Information systems in local government planning : standards and guidelines for the use of microcomputers

Information systems exist among all local government planning agencies. Logically, these systems have evolved to assist planners in managing data on a dynamic community. Physically, information systems have incorporated new technologies to supplement or replace some of the manual processing and analysis functions required for local government planning. Most recently, microcomputers have been employed by some agencies although the role of these processing tools have not always been clearly defined.

The use of microcomputers in local government planning information systems was examined in this 1984 study. To determine the areas in which standards and guidelines for microcomputer use could be applied, two general approaches were outlined. These were the professional productivity tool approach, and the organizational resource or distributed processing approach. By outlining the hard-ware and software requirements of microcomputers to fulfill these two types of processing, standards and guidelines could be established. Under both approaches standards and guidelines were outlined as to: hardware and software, access and use, training, and management and maintenance. The study found a number of organizations ranging in terms of technical orientation and applicability to the planning profession which are ready to assist in the development of these standards and guidelines.