GENERAL MANDATE

1. Recommend strategies to improve both the efficiency and the effectiveness of city services by using new and emerging technologies to decentralize services and transactions.

2. Recommend strategies to fully exploit the potential of the Internet as a means to inform citizens better, to involve citizens more effectively in their local government, and to market San Antonio in economic development.

3. Explore related issues and make recommendations as the task force finds appropriate.

1. SERVICES AND TRANSACTIONS

   • Study and report on the programs that have been implemented in other cities which are recognized as models in the creative and effective uses of new technology to deliver decentralized services, and to support decentralized transactions with city government.

   • Review, update and extend the recommendations and program design of the "Community Link Action Plan" and the relevant recommendations of the Regionalization Committee.

   • Develop pilot and demonstration projects to explore cost saving applications, and to set standards and goals for decentralization of services and transactions.

2. INFORMATION, CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT AND MARKETING
   • Study and report on the programs that have been implemented in other cities which are recognized as models in the creative and effective uses of new technology to inform and involve citizens in local government.

   • Recommend strategies to ensure that all of San Antonio's population benefits from the increasing democratization of information.

   • Recommend strategies to use the city government's presence on the Internet to market San Antonio's assets and attractions more effectively, in support of economic development efforts.

   • Develop pilot and demonstration projects to improve two-way communication between the city government on one hand and individual citizens, neighborhood organizations, community-based agencies and interest groups on the other, to "reconnect" citizens with the city, to engage new people in problem-solving, and to forge new partnerships between citizens, community organizations and city government.

   3. RELATED ISSUES

   • Aid in the conception and development of grant applications to the state and federal agencies and other potential funding sources, in order to maximize the collaboration among local agencies and to achieve the widest possible benefits in economic development and in the democratization of information.

   • Pursue strategies to exploit new and emerging technologies in related areas as the task force finds appropriate. Examples might include:
     (1) developing applications of information technology to enhance understanding of the environmental and aesthetic effects of urban development,

     (2) exploring the potential for commercialization of city information (consistent with the Public Information Act) as a means to subsidize the provision of free information on the city's web site, and

     (3) advising city staff as a Emerging Technology Evaluation Group.

   • Make recommendations on the city's organizational structure and budget priorities to maximize the benefits of new technologies, both to the city government and to the city as a community.

   • Identify policy issues and legislative issues that may need to be addressed in order to achieve the full potential benefits of new and emerging technologies.

   PROCEDURAL MANDATES

   • Maintain dialogue with related efforts to develop the city's telecommunications infrastructure, to increase community networking and to support education, health care and economic development.

   • Emphasize bringing groups together, building coalitions, and developing partnerships across the traditional boundaries of the municipal governmental structure.

   • Demonstrate in the task force's own work processes a commitment to open participation through the Internet, free sharing of ideas and information, and development of creative connections to multiply community benefits beyond the realm of municipal services.

   • The initial members of the task force should involve others and recruit additional members as the progress of their work suggests.

   • The task force should report in 90 days on its initial research and on its strategy for pursuing all the elements of its mandate. A second report should be timed to affect the city budget cycle for FY 1998-99. The task force should conclude its work with a final report before the end of 1998.
     Last Updated: Sunday, December 21, 1997 7:45:21 PM