Data Processing and Information Management in the City of Omaha, Nebraska: Analysis and Recommendations

Abstract

The city of Omaha has an extensive and complex data processing system. It is so large, in fact, that no single person inside or out of city government is fully knowledgeable about it.

The system as it exists today cannot be described as an information management system as it is neither coordinated nor comprehensive. It consists instead of numerous components that have come together over time without the benefit of an overall plan or clear policy direction. The system is rarely viewed from a citywide perspective or from the perspective of providing information required by management for operational and planning purposes. Rather, it is viewed from the perspective of individual departments or divisions as a component of city operations that collects something called data and produces something called reports.