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Reengineering Through Information Technology

Recommendations and Actions

Methodology

The National Performance Review's (NPR) Information Technology (IT) Team consisted of information technology professionals, budget, and logistics personnel from the public and private sectors. The team undertook quality functional deployment (QFD) to define the project and provide a framework for its decisionmaking and ongoing activities. A QFD is a structured total quality management exercise used by planning groups to clarify issues and problems to be addressed and identify strategies to obtain optimal results while achieving objectives within predetermined time frames. The principles developed for guiding the IT Team in the creation of its recommendations were a product of QFD.

The team identified the following issues as priorities to be addressed in order for information technology to support the delivery of government services adequately.

---The information technologies currently employed by the federal government are not delivering what the customer needs, nor is its potential being fully utilized.

---The federal government does not adequately coordinate the systems now in place.

---There is insufficient understanding of who the customers for information technology are and what their needs are.

---Too many barriers exist within the government, both regulatory and legislative, to use information technology effectively.

---All levels of the government workforce need continuous education in information technology.

All of the team's decisions, which are presented as recommendations, were made within the framework of solving the above- listed issues. Having developed its framework, the IT Team then proceeded to review federal agency planning documents, studies, reports, issue papers, and the current literature on innovative approaches being piloted or planned in the government and private sectors. The team also held a series of meetings with government and private industry representatives to discuss the latest developments in new technology. Team members also reviewed the federal regulatory framework for information technology acquisition. All IT Team recommendations were coordinated with those of the other NPR agency and cross-cutting teams.

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