Strategic IT Planning for Public Organizations: A Toolkit - UNU-IIST ...

Strategic IT Planning Toolkit – Section 5: Capability Assessment
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C5) financial resources, including recurrent and fixed expenditures, budget
C6) websites, including agency websites, program websites, online information and services
C7) IT Management capabilities, including IT processes, policies and standards, business continuity
and risk
Tools: Sections 4.5 through 4.7 of the template document [33] provides forms for capturing the seven
categories of information listed above.
Related Tasks: The output from this task will be used in developing strategies. These information are
also useful for developing the IT architecture for the agency.
Comments: Strategic IT framework would generally guide the depth of information required in each
of the components of the assessment. For instance, if there are strategic IT goals in the area of training
and capacity building, then the assessment could be required to provide in-depth knowledge of the
ICT skill inventory, existing IT human resources, current spending on IT related training etc.
5.3 External Factors
Description: This task aims to capture information about IT resources and programs outside the
agency which presents both opportunities and challenges to the agency. These include existing
government-wide infrastructure, opinion on public administration reform initiatives and e-government
development projects. In addition, the task could also consider the needs and perception of users or
customers in the delivery of IT-enabled services. The information for assessment may be obtained by
reviewing the technical or IT related services received from external agencies. Additional information
can be obtained by reviewing appropriate IT policy documents.
Assessment Components: The following information items are produced from this assessment task:
C1) IT services received from other agencies
C2) existing government-wide IT infrastructure (e.g. PKI and Identity management services)
C3) IT-enabled public administration reform initiatives
C4) e-government initiatives
C5) perceptions on IT-enabled public services
C6) IT needs of users or agency customers
Tools: Part of Section 4.4 of the template document [33] captures information on C1. Document
review and interview sessions could be used to gather information related to C2 through C6. It is also
possible to have a dedicated questionnaire for capturing user opinions or perceptions on IT services
provided by the agency.
Related tasks: The outcome of this task is essential for the SWOT analysis to be performed as part of
the Strategy development activity.
Comments: This category of assessment could easily be considered less important than other two
categories since it is external to the agency. However, alignment of the IT strategy of the agency with
related government-wide programs could be missing if this task is skipped. In addition, information
on opportunities would also be unavailable without carrying out this assessment.
Report No. 417, May 2009
UNU-IIST, P. O. Box 3058, Macao