Generating knowledge, developing capabilities, and co-creating technology-enabled innovation
What is CTG UAlbany?
The Center for Technology in Government (CTG UAlbany), University at Albany, State University of New York (CTG UAlbany) generates knowledge, develops capabilities, and co-creates technology-enabled innovations with government leaders and organizations to address societal challenges and increase public value.
CTG UAlbany was established in 1993 and is a university-wide research center located at the University at Albany, State University of New York and reports to the University at Albany Vice President for Research and Economic Development.
CTG UAlbany is globally recognized as a leader in research in digital government. Our leadership position is based on thirty years of experience and reputation gained through a rigorous academic and applied research program deeply grounded in the practical challenges and capabilities of government and professional and civil society organizations and focused on producing practical and usable knowledge, tools, and techniques for our government partners. Our co-creation approach in projects with government organizations enables their engagement in creative problem-solving processes and the implementation of innovative and customized digital transformation solutions to complex problems.
The unique combination of public administration and public management, computer science, information systems, data science, business, and international relations disciplines, coupled with our highly skilled academic and professional staff, helps CTG UAlbany bridge the gap between research and practice by addressing public problems that are academically significant and practically relevant. CTG UAlbany produces high- impact research and, at the same time, is able to make these academic results useful and valuable for practitioners in public organizations.
CTG UAlbany has a long history of building and leading multinational, multi-sector, multi-disciplinary collaborative initiatives. Through dozens of partnership projects at all levels of government and around the world, we have developed a unique set of insights, experiences, practices, guides, and tools to support the processes and mitigate the risks of Information and Communications Technology (ICTs) innovation in the public sector.
We have worked with governments in the United States, certainly, but also the Middle East, Europe, Asia, South America and elsewhere to build new capabilities to solve complex technical and social problems. We have been funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation to lead international networks of field researchers studying the benefits, barriers, and results of innovative government service delivery initiatives.
"[CTG UAlbany] is one of the leading research institutions studying technology adoption by governments around the world and continues to push the envelope on how best to integrate technology and public policy towards a new frontier in openness and government accountability.”
Kirsten Gillibrand
United States Senator for New York
First Logo
"The vehicle title process at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) can be improved with document imaging technology...The project re-engineered the Department's vehicle title process by using document imaging and work flow management systems to cut a 20 step process in half, increase employee productivity, and improve data and service quality...'the project at CTG UAlbany gave us 20-20 foresight,' said DMV Commissioner Patricia Adduci..." - First CTG UAlbany press release (1995)
Dawes accepts the honor with former
Vice President Al Gore.
1995 - Sharon Dawes presented the Center for Technology in Government to the Innovations in American Government National Selection Committee at the Harvard Ash Center. CTG UAlbany was a finalist for the honor and the Center for Technology in Government won the Innovations in American Government Award. The program is part of the Ford Foundation and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
December 1995 - Governor [George] Pataki launched the New York State Home Page. Since then, the Center for Technology in Government has been guiding several New York agencies through the process of developing their own websites. On June 20, 1996, the Center [hosted] the "Internet Testbed" project...Seven agencies, including Empire State Development, the Governor's Traffic Safety Committee, Hamilton County, the Division of Housing and Community Renewal, the Division of Military and Naval Affairs, the Office of Real Property Services, and the Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services [were] on hand to describe their participation in the project." - June 1996 press release.
September 1999 - CTG UAlbany receives its biggest award since its inception in the form of a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation for, Knowledge networking in the public sector, taking into account the variety of relationships, policies, information, processes, and technology tools organizations use to achieve collective goals."
“We're excited to embark on this investigation into the rapidly expanding field of knowledge networks and especially pleased that NSF has recognized the importance of information sharing in the public sector. We're honored to have such a prestigious research organization recognize the value, quality, and impact of our work." - Center Director Sharon S. Dawes said of the $1 Million grant and related study in September 1999.
April 2000 - In the wake of events like the Columbine High School Shooting, CTG UAlbany used a grant from the United States Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs to participate in a nationwide integrated justice technology effort. CTG UAlbany developed a comprehensive guide, And Justice for All: Designing Your Business Case for Integrating Justice Information, to help justice officials gain the necessary support and funding to make integrated information systems a reality.
November 2004 - Return on Investment in Information Technology: A Guide for Managers, is published and sets a practical guide still used by officials all over the world for guidance.
"Most new government IT projects require a return on investment (ROI) analysis before they get that needed line item in the budget. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of models out there that show public sector managers where or how to begin that analysis. That's why we put this guidebook together," - Former Deputy CTG UAlbany Director Anthony Cresswell about the guide.
October 2005 - CTG UAlbany receives another $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Digital Government (DG) Research Program to build and sustain an international digital government research community of practice. CTG UAlbany creates opportunities and venues for international research discussions and enable U.S. researchers and educators to advance their work through international collaboration.
"The Center for Technology in Government is broadening the reach of UAlbany by pursuing exciting international opportunities to address digital government from a global perspective. By fostering collaborative partnerships, CTG UAlbany will be expanding the knowledge base of researchers and creating an important new community of practice. We are grateful that the National Science Foundation has acknowledged the leadership of CTG UAlbany in the international research community." - Former UAlbany President Kermit L. Hall in October 2005
Logo - Circa 2005
October 2006 - Advancing Return on Investment Analysis for Government IT: A Public Value Framework, is published. The report analyzed the process from a high-level view of the IT investment and then drilled down through to identify specific measures and methods that reveal and document public value.
December 2006 - CTG UAlbany publishes, New York State Information Technology Workforce Skills Assessment Statewide Survey Results. CTG UAlbany helped design and administer two surveys. This report provided key findings of the IT workforce skills assessment surveys administered during March and April 2006; involving nearly 5,000 IT professionals employed in state agencies, authorities, and boards.
Continued Growth | 2009 - 2013
“CTG UAlbany is all about promoting and building the international expert and academic community specializing in government ICT adoption. This helps to change world governments to be more adaptive and modern. CTG UAlbany is a place where every person can participate, express opinions, and learn a lot!” - Senior Research Analyst, Evgeny Styrin, Institute for Public and Municipal Administration, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Visiting Scholar 2009
June 2009 - Theresa Pardo is named the director of the Center for Technology in Government. Pardo, a UAlbany alum, served as deputy director since 2002.
October 2009 - CTG UAlbany releases a report summarizing the results of a national survey of cross-boundary information sharing in the public sector. The national survey and the findings are the result of U.S. National Science Foundation funding that began in 2002. The survey of over 700 government professionals from criminal justice and public health agencies at the local and state levels from across the 50 states dives into the clarity of roles and responsibilities; knowledge of organizational policies and information needs; informal problem solving; and information confidentiality, security, privacy, and disclosure concerns.
“The identification of a consistent set of factors and the understanding of how they interact to influence cross-boundary information initiatives will provide practitioners from around the world with important knowledge necessary to increase government’s performance, accountability, and transparency,” -Brian Burke, then a senior program associate, about the report, October 2009.
October 2009 - Anthony Cresswell, former deputy director of CTG UAlbany and who served as interim director from September 2007- May 2009, was honored by both the University and The NYS Forum. The University recognized Cresswell for his role as interim director of CTG UAlbany, contributing essential continuity of leadership. Former University Provost and VP for Academic Affairs, Susan Phillips, presented him with the award.
May 2010 - CTG UAlbany releases its latest new resource for government practitioners. This time the center focuses on guidance for developing social media policy. The guide, Designing Social Media Policy for Government: Eight Essential Elements, helps governments as they work to understand the necessary components of a social media policy. The guide was part of a larger project focused on government use of social media tools.
March 2011 - Former CTG UAlbany Director Sharon Dawes, now a senior fellow, is named chair of the advisory board for the United Nations University-International Institute for Software Technology. UNU-IIST, located in Macao, is one of the Research and Training Centers of the United Nations University, an independent UN agency.
“During my time at CTG UAlbany I felt very comfortable as an academic and in personal terms. Then, I had the feeling of being part of a nice family, at the same time that I found out great academics and helpful people for my research interests. I wish CTG UAlbany another 25 years of successful collaboration around the Globe, during a period in which emerging and smart technologies will continue driving innovation in society, politics, and government.” - Criado Ignacio, post-doctoral visiting scholar, 2011; research fellow, since 2016
April 2012 - Published first in 2000 and revised in 2002, Opening Gateways: A Practical Guide for Designing Information Access Programs, is re-released.
"...develop affordable, manageable, and effective information access programs. Given the changing technological and social environment, the type of planning processes facilitated by this Guide are more relevant than ever..." - April 2012 Opening Gateways guide.
October 2012 - ICEGOV 2012 - With over 360 participants from over 60 countries, the fifth annual Conference on Theory and Practice of Electronic Governance (ICEGOV) was one of the biggest in the history of the Conference.
Established in 2007 by the United Nations University, ICEGOV brings together a unique blend of practitioners, developers and researchers from government, academia, industry, non-governmental organizations from the developed and developing world and UN organizations.
“One of the most important moments in the history of CTG UAlbany, to me, was when we hosted ICEGOV in 2012. It put us in the international spotlight. It was a long way from when I started at CTG UAlbany I was tracking and coordinating the printing of many publications of the results from the projects at the time. This was for our showcase every year...creating, printing, and mailing of the Annual Report.” - CTG UAlbany Assistant Business Manager, Paula Hauser
April 2013 - J. Ramon Gil-Garcia is named CTG UAlbany's research director following an international search that attracted top candidates in the field of digital government research and practice.
Expanding Collaborations | 2014-2018
March 2014 - In partnership with the State of New York, CTG UAlbany leads the collaborative workshop, Shaping Open NY: Visioning a New Transparency Hub. The goal was to develop strategies to take the State’s Open NY program to the next level. Open NY was initiated by Governor Andrew Cuomo in 2013 to create, “unprecedented transparency across all levels of government.”
LEFT: Andrew Nicklin, director, Open NY giving opening remarks at the workshop. RIGHT: Andrew Hoppin, CEO of NUAMS, reporting out from one of the small group brainstorming sessions.
Logo - Circa 2014
January 2015 - Supported by Institute of Museum and Library Services, CTG UAlbany release, Enabling Open Government for All: A Roadmap for Public Libraries, which addresses growing questions about how “open government” is influencing, and possibly transforming, the role of public libraries in their communities.
2016 - Theresa Pardo is the first woman to be named the chair of the country of Oman's E-Government Award Jury. The jury recognizes government agencies and other organizations that are increasing productivity and improving public service in Oman by successfully innovating with technology.
2016 - Mila Gasco is appointed a member of Women Leaders of the Americas Committee, an organization that encompasses the entire American continent.
4/2015-6/2019 - With funding of $410,417 from New York State, CTG UAlbany completed a project that we led with the City of Schenectady on behalf of the Cities of Gloversville, Amsterdam, Troy, and Cortland. The project resulted in the development of the C.O.D.E., a data sharing platform designed to identify problem actors (landlords, LLCS, agents) so that local governments can inform their blight reduction strategies.
May 2016 - The newly formed Global Advisory Board (GAB) has its first meeting of high-level experts spearheading groundbreaking work in various industries around the world. The GAB focuses on policy, management and technical challenges facing governments. They also collaborate with CTG UAlbany to advise how we can best contribute to the international dialogue and to the efforts of organizations and governments across the globe. Current GAB members continue to make similar contributions.
Current Global Advisory Board Members
2017 - Meghan Cook received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service
October 2017 - December 2021 - CTG UAlbany worked on the Enabling Smart, Inclusive, and Connected Communities: The Role of Public Libraries, a $456,394 award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), sought to understand, 1. To what extent do public libraries building on their expertise, knowledge, and background, contribute to communities’ understanding of and participation in smart city initiatives? and 2. What are the existing and potential benefits, costs, risks, challenges, and unintended consequences for public libraries increasing their involvement in their communities’ smart city initiatives?
The outcomes for public libraries, local governments, and researchers included: 1. Increasing and sustaining relationships and collaborations between libraries and other organizations, such as city governments and community organizations, 2. Designing and developing two new and replicable resources to guide libraries willing to advance their role as community anchors in smart cities and to provide libraries with numerous resources and ideas for new programs and services contextualized to community issues/interests - the Opportunity Agenda and Roadmap Report; the Smart Libraries Toolbox, and 3. Enhancing the relationships between researchers and practitioners by communicating research findings in different events and ways that will lead to improvements in library services.
January 2018 - Working with New York State's Department of Health, CTG UAlbany completes a “Data Visualization-Ready” framework to help New Yorkers make better health insurance decisions. The CTG UAlbany team makes data about the quality of health insurance plans more accessible to the citizens of NYS through the use of visualizations, and demonstrated visualizations' adaptability across data sets, years, situations, and users – without requiring complete re-development efforts.
September 2018 - August 2024 - The project SCC: Integrating Heterogeneous Wide-Area Networks and Advanced Data Science to Bridge the Digital Divide in Rural Emergency Preparedness and Response, was funded by a nearly $1.5M National Science Foundation grant which aimed to develop, implement, and systematically analyze a comprehensive framework and a multi-layer platform for timely information collection, integration, exchange and dissemination to improve emergency preparedness and response (EPR) in rural communities.
While collaborating with the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the project brought about innovative research in network architectures and protocols that allow emergency responders and residents in rural areas to access emergency related information in areas where mobile broadband is scarce to non-existent.
2018 - Mila Gasco is appointed a member of the Gobernarte Awards Committee led by the Inter-American Development Bank. Awards were given to local and state governments in Latin America.
September 2018 - March 2021 - The NYS Water Quality Data Analytics Prototype Project, through a $1.35M award from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), was designed to provide research scientists, engineers, program directors, and executives in the DEC Division of Water and Department of Health (DOH) Bureau of Water Supply Protection with an integrated and collaborative data analytics business process, within a shared environment, to support comprehensive analysis and understanding of NYS’s water quality concerns, and integration of analytical outcomes into DEC and DOH programs.
The CTG UAlbany team developed, tested, and refined two prototypes and produced a final prototype that is the basis for a future production system. The result was a data analytics platform that integrates a set of data management and analysis software tools into a coherent whole that complements the capabilities, skills, and tools already in place with DEC and DOH staff. In addition to the Final Prototype, the CTG UAlbany team provided a set of recommendations to help the agencies improve data governance, streamline and automate data management and flows, and increase capabilities in more advanced data analytical techniques such as panel data, artificial intelligence, and spatial analysis.
October 2018 - CTG UAlbany celebrates its 25th Anniversary.
Recent Achievements | 2019-2023
March 2019 - July 2022 - With total funding to date of $636,834 from the New York State Board of Elections (NYS BOE), CTG UAlbany, leading a multi institution team with UAlbany CEHC, Albany Law School Government Law Center and industry experts IDC, took part in three projects, Voter Registration Data and Anomaly Detection Demonstration Prototype Project, Elections Future: Phase 1 & 2, and Risk Remediation, focused on the security and resiliency of technical and organizational elections infrastructure in NYS.
August 2019 - Current - CTG UAlbany is using a $50,000 SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund investment to develop and pilot the Community Asset Tracker. Development of this technology through our current partner, the City of Schenectady, uses a mobile artificial intelligence driven sensor network to track government assets. This will help local governments more quickly identify and address common issues surrounding urban decay, resulting in reduced costs and improved community well-being. This technology also has the potential for use in other sectors of society.
2019 - Jane Krumm-Schwan received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service
2021 - Mila Gascó Hernández was promoted from associate research director to research director and appointed to associate professor
2020 - J. Ramon Gil-Garcia received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activities
2021 - Theresa Pardo was promoted from director of CTG to the associate vice president of research and economic development
April 2021 - December 2021 - With funding provided by the IDB, Mila Gasco-Hernandez and Ramon Gil-Garcia worked on the project, The political economy of interoperability, with the goal of identifying the factors that hinder or enable interoperability in Latin America and, in particular, in Ecuador and Colombia.
2021 - J. Ramon Gil-Garcia was promoted from research director to director of CTG UAlbany
September 2021 - September 2024 - Through the project, Message Design Dashboard for Wireless Emergency Alerts, a new $2.8M contract from FEMA, researchers from the University at Albany’s College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity (CEHC) are teaming with CTG UAlbany to develop a Message Design Dashboard (MDD) for FEMA to help emergency managers write effective messages for public alert and warning.
The team will develop presentations, training materials and workshops to assist FEMA in educating authorities on how to use the MDD to develop effective public alert and warning messages.
2021 - J. Ramon Gil-Garcia received the Digital Government Society Fellow Inaugural Award
2021 - Susan Gushlaw was promoted from assistant business manager to director of administration & finance
September 2022 - CTG UAlbany Launches New Faculty Fellows Program
CTG UAlbany embarked on a new endeavor to build a strong and diverse university-wide community around the topic of information and technology in government. We have maintained a roster of research fellows since its founding nearly 30 years ago. The new program more than doubles the roster of experts in information, technology and government policy and will provide additional opportunities for colleagues from across the university to share knowledge and collaborate on topics related to information, technology, management and policy in the public sector. “CTG UAlbany’s new faculty fellows program is designed to serve as a platform of intellectual exchange and an appreciation for interdisciplinary scholarship,” said CTG UAlbany Director J. Ramon Gil-Garcia.
“Our goal is to foster an environment to form collaborations, complete publications, develop new teaching initiatives to support students, and attract external funding,” said CTG UAlbany Research Director Mila Gascó-Hernandez,.“We believe that with a small, but steady commitment, CTG UAlbany faculty fellows can benefit from networking opportunities and build synergies around the use of information and technology by government agencies, citizens, and other stakeholders working in the public sector.”
November 2022 - Continuity of Operations and Organisational Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons from City Governments in the US Northeast Region. This study analyzed the continuity of operations and the building of organizational resilience efforts in nine city governments from the Northeast region in the US during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found that city governments were able to keep internal operations and the delivery of public services, but only to some extent. Information technology was a key enabler for the implementation of teleworking and a hybrid model of public service delivery that expanded online services. Finally, although several lessons were learned during this period, the extent to which city governments were able to build adaptive resilience is still an unanswered question.
2022 - Paula Hauser was promoted from program assistant to program associate
2022 - J. Ramon Gil-Garcia was promoted to full professor
Most Recent Logo
2022 - Meghan Cook received the UAlbany President's Award for Exemplary Public Engagement
December 2022 - NYS BOE All Hands Workshop at UAlbany ETEC and hosted by CTG UAlbany
Looking to the Future | 2024...
“Historically, CTG UAlbany has been at the center of the digital transformation evolution in the public sector and always exploring the potential of new technologies for government operations and services, from the Internet and websites to social media, blockchain, Internet of Things, data analytics, and artificial intelligence,” said CTG UAlbany Director J. Ramon Gil-Garcia. “Through this work, we look forward to strongly contributing to projects such as the Albany AI Initiative and helping to guide the continuing integration of AI in the public sector.”
As it embarks on its next 30 years, CTG UAlbany is positioned to continue contributing to emerging topics in the field of digital government. The recently awarded research project, Empowering Communities: Public Libraries, Inclusive Civic Engagement, and Artificial Intelligence, funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, represents CTG UAlbany‘s research priority in this area. In addition, two National Science Foundation proposals, including The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Internal Organizational Dynamics and Accountability in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, if funded, would allow us to explore the impact of artificial intelligence used in government and other public organizations.
Get in touch
UAB 120
1215 Western Avenue
Albany, NY 12203
