The Public Manager, Volume 28, Number 1, Spring 1999.
Since 1993, the Center for Technology in Government has worked with more than 100 state and local agencies in pursuit of effective and innovative information systems to support public programs. Although the projects varied widely in purpose and scope, this article reports the four "realities" that shaped them all; successful IT innovation are driven by program needs, not technology; a learning oriented approach that builds in prototyping, performance measurement, and experience often lead to success; the real and difficult complexities of government must be actively managed; and the professionalism and commitment of individual managers make a real difference in the quality of results.