Using Information Technology Well
Human service agencies operate under severe resource demands and constraints. The smart use of information technology is imperative if agencies are to manage the burgeoning demand for services and supports and for greater accountability with the limited human and monetary resources available today. Computer systems (hardware and software) can save agencies scarce time and money and improve service quality. They can also cost a lot of time and money, more than their worth.

Computer systems must fit the needs, budgets and management capacities of an agency. Agencies need to select systems carefully and manage them well if the systems are to deliver the intended benefit. Danic Tools is a good fit for some agencies, not for others. Danic devotes considerable effort assuring this fit and assuring that agency expectations are real and agency commitment and capacity, sufficient before deciding whether to pursue a contract.

Danic also spends considerable time educating agencies generally on realistic expectations, limitations and challenges associated with the implementation and management of computer systems, and on important criteria and considerations in selecting computer systems. The following papers and articles were prepared to that end and are available for download.

Computer Use among Agencies Serving Persons with Developmental Disabilities: A survey.Mental Retardation, American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR), Washington, D.C. (Submitted for Publication 2003)

Better managing the delivery of services and supports to people with developmental disabilities using information technology. Mental Retardation, American Association on Mental Retardation (AAMR), Washington, D.C. (August, 2001; Vol 39, No. 4) pages 322-326.

What we vendors are want to say published as Points to consider as you further your IT Investment. LINKS, American Network of Community Options and resources (ANCOR), Alexandria, VA (January, 2002, Vol 32, No. 1) pages 17-18.

Selecting application software / services to improve and assure service quality: important considerations (Chapter 14) in Quality Assurance in a Rapidly Changing World. V. Bradley and M. Kimmich, Eds. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing. (December, 2002).

The Object - Why object-oriented software such as Danic Tools represents the software equivalent of the industrial revolution, White Paper, Cambridge, MA: Danic Technology, Inc. October, 2001.