| Community Leadership/IT
Planning
Strategic Planning Process and Resources
Overview
What will your community look like in
10 or 20 years? How will your community be using information
technology? And how will you achieve that
vision? Through strategic planning, communities can create
a shared vision and develop a plan to achieve that
vision.
The Community Information Technology
Planning and Assessment Workbook contains many tools
communities need to begin information technology planning. The
workbook format simplifies the planning process.
Starting out
The
first step in the strategic planning process is forming a
community IT committee. This committee may be a subcommittee of an existing
community/economic development committee or a separate committee.
Forming county-wide or regional partnerships to address IT
issues may help communities leverage their existing resources.
An information technology committee should include
representatives of business, education, local government, health care,
libraries, and economic development organizations. Many
groups also include senior citizens, youth, and representatives of
other significant demographic groups within the
community.
The nine-question quiz, Is
Your Community an Information Age Community?, is a good way to
introduce members of an information technology committee to the
characteristics of an Information Age community and to begin a
discussion regarding the role of information technology development in
a community. The quiz also includes suggested strategies
and activities for communities.
Suggested Planning Process
There are many variations on the
strategic planning process. The Community
Information Technology Planning and Assessment Workbook
includes a Suggested Planning
Process: A Guide for the Chair or Facilitator.
Although slightly different than the process we've outlined above, the Nebraska Department
Economic Development's Strategic
Planning--Take 5 process can be modified to address IT
planning.
Additional Assessment and Planning
Resources
Visioning
Resources
A
shared community vision provides direction for a community’s
efforts.
Through a brainstorming process, community members develop a
shared vision of what their community will be like in the
future. Once developed, the vision statement should be
communicated throughout the community.
Having committee members speak to civic groups is one way
to make sure that this vision is communicated broadly and that the
community is aware of the activities being undertaken by the local
IT committee.
CSSP
Readiness Guide
The CSSP Readiness Guide is one of the most widely utilized community
IT assessment tools. This tool may be more appropriate for
larger communities. Community
Development Toolbook
The University of Illinois Laboratory for Community and Economic
Development has many useful resources in this toolbox including
information on putting together a community survey.
Surveys
Surveys can be used to document current and future IT use in a
community. As an example, you can view the Cheyenne County
Technology Committee's
community survey, business
survey, the letter
initially sent to businesses to alert them to the survey, and the cover
letter sent with the survey.
The results of the survey are available in a pdf document and as a
PowerPoint presentation.
The community of West Point is
currently conducting an IT
survey and is encouraging participants to fill it out
online.
Indicators
Developing a set of indicators can help a community document its
progress. Through its Information Technology Indicators Project,
the City of Seattle has developed a set of indicators to
document the impact of information technology on its
citizens.
The Community Information Technology
Planning and Assessment Workbook includes benchmark
data for Nebraska.
Asset Mapping
Asset mapping is a method of documenting community resources and
emphasizes community strengths. A community
guide and a facilitator
guide are available from the Center
for Applied Rural Innovation.
Town Hall Meeting
A town hall meeting can be an effective way to present the results of
the community assessment and to get community
feedback. The Department of Economic Development has
a guide for holding town hall
meetings.
Sample IT Plans
Sample
IT Plan--Hamilton County Information Technology Task Force Strategic
Plan (1999)
Sample
IT Plan--Town of Blacksburg, VA
Evaluation Resources
The
importance of evaluation is often underestimated.
Evaluation components should be designed for each activity
included in the strategic plan. As
a project gets underway, periodic evaluations allow adjustments to be
made as needed. The project evaluation should also document project
outcomes. Projects which
are able to document their impact are much more likely to secure
ongoing sources of funding than projects which have weak evaluation
components.
Technology
Opportunities Program Evaluation Guide:
Community Networking and Services Projects
This guide to program evaluation from the U.S. Department of
Commerce's National Telecommunications Infrastructure Administration
explains program evaluation and provides a sample evaluation
plan.
United
Way Outcome Measurement Resource Network
This site offers a number of evaluation resources.
If you would like to suggest a
resource, please e-mail abyers@notes.state.ne.us
12/02/2002
|
