White Papers

Government-to-Government IT Services: What Works and What's Left to Work Out
May 2013
This 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.

Digital Cities & Digital Counties Survey: Best Practice Guide
March 2013
This Best Practice Guide helps address some of these weaknesses by highlighting the best practices displayed by cities and counties that are managing to move the needle and innovate.

Public Safety Mobile Apps for 4G Networks
March 2013
An unprecedented opportunity to improve public safety through the development and sharing of mobile applications will be made possible through the creation of the FirstNet network. However, at present no comprehensive model exists for the development of such nationwide, public safety focused applications. This paper discusses how governments and public safety officials can build off of the private sector’s mobile ecosystem, and work collaboratively to deploy targeted and secure public safety mobile applications.

Payment Card Industry Compliance in Government
November 2012
How can government agencies ensure they are properly protecting cardholder data, and most importantly, instilling trust in constituents so they continue to complete transactions online? The answer is to comply with Payment Card Industry (PCI) Security Standards. This paper provides valuable information to government agencies about the complicated topic of PCI compliance so they can benefit from online transactions without the risk of non-compliance.

Shifting Landscape: Attracting and Retaining Top Talent in the Local Government Workforce
September 2012
This paper is an overview of the issues currently challenging local government executives seeking to build and maintain a successful and proactive workforce. The paper includes topics for discussion and resources leaders can use in creating their own strategies for hiring, as well as tips to engage and instruct their peer-level local government human resources executives.

Using Active Directory to Standardize Agency Network Operations
September 2012
Learn how consolidating disparate procedures across public agency sites with Active Directory solutions helps standardize operations and make work faster and more efficient.

Meeting the CJIS Mandate for Advanced Authentication
September 2012
This paper provides an overview of the CJIS requirements, presents various technology options, discusses considerations when implementing advanced authentication and offers best practices for meeting the CJIS mandate.

Taking Chances: Plano’s server migration is helping the city save money while bucking the status quo
September 2012
With its current server infrastructure reaching obsolescence, the city of Plano, Texas began switching to a Hyper-V virtualized environment to improve durability and fiscal health.

Web Pioneer: Using its Customer Service Request platform, Calgary keeps discovering new ways to enhance service and work more efficiently.
September 2012
Calgary launches a new 3-1-1 service with an innovative CSR platform to get both citizens and city employees the information they need quickly and effortlessly.

Brighter Future: A large school district leverages software to improve IT productivity, teaching and learning
June 2012
A growing Tennessee school district turns to the cloud to raise efficiency and scale for the future.

Texas Transformation: A five-year contract with AT&T improves the state’s network and security
June 2012
Texas partners with AT&T to update its network and improve data security and efficiency.

LTE Device Management: What You Need To Know
April 2012
This white paper explains how to plan for this new wave of innovative devices and how to take advantage of built-in management and security features that ease deployment and increase security.

The Future of the Desktop in Government
March 2012
Until recently, there was no alternative to the familiar desktop computer, and its expensive upgrades and maintenance requirements. For cash-strapped local governments, the desktop computer is quickly becoming an unsustainable option for future progress. Now, a technology known as virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) offers an alternative. It can be significantly more affordable than buying individual computers for every employee, and it provides similar capability. This paper shows how VDI is the future of the desktop and is a game-changer for local governments.

CIOs Redefine Local Government and Industry Relations
September 2011
Based off of discussions of the Digital Communities Large Jurisdiction Chief Information Officer (CIO) Working Group, this white paper aims to answer the question, "In today's economic, political and business environment, what constitutes a successful relationship between government and industry?" Cause for Optimism identifies and clarifies the issues that separate government and industry, and begins to find an answer to the question necessary for both to enjoy a successful and prosperous future.

The Best Practices Guide for Local Government
July 2011
The inaugural Cities and Counties Best Practice Guide was created in direct response to the interest in collaboration and desire by the local government community to share best practices with each other, and find out how others are coping and overcoming the recent seismic shifts in the economy. Local government best practices are highlighted throughout seven major categories of service delivery, that will open the door to collaboration and spur innovation throughout the country.

Next Generation Networks for Public Safety
May 2011
New improvements to network capabilities are now allowing first responders, agencies and jurisdictions to share real-time data using data applications enabled by wireless broadband to address local, regional and national events, save lives and improve safety. This paper explores how building the infrastructure from the ground up, investing in new technology, sharing costs and implementing best practices enables the next generation capabilities needed for a safer nation.

Capitalizing on Collaboration
March 2011
To cope with the recession, state and local governments have had to come up with innovative solutions to continue the public’s work – a more collaborative type of government where jurisdictions find strength in numbers and a more efficient way of governing through shared services approaches.

"New Normal" Success: A CIO Survival Guide
June 2010
Members of the Digital Communities CIO Leadership Taskforce insist local IT agencies should not respond to current economic challenges as though operations will return to normal down the road. Decisions made today will define a "new normal" for the next several years. This guide offers IT professionals a view of tactics being executed by top government IT leaders from across the nation who are determined to establish a new business as usual.

Law Enforcement Information Sharing and the Implications for Local Government
January 2010
Successful law enforcement requires the ability to effectively share data, information and intelligence across multiple jurisdictional boundaries in a secure and efficient manner. This new white paper summarizes National Information Exchange Model (NIEM) based developments and implementations across the country as of October 2009.