Five New York State agencies presented the lessons learned and benefits gained from their participation in the Center for Technology in Government’s (CTG) XML Testbed. The Testbed served to assist New York State agencies in examining the benefits as well as the challenges of Web site management using the emerging technology of XML. The Testbed was undertaken in partnership with the Governor’s Office of Employee Relations (GOER), the Office of the Chief Information Officer
(OCIO), and the Office for Technology (OFT). Beginning in the summer of 2005, five New York State agencies were selected to take part in CTG’s XML Testbed and underwent six months of intensive hands-on training and workshops, which led to an XML-based Web site prototype and a business case analysis for each agency. The five participating agencies are the NYS Department of Civil Service, NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal, NYS Higher Education Services Corporation, NYS Office of Cultural Education, State Education Department and NYS Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence. In the second phase of the Testbed, CTG will examine the Testbed activities and the agency results to produce a set of practical guidelines and case studies that draw on the experiences of Testbed participants to provide guidance for others trying to improve the management, performance, and value of their Web sites. In addition, the Testbed will produce a sharable library of XML technical resources to be made available in the spring of 2006. More information on the XML Testbed Project can be found at: