Survey of information technology use for municipal infrastructure management

As municipalities increasingly rely on computer-based systems and data management, information that was traditionally exchanged through human communications can now be exchanged electronically through computer-to-computer data exchange. This requires much more formal specifications and agreements to govern these data exchanges. The main purpose of the paper is to identify the current state of information technology use in the municipal infrastructure management through benchmarking: (i) a range of information technology systems used to accomplish various work processes; (ii) and a range of communication channels used to exchange information between various parties. A combination of web and face-to-face interviews was used, and the results of the survey show that municipalities are equipped with a variety of information systems that can readily manage asset infrastructure systems, yet the way information is exchanged between various parties is still conducted in an unstructured and ad hoc way. COPYRIGHT: © 2012 The authors.