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The advent of electronic personal health records (PHR) provides a major opportunity to encourage positive health management practices, such as chronic disease management. Yet, to date there has been little attention toward the use of PHRs where advanced health information services are perhaps most needed, namely, in underserved communities. Drawing upon research conducted with safety net providers and patients, the authors propose a multi-level analytical framework for guiding actions aimed at fostering PHR adoption and utilization. The authors first outline distinctive user and technical requirements that need to be considered. Next, they assess organizational requirements necessary to implement PHRs within health systems bound by limited resources. Finally, the authors analyze the overriding health care policy context that can facilitate or thwart such efforts. The conclusion notes that heightened national attention toward health information technology and reform provides a significant opportunity for initiatives whose goal is to increase widepread access to PHRs.

The Southern California Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) Priority Corridor (Priority Corridor) represented a unique opportunity for the region. During the course of this federally sponsored six-year program, the region was able to develop a set of cooperative plans and actions that ensured the ongoing integration of the surface transportation system in Southern California. These directions are set forth in the Southern California ITS Priority Corridor Strategic Deployment Guide (Strategic Guide) and Southern California ITS Priority Corridor Action Summary (Action Summary).

This report describes possible objectives for a Field Operational Test (FOT), to be conducted following the completion of the National Automated Highway System Consortium (NAHSC) mission in 2002. At that time, it is anticipated that there will be one or more FOTs in which ordinary drivers will use automated vehicles on a real roadway, under test conditions. The report also identifies potential test sites in California, and evaluates the merits of these sites for conducting different types of tests.

This report provides an overview of the key institutional challenges that could affect the development and deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems/Advanced Transportation Systems (ITWATS) technologies in California. The findings of the study are based on a series of in-depth interviews and review of research related to “non-technical” constraints both in California and at the national level. Based on this review, the study outlines three core areas that require attention: research collaboration--which focuses on public/private partnerships in the development of new technologies; regional management--which focuses on the coordination of metropolitan planning and deployment of ITS/ATS systems, and stakeholder acceptance--which focuses on the institutional and user acceptance needed for ITS/ATS systems to be successful. After describing how each of these three areas are manifest in California, the report then provides an inventory of relevant lessons that could be learned from other experiences occurring around the country, including at the national level. The report also highlights various social science methods that could be utilized in addressing these key institutional constraints. The study concludes by outlining major research implications of the findings, and provides summary recommendations for developing a broad-based, robust program in California aimed at the resolution of these constraints.

Explores the potential utility of design principles and the design studio for enacting information infrastructures essential for individuals and communities to thrive in the knowledge economy. The proposed approach, Digital Places Design, furnishes those engaged in planning and managing telecommunications infrastructure with a tool to realize opportunities of the digital revolution while building upon and preserving core community values. (AEF)

An overview is given of four evaluation studies conducted to determine the need for and possible parameters of a "postinterstate" highway policy. How these studies sought to provide cumulative information for policy makers is discussed. They investigated the scope of problems, the federal role, cost issues, and technology. (SLD)