The demands and requirements that both the taxpaying public and government employees make on government agencies are steadily increasing. In today's hectic times, government entities are under increasing pressure to provide a higher quality of service while maintaining their current budgets. To meet these ever increasing demands, government agencies are turning to technology "to do more with less." Gwinnett County has looked to technology to provide increased productivity and efficiencies in its criminal justice business process.
Many government agencies depend on each other to provide timely information to accomplish their missions efficiently. This is especially true for the criminal justice system in which many different agencies are required to work together to process criminal cases through the system. Gwinnett County's current information technology environment consists of a series of "stovepipe" information systems designed to meet the requirements of individual criminal justice agencies. Although each of these systems provides internal agency users with adequate functionality, the systems were never designed to share information with other agencies. As a result, agencies spend an enormous amount of time tracking down and re-keying information that is already in the County's various systems. In the County, the main method of information exchange is through paper forms and court documents.
The County realizes that integrating disparate information systems can increase the overall effectiveness of the justice system greatly. By pooling resources and sharing information, these various agencies can increase their productivity to allow for greater public safety. Moreover, substantial cost savings are associated with sharing information electronically, eliminating redundant data entry and reducing the time agencies spend to process paper documents.
