Analysis and Recommendations for Information Technology User Support Provided to a Government Field Office

Chapter 1 (continued)

Author's Role and Position in the Organization

The author has been employed by the Organization for nearly 15 years, with the first 10 years working in the Operations Unit of the Organization's field offices. During this tenure, the author was also given IT related responsibilities that include software configuration of a Doppler radar system and management of the office's Internet Homepage. During the last five years, the author has been employed as the Information Technology Officer at his current field office.

The position of Information Technology Officer (ITO) is a relatively new position for the Emergency Field Office with responsibilities encompassing the operations, management, and administrative computer systems of the field office. The Information Technology Officer has been given responsibility for five critical IT elements at the field office (see "Performance Plan" in the Appendixes). Those elements include: (a) user support, (b) software development, (c) information systems analysis, (d) information technology program management, and (e) quality assurance and professional development. When a previous Assistant Administrator for Emergency Services was asked to describe, from his perspective, the role the Information Technology Officer position should play in the field office, he responded by saying:

The ITO [Information Technology Officer] is expected to focus on information technology needs of the EFO [Emergency Field Office], working closely with the Science and Operations Officer, Electronics Systems Analyst, and appropriate program leaders, under supervision of the [Manager]-In-Charge. The ITO's primary function is to optimize the performance of EFO system software and applications that contribute to accomplishing our mission. (Smith, 2003, Director's Dialogue, ¶ 6)

As indicated in the Assistant Administrator's message, there are two other positions besides the Information Technology Officer which are given IT related responsibilities, the Science and Operations Officer and the Electronics Systems Analyst.

The Science and Operations Officer is responsible for providing emergency service training to the members of the field office operations unit and certifying that they have the knowledge and skills necessary to provide emergency services to the public. This certification process also ensures that operational staff have the necessary skills to operate operational software and hardware systems. The Electronics Systems Analyst's role differs from the Information Technology Officer position by placing his or her primary focus on implementation and maintenance of system hardware as opposed to the Information Technology Officer's focus on software applications and information system needs of the field office.

Recent History of Information Technology within the Organization

The creation of the position of the field office Information Technology Officer coincides with the completion of a modernization and restructuring plan adopted by the Organization in the 1980s and carried out through most of the 1990s. The goals of this restructuring "were to achieve more uniform [emergency] services, provide more reliable detection and prediction of hazardous events, improve the accuracy, responsiveness and quality of the services and products, improve employee productivity and generate a more cost-effective operation" (Smith, 1997, Section II, ¶ 2). A new generation of technology was introduced during the modernization plan. Four critical systems were upgraded including a networked Doppler radar system, a new generation of weather satellites, an automated surface observing system, and a new operational information processing, display, and telecommunications system that is considered the "central nervous system" of the modernized Organization. The modernization required field office employees to acquire significantly greater skills and training in both science and technology.

While modernization of the operations unit was taking place in the 1980s and 1990s, new IT systems were being introduced at the field offices for administrative, research, and training purposes. The non-operational IT systems included an increasing number of personal computers, servers, network operating systems, IT security systems, and a computer network infrastructure. While previously operational staff often had IT program responsibilities, providing assistance in the utilization of information systems in the office, the demands of maintaining the IT eventually began to overwhelm them and interfere with their primary operational or management duties. The Emergency Field Office employees were increasingly finding themselves in need of someone to assist in connecting the dots between the hardware, software, and business needs of the office. In the year 2000, upper level management responded by introducing the Information Technology Officer position to the field offices.

Using Information Systems to Improve IT User Support

1. Introduction and Historical Background
2. Analysis and Methodology
3. Information Technology Changes for the User
4. Documentation for the User
5. Recommendations for the Field Office IT User Support Program
6. References