Information systems in local government

Abstract

Municipal government has been called upon to perform an ever increasing and differing variety of service functions. The expanding role of local government can be expected to continue. The administrator of local government must seek new efficiencies and methods of determining impacts and interrelationships of present and proposed policies and programs. In addition, the local administrator must continue to function in established areas with greater effectiveness.The demand being placed on local government calls for techniques to be developed that will help identify, allocate, implement, and monitor programs. This will enable local government to plan on a sound basis in order to meet its desired objectives.In many communities, the technical talent to fully utilize the various analytic and decision-making methods are not available. However, all local units of government do conduct their business within either an explicit or implicit framework of systems. The objective of this paper is to research the general framework of one element in the management system--the information system. After reviewing the information system and its purpose and functions, two examples of local information system applications will be examined. The final section will analyze the barriers in applying information systems to local government.