CITI News

As the new semester commences, CITI has been wrapping up several research endeavors as well as beginning a new set of projects. While the CITI website contains a fuller description of our projects, we would like to highlight three accomplishments:

Orange County Digital Divide

This U.S. Economic Development Administration project used a balanced scorecard approach to assessing information technology infrastructure in Orange County with special attention to underserved areas of the county. The findings, which will be made public shortly, suggest the need for an integrated approach to improving hard and soft IT infrastructure in Orange County. CITI Research associates Mark Brite, Brian Hilton, and Wayne Smith have participated in the study, with Associate Professor Samir Chatterjee and (GMU) Assistant Professor Darrene Hackler providing technical advice and input. The project is a partnership with WRG Group and OCBC.
Time-Critical Information Services Study

The National Science Foundation has provided funds for an exploratory study of “time-critical information services”, with a focus on emergency response services. This study builds on a multi-year research collaboration with the University of Minnesota. In Spring 2005, we organized an invitational symposium on the subject in collaboration with the National Center for Digital Government at Harvard University. CITI Research Associates Ben Schooley and Michael Marich have participated in this study.
E-Government User Satisfaction Study

This U.S. Department of Transportation sponsored study is examining user satisfaction with online travel services. The research objective is to devise and test a means for assessing user satisfaction with e-governmental services. In collaboration with the University of Minnesota and the Resource Systems Group (RSG), we have just completed an online survey involving over 200 participants (in Los Angeles, CA and Minneapolis, MN) and will be reporting on this survey at upcoming e-governmental and information science conferences. CITI Research Associates Tarun Abhichandani and Raghuvira Rayalu have participated in this study.

In addition to these activities, a number of new studies and initiatives are underway. We have recently received funding from the U.S. Department of Labor to investigate the role of telework for disabled workers. Also, the recently passed federal transportation bill contains several items that CITI will be involved with, including playing a strong role (on technology research for emergency response) in the newly established Center of Excellence in Rural Safety.

One of our most visible efforts this fall is in the area of medical informatics. Building on over two years of research with QTC Management, we are moving into the area of Personal Health Records. A cornerstone event for this initiative is a national symposium we are hosting on December 2-3, 2005 here in Claremont. This event will feature speakers from major research and clinical institutions and should set the stage for a new CITI research initiative. CITI Research Associates Bengisu Tulu, Nicole Lytle, Nathan Botts, and Richard Burkhard are assisting with this project.

Finally, research papers summarizing these and other CITI projects have been accepted in major IS conferences and journals. In addition to recent publications in Communications of the AIS, Information Systems Frontiers, International Journal of Health Care Technology Management, CITI-related papers have been accepted at the Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences (HICSS), Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), and Communications of the ACM (CACM).