The commissions report to the state legislatures, governors or other institutions. The private-sector members are selected for their expertise in information management and technology. There are no clear, or generally agreed upon, evaluation criteria for technology investments. In the private-sector, criteria may range from strict financial criteria to very soft qualitative criteria, or some combination of both approaches. This variability is also true in the public sector.
Criteria used in the evaluation process vary significantly by state.
An informal survey of other states was completed with regard to their state telecommunications network, management of the network, and how the managing organization was funded. If the survey identified a unique, successful model at other states, it would be useful as a benchmark from which to develop a proposal for Vermont. The survey revealed no clear, single model for administration and funding of a statewide telecommunications network. Some states installed and managed all of the physical network equipment and wires, other states leased everything, and some states did a combination of both. Funding of the network administration group included appropriations from the General Fund, chargebacks through a revolving fund, or a combination of both types of funding.