Public–private partnership, information technology, and operational efficiency at Sandy Springs, Georgia

The city of Sandy Springs became the seventh largest city in Georgia when it became incorporated in December 2005. For more than 30 years, the residents had struggled to make this area a city, in order to achieve improved service levels and better use of public funds. The Governor's Commission, which helped to guide the city at its inception, proposed using a public–private partnership model to set up and operate the new city government. CH2M HILL, which is a company involved in full-service engineering, consulting, construction, and operations, was selected to form a partnership with the city of Sandy Springs and to establish the new government in 100 days. CH2M HILL is responsible for the information technology (IT), communications, finance and accounting, community development, public works, and parks and recreation aspects of city government. This paper describes the city's IT decisions in the first 100 days—decisions that were made to foster efficiency and provide high-quality customer service. The technology components described herein include an automated pavement management data-collection system, a work order system, a state-of-the-practice traffic management center, and online citizen interaction. This paper also describes the decision process for selecting the systems, implementation details, and the benefits delivered to the city and its citizens.