NHLoGIN Exists to Bring Local Governments Together
The information contained in this article is not intended as legal advice and may no longer be accurate due to changes in the law. Consult NHMA's legal services or your municipal attorney.
The New Hampshire Local Government Information Network (NHLoGIN) was incorporated in 1997 specifically “to enhance and promote the professional management of counties, cities, towns, school districts and other local government entities through the use of management information systems and other technologies.” Those of us who were around then remember discussing how to set up routers, what accounting programs could actually be used with dial-up access and whether it really made sense for towns to have websites. Some of you may still be dealing with these issues, but for many of us there are new expectations and challenges out there.
The era of Big Data is upon us. This essence is captured in an article entitled “Big Data is a Big Deal for Local Government (Desouza, Kevin.”ICMA: Leaders at the Core of Better Communities.” Web blog post. Big Data Is a Big Deal for Local Government. ICMA, 18 Feb. 2014)” which begins: “Big data and analytics are transforming local government operations and service delivery dramatically. The city of Dubuque, Iowa, in partnership with IBM, has begun to use software to leverage big data from mobile phones to track commuters and improve transit services. Miami-Dade County, Florida, is using big data for a variety of public services such as water management, intelligent policing, transparency, and transportation efficiency. Through smart metering, the county will monitor water consumption….”
It is easy here in New Hampshire to dismiss this as something “big cities” do. However, are you aware that Rochester (yes, Rochester, New Hampshire) allows residents (and everyone else) to keep track of the crime in their municipality through a service called “CrimeMapping?” (In New Hampshire, Manchester and Nashua are using it as well; you can see all of the cities across the country by going to www.crimemapping.com.) It is unclear how these cities are using this information, but the fact that they have it, and are sharing it publicly, is a big step forward.
An example of freely-available data is the New Hampshire Public Finance Consortium (NHPFC) Data Model. The website (www.nhpfc.org) allows you to create a variety of colorful reports and graphs using data from New Hampshire municipalities. As explained on the NHPFC homepage (“NH Public Finance Consortium: What Is the NHPFC Data Model?”): “The Data Model is a database-driven presentation and analysis tool, utilizing New Hampshire local government financial data reported annually by individual towns and cities to the DRA. Much of the data are reported in response to the need for setting municipal property tax rates, as well as satisfying other mandated reporting rules.” The website then provides some historical context: “Until early 2008 these data were only available in paper form by combing through the files of individual municipalities, or by visiting the offices of the Department of Revenue Administration (DRA) in Concord. In 2008, at the behest of the NHPFC and others, DRA began providing historical financial data on their website. While this was a great improvement, as it led to the creation of the NHPFC web site, the data was still difficult to use.”
In fact, the NHPFC Data Model provides information beyond that which the DRA collects.
This is an amazingly powerful and useful tool. If you find that your community is not performing as you would have expected compared to those of like size and demographics, there are numerous data sets that should be able to help you figure out why. It is also very user-friendly so digging around for informational insights is both revealing and fun.
NHLoGIN is committed to the principle that we can and should help each other as we all move forward into a future that is going to be increasingly driven by emerging technologies. Some municipalities have begun to embrace the possibilities. Dover’s Open Government initiative, Claremont’s well-designed website, the Hooksett Public Library’s Facebook page, the Keene TourBook series are among many examples of what can be done at the local level. Do municipalities have the time and money to do all of these things? Probably not. But should we always be searching for things we can do improve our services to our stakeholders? Sure.
NHLoGIN exists to bring local governments together so that we can share what is, and is not, working for us. As our community members increasingly demand more transparency and best practices require more efficiency, it is important that we work together to share ideas and help each other.
NHLoGIN has recently created a page on “LinkedIn” for interested parties. If you would like to become a member (it costs all of ten dollars a year for local government employees and officials) or just would like to learn more about NHLoGIN, send an email to dshankle@hooksett.org. We welcome you to pose your questions, voice your opinions and share your knowledge and experiences.
Dean E. Shankle, Jr., Ph.D. is currently the Town Administrator in Hooksett. He was one of the founding members of NHLoGIN, is a past President and currently serves as Treasurer. NHLoGIN has helped government officials and employees from all over New Hampshire collaborate with each other for over 13 years. Representatives of NHLoGIN have served on numerous state IT projects as stakeholders and sponsored many technology-focused presentations at the annual NHMA conference and general membership meetings.