entation of an investment review process that drives budget formulation;
2. establishment of clear accountability for MIS management within and across agency boundaries and activities;
3. creation of interagency support structures to facilitate interoperability of discrete and networked systems;
4. cooperation in the use of IT and MIS to improve program/
5. expand career development opportunities for IT professionals
(Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, 1996).
As Kraemer, Danzinger, Dunkle and King (1993) reported, the underlying premise spurring public sector MIS development and acquisition is that computer-based information is inherently valuable to managers, policymakers, and other key actors in the public sector. Key issues that determine the level of effectiveness attributed to such information are quality and accessibility of the information, managers' and workers' own competencies with respect to creating and using MIS and IT, and the ability of the public sector to attract skilled MIS and IT professionals to public service. These are issues that will be discussed below.
Early on in the IT Revolution, Caudle, et al (1991), commented that there are some key differences between the public and private sector use of and need for IT systems. Public sector characteristics shape these differences. Environmentally, public organizations have less market exposure, resulting in less of an incentive for productivity and effectiveness, lower allocative efficiency, more legal and formal constraints, and higher political influences. With respect to transactions between the organization and the environment, public sector MIS are faced with more mandatory actions due to the unique sanctions and coercive power of government, along with wider scope of concern and significance of actions in the public interest. Such organizations face, according to Caudle, et al (1991), the higher level of scrutiny imposed ...