I teach and do research in the area of government information policy and government information system management. I am specifically interested in the policy and management of e-government. Public access to information and the use of information to facilitate and enable a democratic form of government are, to me, key issues in this digital age.

NEW E-GOV CERTIFICATE PROGRAM: 15 credit hour certification in electronic government, Fall, 2004. Joint program of the Department of Public Policy and the Information Systems Department at UMBC. Patricia Fletcher, Director.

NEW JOURNAL on E- Government: International Journal of Electronic Government Research. EDITORS: Patricia Diamond Fletcher and Donald F. Norris. First issue January, 2005.

NEW BOOK: Pavlichov and Garson. Digital Government: Principles and Best Practices. (2004)

NEW BOOK. Garson, Ed. Public Information Technology. (2003).

I have participated in a number of national studies of information resources management (IRM) in U.S. government. I recently completed research with the Center for Technology in Government on a project funded by the National Science Foundation Digital Government Awards. The project is titled A MULTINATIONAL INVESTIGATION OF NEW MODELS OF COLLABORATION FOR DELIVERING GOVERNMENT SERVICES. The U.S. Programs participating in this study include:
· FirstGOV.gov
· Access Indiana
· IRS E-file
· New York State GIS
· and governmental agencies throughout Canada and Europe