Response to Aaron

 
According to Mirriam-Webster dictionary, Information Technology is defined as: “the technology involving the development, maintenance, and use of computer systems, software, and networks for the processing and distribution of data.” As Government was growing and new agencies were being formed, the need to communicate with others and provide quality services for the public became crucial.
Information technology played a large part in assisting the bureaucrats in decision making.  The era of information technology allowed for the administration to reinvent the strategies and refine they way in which decisions are made and government is run.  The age of information technology allowed for governments to expand their services which in turn gave them the ability to predict the publics’ needs.  Not only could the specific agencies speak with one another, they could reach out to the public for input.
Technology through the Government was a large piece which assisted in re-inventing the Government.  The Clinton Administration conducted the National Performance Review (NPR), “After an intense review by the NPR staff, President Clinton issued Executive Order 12862 in September 1993, mandating that all federal agencies identify their customers, find out what those customers want, and develop customer-service standards and means to achieve them.”  (Milakovich, 2012 p.427) Without technology this would have been impossible to accomplish such a large feat, technology allowed them to gather the necessary information and make the best decisions based on customer-driven total quality service (TQS).(Milakovich 2012)
 Later in 1997 the NPR was called the National Partnership for Reinventing Government (NPRG).  With this movement, and the effort was given a new slogan, “[email protected] Best” (which intentionally read like an e-mail address), to emphasize the commitment to greater public access through the expanded use of ICTs such as e-gov and social media, and the Internet. Reform efforts focused on partnerships with twenty-nine “high-impact” federal agencies to achieve measurable goals of customer service.” (Milakovich, 2012 p.425) This brought technology to the forefront and enabled people to utilize Government more efficiently with on-line forms and submissions.  This cut down on the number of workers needed to accomplish the same task and still provide a service which was adequate.  This additionally opened the door for on-line customer surveys which could be evaluated by the agencies to improve upon the systems that were already in place.
 In April 2009, Aneesh Chopra was appointed as the first Chief Technology Officer (CTO) under President Obama. With the re-invention of the Government and the goal of productivity, a link was found between Information Communication Technology (ICT) as a management aspect related to productivity. (Milakovich. 2013)  This appointment of a CTO showed that information technology not only was needed but became its own entity within the Government.  As shown through time, information technology was a key component in assisting with the decision-making process in Government.  It opened the door to organize information, share successes and failures, tracked the needs of the public, and provided feedback from those the Government served to make the necessary improvements in service.
References:
Milakovich, M. E., Gordon, G. J. (2013) Public Administration in America, 11e. [MBS Direct].
Retrieved from https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781133712909/
Merriam-Webster on-line dictionary. Retrieved from: https://www.merriam- 
 webster.com/dictionary/information%20technology