06/01/07 12:33 pm ET
Update: This post was corrected to reflect that Andrew Speaker knew he had tuberculosis before traveling to Europe.
The case of Andrew Speaker, the personal injury lawyer from Atlanta who was allowed into the United States despite a computer warning to a border guard to detain him at all costs, and a report released today on Philadelphia's Department of Human Services may seem like two unrelated events. But they both have one theme in common: Information systems many times are only as good as the skills of the users or their desire to use it.
Most of you know about Speaker, who flew to Europe knowing he had contracted a deadly form of tuberculosis, and despite warnings about his condition, was permitted entry into the United States despite a warning on a computer screen telling a U.S. border guard to stop him at all costs. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has called for an investigation into the case, and suggests that long hours and lack of training may be behind the lapse in judgment. "These agents are our nation's first line of defense and we need to make sure they get the support and training they deserve," according to cnsnews.com.
In Philadelphia, a panel of experts ruled that children in the city have died as a result of neglect from the city's agency in charge of taking care of at-risk children, according to a Philadelphia Inquirer article. At the end of the article, the Inquirer reports:
The panel also called on DHS to do a better job of analyzing its performance and become more open with the public.The department had piles of data in expensive computer systems, but made almost no effort to analyze it, the panel found.
"It's all there, but it never really comes together," said [DHS Commissioner Arthur C. Evans Jr.]
Training, management experts will tell you, is one of the first budget items to go when financial cuts are made and it is commonly cited as a problem in IT project failures. But it's also one of the most important steps in assuring programs are successful. The Government Accountability Office recently concluded that the U.S. Census Bureau's training program for enumerators was deficient.
We'd like to know what you think. Click the comment link below and let us know what kind of computer training, including data analysis, you have received and tell us if it was helpful, and if not, what should be done.
COMMENTS
It is astonishing to me how many people have only the most basic knowledge of Windows, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. And how many agencies shy away from using Outlook folders or calendar resources because their employees cannot be made to learn how to do things any other way. How many hours are wasted every day in attempts to find out if someone is available for a meeting because their Outlook calendar is either not viewable or even not used? And when I suggest to someone that Ctrl-A would do the job of highlighting all the text in a cell or document, I get looks formerly reserved for magicians and witch doctors.
Andy Boots 06/13/07 07:21 am ET
Microsoft training has been lacking in my company.
Todd Gibbons 06/07/07 08:03 am ET
Data analysis is not something that can be learned in one course. I have an MBA in accounting and analyze the impact of personnel actions in our agency, to identify any barriers. We have tried to train others, but very few people can do data analysis.
I believe agencies need to recognize this as a unique skill and develop data analysis "tests" to screen applicants before hiring. So many people say they can do it, and what they actually do is repeat the data in narrative format. They do not know how to actually analyze it for discrepancies, trends, etc.
ccompton 06/06/07 10:14 am ET
FYI - The story wrongly states that he "contracted a deadly form of tuberculosis in Europe".
European 06/05/07 02:14 am ET
The skill set we're describing here is reading, thinking and performing.
Computer training does little to assist someone who lacks either the basic skill set or the determination to accomplish their function.
This issue is not about computer training. A computer can facilitate a job function, but the employee needs to be up to speed and committed to begin with.
US 06/04/07 11:04 am ET
In our agency, computer training was eliminated by the new IT director - he said people don't need training, they can teach themselves this stuff. We don't get training & suffer thru completing the most basic of tasks. Forget about analysis, many can't even prepare a Word document correctly.
MAG 06/04/07 10:47 am ET
As a contractor who sells information management software to federal, state and local government agencies, I share this sentiment. It is hard enough to watch an agency procure software to "track" activities, rather than give its staff the tools to "manage" their work and improve work processes. But then too often the system configuration phase is short-changed (which makes systems harder to use) and training is given cursory treatment. It's as if some procurements are seeking technology solutions to complex needs but think that an Adobe Acrobat Reader-level application will do it and users will "figure it out, eventually."
Concerned Contractor 06/04/07 10:18 am ET
We are studying these issues in an Executive M.B.A. class I'm attending. This is a problem within government and outside of government in businesses and local and state governments and in non-profit organizations. The problem is that an organization's business processes are not aligned with the IT tools to move in a more positive direction. How can we spend money on computer systems if we don't have a well thought out strategy in which business people are talking and communicating with Information Technology and working towards creating work processes required in order to go in a different direction? It should be seamless. I didn't realize how widespread this issue is. It seems as if our leadership as well as every person here has a responsibility to bring this issue up to their leaders along with a plan of how it can be corrected. It is not as simplistic as I'm making it out to be. Yet, working together, I'm positive we can make efforts to correct this situation and learn from our successes as well as from our errors.
Linda D. 06/04/07 09:13 am ET