June 30, 2010 By Andy Opsahl
Certain government agencies in Sacramento, Calif., have found a way to use vending machines for managing parts of their inventories. Rather than manually tracking the distribution of industrial equipment, agencies dispense such items from vending machines that are accessible only by approved city employees.
The GTtv segment below shows how that process happens at the Traffic Signs and Markings Division of the Sacramento Department of Transportation. The machines record which employees take what supplies. The vending machines make inventory management more precise, according to agency officials.
Video: A New Kind of Vending Machine
This Digital Communities white paper highlights discussions with IT officials in four counties that have adopted shared services models. Our aim was to learn about the obstacles these governments have faced when it comes to shared services and what it takes to overcome those roadblocks. We also spoke with several members of the IT industry who have thought long and hard about these issues. The paper offers some best practices for shared government-to-government services, but also points out challenges that government and industry still must overcome before this model gains widespread adoption.
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Digital Communities (DC) is e.Republic‘s local government program. The particular strength of DC is its focus on encouraging collaboration and creating productive relationships between and among cities, counties, regions and select private sector companies uniquely positioned to help improve the delivery of public services.
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