ABSTRACT
Planners must increasingly stay current with evolving new technologies. But learning to use new technology tools for information collection, organization and communication can be a forbidding task. To make thinking of this task a little easier this chapter provides an overview of various techniques that planners aspire to use to make their practice more efficacious. This chapter provides an overview of the techniques in planning to achieve objectives planners are likely to encounter in their careers. In a conceptual model for thinking about when and how to use technology, the most commonly used techniques are explored. Ways to build an effective strategy for a particular project or plan and how to evaluate success and identify risks in using technology are described. A description of how various techniques were applied in a real-life case study in a major metropolitan US city illustrates the potential of these techniques and tools for effective practice.
