitswith

wirelessconnectivity,thecityprovideshigh-speeddatacommuni-

cationsusingtheintelligenttransportationsystems(ITS)standards

to support online, real-timecontrol andmonitoring of the trac

controllers.

Prine geores county, va.

Prince Georges County,

Va., has implemented a public

safety radio s trategy, which

has increased bandwidth and

allowedforgreaterinter-agencycommunicationsintheevent

ofamulti-jurisdictionalemergency.The700MHzradiosystem

allows a single system to support 23 public safety agencies.

AccordingtoRiverdaleParkPoliceChiefTeresaChambers,The

lifelineformenandwomenonthestreetisourabilitytocom-

municate.Thisisthefirsttimeinmy35thyearofpolicingthat

wewillbeabletotalktoPrinceGeorgesCountyandalsoother

municipalities.A$1.5millionfederalgrantisfundingtheacqui-

sitionofthe700MHzradios.Thenewcounty-wideradiosystem

willallowmunicipalpolicedepartmentstocommunicatewith

county,stateandothermunicipalpolicedepartmentsonthe

samesystemforthefirsttime.

W c, n.c.

Thecountyupgradedits800MHzradiosystem,anditsalpha-

numeric and tone and voice

paging platforms that are used

bycountyandmunicipallawenforcement,re,emergencymedi-

calservices,andothers.WakeCountysradiosystemisanintegral

partoftheNorthCarolinaStateHighwayPatrolVoiceInteroper-

ability Plan for Emergency Responders (VIPER) radio network.

WakeCountycompletedmigrationoftheWakeForestandRTP

radiositetosimulcasttechnology,addingsignicantcallcapacity.

WakeCounty and thecityof RaleighoperatetheRaleigh-Wake

Emergency Communications Center (RWECC) which serves

asthecriticallinkamongallpublicsafetyagenciesandcitizens

Wake andRWECC sta replaced theexistingCADprimaryand

backupserversandupgradedthesoftwaretothemostcurrent

releasestopreserveandextendeciencyintheiroperations.The

countysemergencymedicalservicesdeployedamobilegateway

ineachvehicletoensurecontinuousbroadbandconnectivityfo

theexisting navigationand dispatch software on thevehicles

laptops,LifeNetinterfacesandRoadsafetyblackboxmodules.

fi e mi Sis (emS)

WhenitcomestoITimplementations,reandEMSunitshave

nottraditionallyreceivedthesameattentionastheirlawenforce-

ment counterparts. However, the following examples indicate

thatischanging.

fi c, v.

InFairfaxCounty,emergency

responders can collect patien

treatment information in the

field by using a tablet PC. In

addition, COTS software allows the county to rapidly iden

tify,prepareforandcoordinategeneraldeploymentofpublic

safetyresourcesandmutualaidunits.Thenewsystemsup-

portstheallocationoffiredepartmentequipment,improved

strategicfireresourceplanning,andfireboxanalysisandrede

signbasedoneventtype,locationandfrequency.Thesystem

alsoallowsuserstoevaluatetheeffectivenessofcurrentand/

or proposed mutual aid stations, thereby facilitating bettedecision-makingwhendraftingfuturemutualaidagreements

m c, m.

Montgomery County imple

mentedePCR,whichissimilarto

FairfaxCountyssystem.ePCRisa

eldreportingsystemthatutilize

mobile computer and wireles


16/40

communicationstechnologytorecordpatientcaredataenrouteat

thepatientsside.ThissysteminterfaceswithCADtoprovideeld

personnelwithdatawhiletreatingthepatient.Italsointerfaceswith

MedtronicLifePak(aheartmonitordevice)togatherpatientdiagnos-

ticandassessmentdata.ePCRgreatlyimprovedtheEMSbusiness

processthatallowstheagencytogatherpatientdatamoreaccu-

rately and quickly. This systemenables the county toprovide an

improvedlifesavingservicetothecitizen.Hospitalscannowprovide

betterandfastermedicaltreatmentduetoamorecomprehensive

HIPAA-compliantpatientreportgeneratedbythesystem.

risi, ci.

The Riverside Fire Depart-

ment (RFD) uses software that

integratesreandEMSdatawith

GIS, allowing RFD to map and

analyzedata.ThissystemhelpsRFDidentifyincidentpatternsand

response eectiveness, compare estimated response times with

actualresponsetimesandanalyzestationresponsezones.RFDcan

developdensitymapsof incidentsbytimeortype,conductspa-

tialtrendandhistoricalincidentanalysis,andgeneratehotspotsof

incidentactivityamongotherthingsthroughthemodeling

capabilitiesofthesoftware.Theredepartmentcanbreakdown

responsetimeintomultiplecomponentstoanalyzedispatchtime,

timeenroute,timeinstation,andothers.RFDcanalsocompare

responsetimeofindividualunits,stationsorbattalions.Addition-

ally,RFDhasdeployedmobiledatacomputerswithGPScapability

in its response units. These interfacewith thedispatch systems

automaticvehiclelocation(AVL)feature.Whenfullyconguredandoperational,AVLwillassistwithoptimaldispatchingofunits,allow-

ingfortheclosestunittorespondtoanincident.

ts, ai.

In January 2009, the Tucson

Fire Department implemented

a COTS solution to provide

an accurate method of billing

patientsandinsurancecompaniesandmoreecientlycollecting

fees.Previously,alldatawascollectedmanuallyandthepaper-

workwassubmittedtothebillingdepartmentattheendofeach

shift.Nowalldataforbillingiscollectedintheeldandtransmit-

tedelectronicallyusing thecity network. Thedepartment also

just completed the installation of a tablet patient care report-

ingsystem.Inadditiontoimprovedpatientdatacollection,this

ePCRsysteminterfaceswiththebillingsystemandwillallowthe

departmenttosubmitbillstoinsurancecompaniesquicklytopre

ventpaymentrefusals.

cis/Pi

Correctionsandprobationdepartmentsareacriticalcompo-

nentof thepublicsafetyand lawenforcementcycle.Reducing

recidivismisamajorgoalofmost,ifnotall,municipalities.ICT

technologies are also playingan increasingly important role in

theseagencies.

b c, ts

Bexar County is working to

automate jail processes to con

trolcriminaljusticesystemscosts

andstreamlinejailmanagement

TheJailPopulationAnalysisSystem(JPAS)wascreatedtoassist

Planning andResource Management (PRM) inmonitoring and

reportingonthejailpopulationonadailybasis.Thesystemtracks

all inmatescurrentlyin custody, all inmateswhowere released

(whichisfurthersplitintogeneralreleasesandthosewhobonded

out),alongwithallnewintakes,detentionsandsentencesoveraspecicreportingperiod.

chs c, v.

Chestereld County recently

designed, created and imple-

menteda new jailmanagement

system (JMS) to meet specic

requirements for the sheri and


17/40

policedepartments.Thecountyimplementedphaseoneofthe

bookingfrontendprojectwithsheriandpolicedepartments

toprovideautomatedfront-enddataentryforjailintakeandauto-

maticallytransferdatatothestateLiveScansystem.Thiseliminates

duplicatedataentryissuesandimprovesdataintegrity.

ki c, Wsh.

In 2010, King County renedseveralonlineservicesassociated

with regional criminal justice,

including its jail inmate lookup

service(JILS).Thisonlinejailregisterallowscitizenstodetermine

whoisbeingheldinoneofthetwocountyjailfacilities,andnd

informationrelatedtotheirstatus(suchasvisitingscheduleand

costofbail).In2009,JILSreceivedanaverageof525,000inquiries

permonththeseinquiriesrepresentreducedphoneinquiries

tothejail,andimprovedinformationaccessforcitizens.Going

forward,KingCountyintendstofurtherimprovecorrectionsby

replacing the jail management systems. Thiswould allow the

countyto:

provideonlinerecordingoflogbookentriesforsecuritychecks;

eliminateduplicatedataentryofinformationabouttheinmate

intomultipleintakesystems;

providereadilyavailablehistoryforoenderswhoarealready

inthesystem;

betteridentify inmateswith integratedmug shots and bio-

metricidentication(singledigitngerprint)uponintake;

provide system-basedmanagement of inmate visitation, as

opposedtothecurrentmanualprocessthatishardtoresearch; automatethecalculationofsentences,takingintoaccountthe

creditfortimeserved,goodtime,goodtimeremoved,con-

secutiveandconcurrentsentences andcourt-orderedinput;

and

schedule and track inmate attendance at educational and

behaviormodicationprogramssuchasAA,GEDclassesand

religiousprograms.

o c, mih.

Oakland Countys Distric

Court Probation System (DCPS

isaninteractivereal-timesystem

that allows court sta to easily

accessprobationinformation.Thisapplicationwhichreplaced

amanual,paper-intensivesystemallowscourtstoprovideser-

viceswithfewer probationocers.Probationocers canviewcase information,enroll defendants in court-ordered programs

enterresultsofcourt-ordereddrugandalcoholtests,setsched

ules formeetingwith clients andsearch thedatabase. Outpu

fromthesystemincludestheabilityto create letterstoclients

court orders and case lists. DCPS passes information back to

themainframetoupdatedataandtocreatearegisterofaction

entries.Theapplicationisexpectedtopayforitselfinfouryears

andsave$200,000annuallyinsubsequentyears.

Wshs c, n.y.

Westchester County has

been working to reduce cost

and increase eciencies associ

ated with the care of inmate

atthecountyjail.Thecountyisintegratinganalyticsfromdispa

ratesystemsandreinforcingitscommitmenttopublicsafety.An

inmatemedicationdispensingsystemallowsformedicationstobe

orderedinsucientquantity,butdispensedimmediatelypriorto

consumption.Thecountyestimatesthatthenewsystemwillsaveapproximately$150,000inmedicationcosts.Thecountyalsodevel-

opedaWeb-basedsystemthatwillimprovethedeliveryofmenta

healthservices.ThesystemservesasavitaltoolforCorrectiona

Health Services (CHS) sta and the Department of Community

MentalHealth(DCMH)astheyassessthehealthofWestchesters

prisonpopulationanddelivermentalhealthandhousingservices

e m

Inmanylocalities,emergencymanagementagenciesexistto

coordinatetheemergencyresponseofmultipleagenciesinthe


18/40

caseofdisastersorotheremergencysituations.Informationand

communications technologies are playing a critical role inper-

formingtheseduties.

bs, mss.

The city of Boston is using

AVL technology to improve

municipalmanagementofsnowemergencies.Bostondeveloped

the Snow Common Operational Picture or SnowCOP. Using a

trackingservertomanageGPSdatafeedsfromcityvehiclesand

theCRMsystemto track call center inquiries, thesystemmaps

snowservicerequestswithreal-timeplowlocationsandroutes.

SnowCOP allows city agencies involved in snow emergency

operationstocollaborate,betterdistributeplows,providemore

informedresponsestoincomingcallsforsnowservicesandiden-

tifyproblemareasevenbeforecallsarereceived.

f Wh, ts

In Fort Worth, ICT is being

used in the development of

systems integrations between

emergency management and

thepoliceandresystems.TheFortWorthcitywebsiteisusedto

communicatecrucialemergencyinformationtothepublic.Infor-

mationprovidedbytheOutdoorWarningSystem,KnoWhat2Do

inanEmergency,SpecialNeedsAssistanceProgram,SKYWARNStormSpotters,RadioAmateurCivilEmergencyServiceandother

suchinformationisavailableviathecityofFortWorthswebsiteat

www.fortworthgov.org/citymanager/em/default.aspx?id=354.

ThecityofFortWorthalsoimprovedoperationalandadministra-

tiveprocessesbyexpandingitsexistingSpecialNeedsAssistance

Program(SNAP)toinclude16surroundingcounties.Thecitydevel-

oped an Internet application tohelp identify citizens that have

specialneedsandthatmightrequirespecialattentionshouldan

emergencyoccur.Throughtheapplication,constituentscanregis-

terthemselvesforSNAP.Inaddition,thecitydevelopedaninterface

tointegrateSNAPinformationwithreandpolicesystems.SNAP

informationisavailabletorstrespondersarrivingonthescene

Seemoreatwww.fortworthgov.org/applications/snap/.

m c, m.

MontgomeryCounty isusing

geographic Web services tech

nology forGISanalysisofpoliceandre incidentdata. ThisWeb

serviceisutilizedforconversionof911incidentdata,whichallowsa

commonmappingoperationalpictureapplicationforemergency

management. Combining social network information, externa

geographicandnon-geographicinformationallowsforacommon

operational picture, which puts critical information in a centra

placeforrstrespondersanddecision-makers.Thegoalistoreach

outtoother911emergencyresponsecenterstoshareincidentdata

acrosstheregion.

nw y, n.y.

New York City strives to be

at the vanguardof public safety

and emergency managemen

initiatives. In 2010, the Oce o

EmergencyManagement developed a situational awareness fo

eldresponsesystem,whichprovidesautomated,round-the-clock

situationalawarenessinformationin60secondsorless.Thecity

canquicklydeliverPDFmapsandreportstorstrespondersintheld.Thesemapsandreportscan includeinformationaboutthe

nearestcritical facilities andadministrativeboundaries,aswell a

demographics and land use information. Formore information

visitwww.urisa.org/les/NYC_OEM_ESIG_2010.pdf.


19/40

o c, ci.

Orange Countys PrepareOC

isasecure,reliable,anytime,any-

where Web-based solution that

brings togethermultiple Orange

County preparedness and response initiatives in a collaborative

space.Thesiteservesthe114memberjurisdictionsofthecountys

operationalarea(OA),includingcountyagencies,schoolandcom-munitycollegedistricts,34cities,localwaterdistrictsandmultiple

specialdistricts.ItisamodelfortheotherOAsinthestateofCali-

forniaasitcreatesacollaborativeenvironmentinwhichresources

andcommunicationsareopenandavailabletotheentireresponse

community.PriortotheimplementationofPrepareOC,OAmembers

hadnowaytoshareinformationinaconsistent,reliablefashion.All

materials were paper-based and infrequently distributed. Aware-

ness of and access to critical preparedness and response tools

were limited. User roles and access rights are now customized

tomeet the needsof individual teams.The site is hosted at an

out-of-state,TierIVdatacenterensuringthataslongasanautho-

rizeduserhas Internetaccess,heorshecanaccessPrepareOC.

Toreadmore,visitwww.prepareoc.org.

Pi oh/ci Pii

Lastly,wewishtorecognizethoselocalitiesthathaveexcelledat

includingthepublicincommunitypolicingorotherprograms.

bs, mss.

The city of Boston is taking

theleadinsharingpublicsafety

information with constituents.

Local crime data is available

through CrimeReports.com, a user-friendly website allowing

publicaccesstomapsofcrimedata.Weeklycrimestatisticsare

publishedtoawebsite,blogandRSSfeed.Inaddition,Ready-

Boston is a city-wide community preparedness initiative that

educatesBostoniansaboutalltypesofemergencies(bothnatu-

ralandhumancaused).Bostonisoneoftherstcitiestoutilize

Twitterfordisseminatingpublicsafetynoticeswithover20,000

activefollowersreceivingpublicsafety-relatedtweetsconcerning

roadclosures,motoraccidents,res,crimeincidentsandarrests.

cps chisi, ts

Corpus Christis online inter

activecrimemapallowscitizens

to view crime data and neighborhood incidents, subscribe

toalertsandsubmitanonymoustips.Viewtheinteractivecrime

mapatwww.cctexas.com/police/.

S l ci, uh

Engaging citizens is an

ongoing eor t in Salt Lake

City and part of Mayor Ralph

Beckers 4 Es: Eciency o

Operations, Environmental Stewardship, Equality for All, and

Engaging Employeesandthe Public. The city isdeploying ini

tiativesinthepublicsafetyandemergencymanagementareas

to increase public engagement.YouTubeandFlickrhavebeen

incorporatedinthewaythepolicedepartmentsendsoutmes-

sagestothepublicitserves.Facebook,TwitterandMySpacear

alltoolsusedtoengagethepublicina dialogueonpoliceand

retopics.Trackingvolunteersandhavingthemtrainedbefore

theyreneededisachallenge.Knowingwhoandwheretheyare

andwhattrainingtheyhavereceivedhelpsgettherightpeopletotherightplace.ThecityisrollingoutaWebportalthatwill

allowindividualsandgroupstoregisterandpayforCERTtraining


20/40

Forhealth, social and human services, budget challenges are

two-fold.Whiletheseagenciesarecontendingwithbudgetcuts,

theirservicesareinhigherdemandfromapublicthatisalsoexpe-

riencingnancialhardships.Informationtechnologyhaslongbeen

criticalfortheseagencies,butnevermorethantoday.Sophisticated

ITsolutionsareneedediftheseagenciesaretocontinueservicing

highercaseloadswithfewworkers.Anumberoflocalitiesarestep-

pinguptotheplateandoeringinnovativesolutions.

I Si SisInmanystates,socialservicesareadministeredatthecounty

level,whilethefundingandtheadministrativerulesareoftendic-

tatedateitherthefederalorstatelevelsofgovernmentbymany

distinct,separatelygovernedagencies.Thiscauseslocalgovern-

mentsanumberofuniqueproblems,nottheleastofwhichare

inconsistentrulesacrossmyriadITsystems.

Recognizingtheinecienciesthiscausessocialservicesagen-

ciesandtheconfusionanddysfunctionitcausesthecitizens

receivingthoseservicesanumberof localgovernmentshave

undertakenprogramstoaddressthesechallenges.Fourlocalities

arebeingrecognizedfortheleadershiprolestheyaretaking.

m c, m.

In Montgomery County, HHS

is embarking on a multi-year

innovative initiative to establish

an integrated service model,

comprisedofhealthcareandhumanservicesorganizationsset

up to serve the countys Medicaid anduninsured populations(approximately 172,000 residents). HHShasundergonea multi-

year eort to consolidatemultiple social service groups under

oneHHSumbrella.Collectively,130applicationswereinuseby

thesegroupswithvaryingtechnologiesmakingthisframe-

workdiculttosupportandmaintain,andcreatingchallenges

insharingdata.

HHSworkersneeded toenter data inmultiple systems that

servespecicprogramseitherinternallyorasstatemandated.The

inability toconnect theinformationin thesesystemscreateda

barriertoeectivelycoordinatingcare.HHSfocusedondesigning

andimplementingacentralizedintakeprocess,resultinginpro

cessimprovementandtheeliminationofpotentialredundancies

HHS created 14 data elements uniquely identifying individual

acrossdatasetsthatwillsupportanintegratedservicedelivery

modelandenableHHStobecomesynchronizedwiththemaster

client indices ofother systems andexchanges. This centralized

approachreplaced94legacyapplicationsandprovidedthefol-

lowingbenets:

1.Reductioninunstablelegacyapplicationsupport

2.Reductioninserversneededtorunoldlegacyapplications3.Abilitytogetanunduplicatedcountofthoseserved

4.Abilitytodeterminehowmanyclientsreceivedmultiple

services

nw y, n.y.

Servingmore than eightmil

lion residents, the city of New

York because of its consoli

dated city/county governmen

structureacross ve separate countiesprovides oneof the

largestsocialinfrastructuresintheworld.Multipleagencieswor

toprovideservicestotheneedy,andstruggledtodosounde

thechallengeofaginginformationsilosanddieringadministra-

tivepoliciesofvariousprograms.

Toaddressthischallengeandtoprovideacommonintakepro

cess,thecitydevelopedtheHHS-Connectprogram,acity-wide

initiativetoprovideacommoninformationstructuretoservethe

growingsocialserviceneedsofthepopulation.Inordertodothis

thenewlyformedHHS-Connectorganizationchallengedsomeof thebasicpoliciesdemanded by federal and stateagencies

andalsodevelopedasophisticatedSoftware-as-a-Service(SaaS

data-sharingstructurewithacommonfront-endinformationand

intake process. HHS-Connect has received numerous awards

including recognition by the National Information Exchange

Model(NIEM),foritsoutstandinguseofSaaSinterfacestandards.

HHS-Connectlinksmorethanadozencityagencies,allowing

caseworkers to share client information without compromising

condentiality. Clients only need to provide their personal and

otherpertinentinformationonetimetobeincludedinavirtual

Category 3: health, soCial & human serviCes


21/40

integratedcasele.Additional information,relevantonly tospe-

cicagencies,iscollectedonanas-neededbasis.Thelatestfeature,

WorkerConnect, allows caseworkers to access information held

by otheragenciesaboutthe client they are serving.WithHHS-

Connect, the city has fundamentally changed how it provides

servicesbyconnectingclients,agenciesandproviderstoensure

holisticand integratedservicesthatwraparounda family.More

informationisavailableatwww.govtech.com/pcio/New-York-City-

Integrates-Social-Services.html.

o c, ci.

In Orange County, like many

other governments across the

country, the recession has sig-

nicantlyincreasedthedemand

forpublicassistance.TheOrangeCountySocialServicesAgency

(SSA)hasseenadramaticincreaseincaseloads,includinga40

percentincreaseofpeopleenrolledinthefoodstampprogram

in2009.Currently,over364,000OrangeCountyresidentsreceive

Medi-Calbenetsandnearly135,000receivefoodstamps.

In addition, SSA has needed to reduce stang due to budget

shortfallsandcomplywithstrictstateandfederalguidelinesformeet-

ingtimelinesandaccuracystandardsforprocessingpublicassistance

benetsapplications.Duetothesechallenges,SSAexplorednewser-

vicedeliverystrategiestomaximizeresourcesandenableittooperate

withintheboundariesofstateandfederalscalallocations.

SSAselecteddigitalimagingofcaselesasthesolutionto

enableamoreeectivecustomerserviceandcasemanagement

practice, replacing paper case les with electronic client caserecords storageandretrieval. PapercaselesofMedi-Cal,food

stampsandgeneralreliefprogramswereconvertedintodigital

images for import into an electronic document management

system.Approximately180,000activecaselescontainingover

ninemillionpagesofdocumentswereimagedovera5month

period.Anticipatedbenetsincludeimprovedcustomerservice

byenablingphonebankworkersimmediateaccesstocaseles

andimprovedbusinessecienciesbyeliminatingpaperdocu-

ments,lecabinets andoperationalprocesses associatedwith

pooledcasesavailableinadatabase.

S di c, ci.

TheSanDiegoCountyHealth

&HumanServicesAgency(HHSA

recently implemented a virtua

casefoldersolutionsimilarto

theOrangeCountysolutionthatallowscaseworkerstoaccess

documentsatanytime.

Akeydirectivewastomaketheapplicationuser-friendlyandintuitivewiththebusinessworkowthatisdrivenbythestatewide

welfarebenetsandeligibilitysystem(CalWIN)withoutadding

anysignicantworkloadstocountyemployees.Over500typesof

casedocumentsarenowelectronicallymanagedbyDoRes(docu

mentretrievalsystem)andavailableondemandtoallemployees

Currently there are over seven million stored images. Results

achievedinclude:

Costpercaseprocesseddown18.5percent

Numberofcasesprocessedperfull-timeemployeeincreased

from19.5to24

Averagetimetocompletecaseprocessingreducedby22minute

Client/stasatisfactionincreased22percent

ei Hh rs

The secondmajor categoryof signicant investment in the

health,socialandhumanserviceseldisintheareaofelectronic

healthinformation.Electronichealthrecord(EHR)initiativesand

electronichealthinformationexchanges(HIE)havereceivedsig

nicantattentionasbothreceivedlargeamountsoffundingfrom

theAmericanRecoveryandReinvestmentAct(ARRA).

Whilemuchofthisworkisbeingdoneintheprivatesectopublichospitalsandcountyhealthagenciesarealsogettingtheir

shareoftheaction.Threecountiesstandoutfortakingalead

ershiprole, havingmadetheseinitiativesa priorityprior tothe

federalfundinginvestments.


22/40

a a c, m.

AnneArundelsHealthDepart-

ment completed phase I and II

implementation for electronic

medical records with the instal-

lation of an integrated clinical management system. For more

information,visitwww.aahealth.org/.

ThedepartmentalsomadeextensiveuseofsocialnetworkingviaTwitterandFacebooktocommunicateimportantinformation

onatimelybasistoresidentsapatternthatwasfollowedby

manyhealthdepartmentsaroundthecounty.

In2011,thecountywillcompletetheelectronicmedicalrecords

projectwhichwillinclude:

1.Immunizationtrackingandinventory

2.Fullyintegratingelectronicmedicalrecords(EMR)with

clinicoperationssupportandbilling,includingmedications,

vitalsigns(chartsandgraphs),medicalnotesandanEMR

dashboard

3.Pullingtogethermultipleareasofthemedicalrecordtopro-

videanSTD-centricview(duetothehighlysensitivenatureof

thisinformation,thesystemwillusedemographicdatafrom

patientregistration,butnotcreateanadmissionrecord)

4.Casemanagementtoallowthecoordinationofservicesfrom

communityresources

5.Referralworkow,analternativeapproachallowingthehealth

departmenttoprocessinternalandexternalreferrals

6.Managedcare,acompletesolutionforpayingexternalprovid-

ersforservices,includingeligibility,treatmentauthorization,

vendorregistration,contracts,claimpaymentandtracking7.Epidemiology,whichcapturescompletediseaseoutbreak

informationforelectronicsubmissiontotheCentersforDis-

easeControlandPrevention

8.Patienttracking,providingticklerlistsofpatientswithspecic

problemsandneeds,aswellastimedcorrespondenceand

follow-uplists

9.Suppliesinventory,includingmaterialreceipts,inventorytrans-

actionsandanautomatedinterfacetoprocedures

l c, m.

Similar to the initiatives in it

sister county, Loudoun County i

also aggressively pursuing elec

tronichealthinitiatives.In2008,the

LoudounCountyDepartmentofMentalHealth,SubstanceAbuseand

DevelopmentalServicesimplementedanewcomprehensiveITsystem

forbilling,statisticalreportinganddecisionsupport.PhaseIIhasbeenindevelopmentsincethen,consistingofafullelectronichealthrecord

forallservices.TheEHRsystemwasfullyimplementedin2010.

Thecountyhasalreadyrealizedsubstantialsavingsbyreduc

ing data entry and improving insurance billing and service

staproductivity. Thementalhealth outpatient programha

increasedearnedincomeby17.7percent.Akeycomponentof

thesystemisthatitsupportsonline,real-timeerrortrappingof

businessandregulatoryrules.AbilltoMedicaid,forexample,

willnotprocessuntilallserviceeventdocumentationiscom-

pletedbytheclinicianandbusinessrulecomplianceisentered

in.Thiseliminatestheneedforretrospectivemedicalrecord

andMedicaid rule compliance reviews by quality assurance

staff.Qualitativeexaminationofcliniciannotesbysupervisors

andqualityassurancestaffcanbecompletedonline,saving

travel andpaper record filing. In addition, real-time data on

staffproductivityandclientservicedeploymentisnowavail

able,allowingservicemanagerstobetteradministerresources.

m c, m.

Nottobeoutdonebyitstwofellow

Maryland counties, Montgomery

Countyhasalsobeenhardatwork

in the electronic health space

Basedonitsworkalreadycompletedintheintegratedsocialservices

function,MontgomeryCountyHHSisestablishingsystemintegratio

withmultipleserviceareassuchasclinics,homelessshelters,hospi

tals,publicschoolsandstatereportingsystems.Theobjectiveofthis

initiativeistoextendthesafetyofthemedicalhomebylaunching

an innovative, secureelectronichealthandhuman services record


23/40

PHOTOCOURTESYOFWWW.M

IOTTAWA.O

RG

(EHHR).Theprojectdesignisbasedonthepremisethatonly20per-

centofindividualandpopulationhealthisdeterminedbyhealthcare

serviceswithasmuchas80percentdeterminedbyotherfactors ,

includinglifestyle,educationalopportunitiesandhousing.

HHS isplanning toestablishanEHHRwithapatient interface,

buildingupontheHIEinfrastructureinMontgomeryCounty,witha

focusoninteroperability.

ci diss Ii c

During the outbreak of H1N1 in 2009, health departmentsthroughoutthecountryturnedtoinnovativesolutionstoinform

thepublicandattempttocontrolthespreadofthedisease.What

couldhavebeenadisastrousinuenzaoutbreakwaslargelycon-

taineddue tothisandtheknowledgehealthdepartmentshad

aboutthespreadofothercommunicablediseases.

While no single health department stands out as having

accomplishedmorethantheothers,anumberofdepartments

haveimplementedinnovativesolutionsworthmentioning.The

singlemostwidelyusedtechniquetonotifythepublicwassocial

mediatechnologies,whichproved tobethefastestwaytoget

criticalinformationouttothepotentiallyimpactedpopulation.

ow c, mih.

ToaddresstheH1N1scareand

increase the number of people

seeking immunization, Ottawa

County, Mich., conducted a pilot

projectwith the health department using socialnetworking in its

outreachcampaign.This eort used socialnetworking topromotemiOttawa.org/uandencourageuvaccinationviaFacebook.Toview

thepage,visitwww.facebook.com/home.php?#!/ugranny?ref=ts.

m c, m.

Montgomery County imple-

mented a swine flu virus

information application which

allowed it to address the

overwhelming demand for the limited amount of immuniza

tions available for distribution. There was also a dedicated

phonethathadanonlinereservationsystemforsettingupflu

shotappointmentsthatstreamlinedtheoverallprocessandalso

assistedadministratorswithplannedclinicresources.

S c, ci.

During the H1N1 f lu outbreak, the Sacramento County

Public Health Departmen

established an online portal

www.sacpublichealth.net/,foroutreachtoconstituentsandthe

media.Amongtheobjectiveswastoprovideclearinformation

regardingtheneedforH1N1vaccinations;togivestatusreport

onvaccinesupply;andtoalertresidentstothetimes,datesand

locationsofclinics.Servingthemediawithanonlinenewsroom

newsconferenceswerestreamedlive(www.sacpublichealth.net/

newsroom/)andarchivedforlateruse.Audiosoundbiteswere

providedtomediawhocouldnotattend;andfactsheets,presen-

tationsandWeblinkswereallhousedonaneasy-to-usewebsite.

Publichealthpiggy-backedoff the countys YouTubechanne

providing videos that educated constituents and could be tar

getedforspecicaudiences.ApopularFacebookpageandTwitter

updateshelpedthecountyreachyoungeraudienceswhomighttyp-

icallyignoregovernmentmessages.Seewww.facebook.com/#!/pages/

Sacramento-CA/Sacramento-County-Public-Health/107426978748?

ref=ts,andhttp://twitter.com/SacPublicHealth

f dpsCitiesandcountieswillcontinuedevelopinginnovativeprac

ticesandtechniquesasagenciesmustoperatewithconstrained

budgets while they serve increasing numbers of constituents

TheuseofITinhealth,socialandhumanserviceswillcontinue

tobe vitallyimportantasagenciesusemodernand integrated

approachestoimprovehealthcareandprovidebetterservices

tocitizens.


24/40

Likeotheragencies,commerce,laborandtaxationarealsostrug-

glingnancially.Outsideoftherevenuesystemsinplacetomanage

taxation,theseareashavehistoricallynottakenfulladvantageofthe

capabilitiesthatITcandeliver.However,theneedtohelpstimulate

jobcreationcombinedwith theincreasingprevalenceofsocial

media ischangingthis.Followingarebest-in-classexamplesof

functionssupportingeconomic,business,communityandworkforce

development.

chiao, Ill.

To address economic chal-

lenges and improve business

processes,thecityofChicagohas

workedtondalternativefunding

sources andhas developed strategic partnerships across various

businesssectors.

In2010,thecitypartneredwithorganizationstolaunchseveral

technologyworkforce initiatives.Chicago CareerTech (CCT) was

launched in May to assist displaced middle-income workers in

securing skillsto succeed intodays competitive jobmarket. The

job re-training program, operated by World Business Chicago,

integrates classroom training, andemployer- and service-based

learning with a business and nonprot organization to provide

unemployedmiddle-incomeworkerswiththeskillsnecessaryfor

high-demand technology-based careers. Like CCT, the Chicago

AcademyforAdvancedTechnology(CAAT),ledbytheCenterfor

PolytechnicalEducation,completed its rst yearin 2010.CAATis

alsohelpingtobuildChicagostechnologyworkforcebyproviding

itshighschoolstudentswiththeskillsandcerticationsrequiredtoexcelasatechnologyworker.

Inthesummerof2010,ChicagousedARRAbroadbandfunding

tolaunch theDigital Youth SummerJobsprogram,managedby

theLocalInitiativesSupportCorporation(LISC)/Chicago,whichis

providingtechnologysummerjobsandtrainingto120youth,and

outreach activitiesto 120parents or caregivers in2010 and2011.

The2nd-annualChicagoTechExpo,ledbytheDepartmentofBusi-

nessAairs&ConsumerProtectionprovidedrelevanttrainingand

education toteach business ownersabouthow technologycan

improveoperations,minimizetimespentonadministrativetasks,

helpmarketabusinessandincreasesales.

A long-established public-private advisorygroup, theMayors

Council of Technology Advisors, works to promote growth in

Chicagos technology sectors and bring thebenets of advanc

ing technology toall Chicagoans. Thecouncil includes theCIOs

andCEOsofmajortechnologycorporationsinthearea.Formore

information, visit https://webapps.cityofchicago.org/moboco/org/

cityofchicago/moboc/controller/view/searchBoard.do?cid=156.

A newmayors Committee on Technology Infrastructure wa

createdin2010tofocusonhowthecitycancontinuetomeettheinfastructure needs of thenextgenerationof technology-based

companiesandentrepreneurs.

Tohelpmitigatethe impactof propertytax increases(due to

triennialreassessments)duringarecession,thecityimplementeda

propertytaxreliefprogram,whichprovidedrebatesintheformo

prepaiddebitcardstoqualiedpropertyowners.Anonlineappli

cationprocessingsystemcompletewithaback-ocesystemto

verifyandapproveapplicationsandprocessallapprovedpayout

throughaprepaidcardprovidersupportstheinitiative.Dueto

theuseoftechnologydevelopedinternally,theonlyout-of-pocket

coststoimplementtheprogramwerethecostsassociatedwiththe

prepaidcardprovider.

d c, mi.

The state of Minnesota has

encouraged county govern

ments to use IT to improve

processes aroundrecording rea

estatetransactionsduetotheincreaseinhomeforeclosures.In2010,DakotaCountybecametherstcountyinthestateofMin

nesotatoacceptelectroniccerticatesofrealestatevalue(eCRV),

usingthestateeCRVapplication.

Category 4: CommerCe, labor anD taxation eConomiC

business, Community anD workforCe Development

to aDDress eConomiC Challenges

anD improve business proCesses, the

City of ChiCago has workeD to finD

alternative funDing sourCes anD has

DevelopeD strategiC partnerships

aCross various business seCtors.


25/40

TheprojectwhichwasawardedtheLocalGovernmentInno-

vationAwardinApril2010wasajointeortinvolvingDakota

County,theMinnesotaDepartmentofRevenueandlocaltitlecom-

panies.Formoreinformation,visitwww.mndor.state.mn.us/crv/.

In2010,DakotaCountyalsobeganayear-longprocessof imple-

mentingaconsolidatedrealestatemanagementsystem.Theproject

willreplacemyriadinternalmainframesystemsanddatabaseswitha

single,integratedsystemincludingassessment,documentrecording,

classication and property taxation. The system is being custom-

izedtoincludebatchtaxcalculation,specialassessmentinterestratevalidationandparcelgrouping,andservesasamodelforamodern

integratedpropertymanagementsolution.

Hpi c, mi.

Like its fellow county govern-

ments inthe state ofMinnesota,

HennepinCountyhasalsoworked

hardtoimproveitspropertyman-

agementprocesses.In 2010,HennepinCountyTaxpayerServices,

thecountyassessor,andtheexamineroftitlessetouttoachieve

economies of scale, reduce costs and increase the customer

experience through more integrated business operations while

replacingoutdatedsystemsandprocesses.Someinformationsys-

temsneededtobeenhanced,modiedorreplacedtoprovidea

seamlesscustomerexperienceusingproventechnologies,andto

supporttheworkforceintheireortstodeliverservicestomultiple

customerchannels.Thegoalwasto increaseoperationalecien-

ciesanddevelopauniedapproachtocustomerservice,resulting

inaone-stopshop.DirectAccesstoRecordsandTaxes(DART)isaprogramcom-

prisedofavarietyofprojectsthatprovidescustomersoftaxpayer

services,thecountyassessor,andtheexamineroftitleswitha

one-stopshoppingexperience.Alloftheprojectsintheprogram

alignwiththeoverallobjectivesandgoalsofDARTwhichareto:

providebettercustomerservicetocitizensofHennepinCounty

that are seeking information about property tax, real estate,

licensingandelectioninformation;

provideseamlessintegratedservices tothecustomerswhere

andwhentheyneedthoseservices(asappropriate);

improveoperationaleectivenessandincreasestaproductivity;

increaseaccesstodataandimprovedataprocessing;and

provideasustainableandcost-eectivetechnologyplatform.

The DART program aligns with strategic policies from county

administration,whichincludeachievingeconomiesofscale,reduc-

ingcostsandimprovingthecustomerexperiencethroughintegrated

businessoperations.

ms, ci.

The city ofModesto is part

nering with local organization

to promote City Pride, a pro

gramintendedtoactivelysolicit

maintainandbuildnewpartnershipswithorganizations,voluntee

groupsandindividualsthatwanttoimproveneighborhoods.The

programstrivestoprovideawiderangeofcultural,entertainment

recreationalandleisureopportunitiesthatpromoteahealthycom-

munityandsupportcommunityeventsandactivities.Additionally

theprogramhelpstoenhanceandmaintainthevisualbeautyo

thecitybydevelopingneighborhoodsfree of crime, blightand

decline.Aspartofthisprogram,theITdepartmentimplemented

interactive voice response permitting, online bill payment and

electronicdistributionforutilitybilling,anonlinejob application

trackingandnoticationsystem,andupdatestothegeographica

informationsystemthatprovidescitizenswithaccesstoup-to-date

mappinginformationforcommunityeventsandactivities.

ThecityofModestoisalsocommittedtoexpandingitsinterna

ITworkforceandcontinuingtoconductinternaltrainingdespite

budgetcutbacks.ThisensuresthattheITworkforcestayscurrentwithnewtechnology,policychanges,governmentalbestprac-

tices,processesandprocedures.

S di c, ci.

SanDiegoCountyhasdevel-

opedtwopracticestopositively

impact residents and improve

businessprocesses.


26/40

TheSanDiegolibrarysysteminstalledaself-servicecheck-out

thatutilizesradiofrequencyidentication(RFID)technology.RFID

chipshavebeenplacedintheentirelibrarycollectionatotal

of1.5millionitems.Allmaterialsarecheckedoutofthelibrary

through the RFID system, thus allowing librarians and other

employeestoperformothertasks.Thecountyhasupdatedthe

websitetoallowcustomerstorequestorrenewmaterialsonline

andpaylatefees.Countyresidentscanalsorenewmaterialsby

phoneandberemindedwhenmaterialsaredue.Someofthese

changescanbeviewedatwww.sdcl.org.Thesecondapplicationhelpsthecountybettermanagethe

25,000animalsthatcomethroughthecountysthreeanimalshel-

terseachyear.StaattheDepartmentofAnimalServices(DAS)

mustmaintainanaccuratekennellocationforeachanimalsothey

canndanimalsforprospectiveadopters,butmoreimportantly

becausesomeoftheseanimalsrequiremedicaltreatment.Anew

moduleofanimalmanagementsoftwarewasimplementedthat

storesbarcodesintheanimalrecord.Barcodesareattachedto

eachkennel,anddailyreportswillshowthebarcodesalongwith

feedingandmedicalneeds.Handheldbarcodescannerswillbe

usedtoscanbothkennelandreportbarcodes.Thedepartment

anticipates that thiswill freeup sta time, allowing employees

tobetter care for theanimals. In addition, animal serviceshas

amobileinitiativetoplacelaptops/printersintrucksforanimal

control ocers. This will provide remote access to the animal

managementsystem.Thecountyruns33patrolvehicles24/7to

respondtoanestimated28,700patrolincidentsannually.

f epis

Becauseofthecontinuinghighunemploymentratesand

thegreateruseofITforidentifyingjobopportunitiesandmatch-ingworker skillswith those opportunitieswe expectmore

innovativesolutionswillbedevelopedinthisarea.Countiesand

citiesareincreasinglydesiringamorehighlyeducatedandwell-

trainedworkforceandweencouragemoreuseofIT toassistin

thatchallenge.


27/40

Category 5: finanCe anD aDministration, human

resourCes, liCensing anD permittingThiscategoryacknowledgesaccomplishmentsinthreefunda-

mentallyimportantareas:

1.F

digital counties and cities best practice guide

Documents