Guidelines for Establishing Executive Management Information Systems for State Departments of Transportation

This digest presents the essential findings from the final report on NCHRP Project 20-24(2), Executive Management Information Systems for State Departments of Transportation. The overall objective was to provide the executive accurate, timely, relevant, and accountable information to measure the accomplishments and status of the department. Specific objectives were to (1) develop a prototype to assist DOT executives in understanding what an Executive Management Information System (EMIS) can do for state DOTs, and (2) outline the step-by-step process that would be needed to design, implement, and support an EMIS. These objectives were accomplished through the following activities: Executive information requirements were determined through interviews and questionnaires; An EMIS prototype was developed and revised based on interview comments; Information requirements were analyzed, producing a matrix describing the relationship of executive requests and the department's base systems; EMIS software and hardware alternatives were identified and evaluated; and EMIS design and implementation guidelines were drafted. This digest presents the findings of the interviews and research performed for this project, the applications and benefits of an EMIS, and the conclusions reached.