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Economic Stimulus: Five Tips for Better Government IT Projects (Opinion)

July 15, 2009 By Dan Lohrmann

Finally some good news - infrastructure dollars are becoming available for technology projects. The only catch is that various watchdogs and boards will monitor our every move. Public expectations have never been higher with unprecedented requirements for transparency, accountability and oversight attached to the stimulus bill. Citizens can even go to Recovery.gov to see how we're spending their tax dollars.

Statistics show that the odds are against succeeding. A 2007 study by Dynamic Markets, a research consultancy, found that only one-third of global IT projects live up to initial expectations. Schedule, cost and maintenance overruns are common. Add pressures to spend money quickly and provide "shovel-ready" solutions, and the pessimists are ready to declare defeat before we even assemble our teams. What's a public CIO to do?

The answer, of course: effective project management. As we focus on implementing enterprise architectures that enable the next wave of e-government innovation, we need time-tested principles from the start to be successful. Here are five tips to help navigate the project start-up fog that will soon lift to reveal whether our programs pass that inevitable final exam - public perception.

1. Choose the right projects. From broadband coverage to health IT, the infrastructure opportunities are immense. As you sort through your priorities, answer these questions:

a. Does the project further the strategic or tactical IT plan? (One-off projects may be tempting, but how will they be supported long term.) How does this affect other infrastructure projects?
b. Who's at the decision-making table? Collaboration is key, so think carefully about who's included. What's the project governance? Consider breaking down old boundaries and creating cross-sector or public-private partnerships for projects.
c. Is the decision-making process well documented? Is the scoring or other selection criteria objective? The auditors, citizens and sponsors of the projects not selected will want to understand procedural details. There can be no appearance of favoritism.

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Stimulus: Integrated Project Teams Are Best Management Option (Analysis)

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