Request for Proposal Automated Data Processing Equipment and Software for the Papio Natural Resources District

This Request for Proposal (RFP) is submitted to solicit proposals from qualified vendors of computer hardware, software, and support for the Papio Natural Resources District. In order to receive consideration, a proposed system must meet the requirements of the Papio Natural Resources District as herein described

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

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

Automated Word Processing Requirements for the City of Omaha, Nebraska

On April 1, 1984 the Center for Applied Urban Research initiated a study of the requirements for automated word processing for the city of Omaha. The study involved the collection and analysis of information regarding the amount and kind of typing activities in each city department in the civic center. The purpose was to determine whether automated word processing would be feasible and practical in these departments and, if so, how many word processing work stations and printers would be required

Data Processing Analysis and Recommendations for the City of Nebraska City, Nebraska

This report presents an analysis with recommendations regarding the data processing needs of the city of Nebraska City, Nebraska. The analysis was undertaken pursuant to an agreement between the Center for Applied Urban Research (CAUR) of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the city of Nebraska City

WATER ACCESS AND MAINTENANCE IN KARONGA, MALAWI

This report is a case study of how Mwangalala community accesses water and how that access is maintained. Mwangalala community is located in the northern tip of Karonga district in Malawi, Africa. The case study evaluates how close the community is to meeting target 10 of the Millennium Development Goals, sustainable access to safe drinking water, and evaluates the current water system through Human Centered Design’s criteria of desirability, feasibility, and viability. It also makes recommendations to improve water security in Mwangalala community. Data was collected through two years of immersive observation, interviews with 30 families, and observing two wells on three separate occasions. The 30 interviews provided a sample size of over 10% of the community’s population. Participants were initially self-selected and then invited to participate in the research. I walked along community pathways and accepted invitations to join casual conversations in family compounds. After conversing I asked the family members if they would be willing to participate in my research by talking with me about water. Data collected from the interviews and the observations of two wells were compared and analyzed for common themes. Shallow wells or open wells represented the primary water source for 93% of interview participants. Boreholes were also present in the community, but produced unpalatable water due to high concentrations of dissolved iron and were not used as primary water sources. During observations 75% of community members who used the shallow well, primarily used for consumptive uses like cooking or dinking, were females. Boreholes were primarily used for non-consumptive uses such as watering crops or bathing and 77% of the users were male. Shallow wells could remain in disrepair for two months because the repairman was a volunteer, who was not compensated for the skilled labor required to repair the wells. Community members thought the maintenance fee went towards his salary, so did not compensate the repairman when he performed work. This miscommunication provided no incentive for the repairman to make well repairs a priority, and left community members frustrated with untimely repairs. Shallow wells with functional pumps failed to provide water when the water table levels drop during dry season, forcing community members to seek secondary or tertiary water sources. Open wells, converted from shallow wells after community members did not pay for repairs to the pump, represented 44% of the wells originally installed with Mark V hand pumps. These wells whose pumps were not repaired were located in fields and one beside a church. The functional wells were all located on school grounds or in family compounds, where responsibility for the well’s maintenance is clearly defined. Mwangalala community fails to meet Millennium Development goals because the wells used by the community do not provide sustainable access to safe drinking water. Open wells, used by half the participants in the study, lack a top covering to prevent contamination from debris and wildlife. Shallow well repair times are unsustainable, taking longer than two weeks to be repaired, primarily because the repair persons are expected to provide skilled labor to repair the wells without compensation. Improving water security for Mwangalala can be achieved by improving repair times on shallow wells and making water from boreholes palatable. There are no incentives for a volunteer repair person to fix wells in a timely manner. Repair times can be improved by reducing the number of wells a repair person is responsible for and compensating the person for the skilled labor provided. Water security would be further improved by removing iron particulates from borehole water, thus rendering it palatable. This is possible through point of use filtration utilizing ceramic candles; this would make pumped water available year-round

Computers and Small Local Governments: Uses and Users

This article examines the adoption and use of computer technology by cities under 50,000 and counties under 100,000 in seven plains and mountain states. Smaller local governments were found to lag considerably behind their larger counterparts in computer adoption and extent of use. However, pat terns of use were not substantially different, with basic housekeeping functions being the most frequently automated. Computer adoption was associated with size, government form and type, and metropolitan status. No relationship was found between financial status and computer adoption. Most governments used in-house computers, and most of these systems were minicomputers. The frequency of microcomputer adoption paralleled that reported in a recent nationwide study of micro use in city governments. Most in-house systems represented relatively current technology. Over 70 percent of these systems had been purchased from three of the country\u27s largest computer vendors, IBM, NCR, and Burroughs. Current use of computers was associated with future plans to acquire automated technology and with the type of system a government planned to buy. However, current use did not affect attitudes toward the future use of computers in general or micros in particular

MicroComputer and Local Government: A Program for Small and Rural Communities

For the first time since the Great Depression, local governments throughout the United States have begun to experience severe revenue-expenditure imbalances. Inflation, rising expectations, and citizen demands for services have produced governmental intervention into heretofore untouched areas. Combined with the generally decreasing rate of local revenue growth and with reductions in federal and state aid, this has produced serious fiscal problems for many local governments. With resources no longer available to provide prior levels of public services, many local governments have had to cut back on their activities

Microcomputers and Local Government: A Handbook -- Participants\u27 Manual

This handbook has its origins in a conversation between the author and Dr. Theodore Maher in the spring of 1981. The conversation centered on the role that we believed soon would be played by microcomputers in local governments and the concomitant need for training and technical assistance in the acquisition and use of microcomputers

Automated Data Processing Equipment and Software for the City of Seward, Nebraska

On February 20, 1984, the City of Seward, Nebraska released a request for proposal (RFP) for an in-house, on-line, real time, multi-user or multiprogramming data processing system or comparable on-line, real time, multi-user or multiprogramming time sharing capability

Microcomputers and Local Government: A Handbook -- Instructors\u27 Manual

This handbook, and its accompanying instructor\u27s manual, was written to be used with a one- or two-day workshop on microcomputers and local governments. The handbook was designed· for the local government official with little or no familiarity with microcomputers and their applications to the world of government