PPA 503 – The Public Policy- Making Process Lecture 2d – The Vision of E- Governance

“As We May Think” – Vannevar Bush  In World War II, science created the greatest engine of destruction that the world had ever seen.  In the post-war period, Bush argued that science would create the greatest engine of knowledge the world had ever seen.  He called it the “memex.”

“As We May Think” – Vannevar Bush  The memex was a striking vision of the information universe at the end of the 20 th century.  An imagined device for storing knowledge (all of an individual’s books, records, letters, and data).

“As We May Think” – Vannevar Bush  The individual could use the memex flexibility to expand her knowledge base but would be simple enough to operate on a desktop or from a distance with translucent screens and keyboards.  He also envisioned hypertext, the complex linking of terms.

Competing Theories of Information Technology (IT) and Change  Technological determinism: IT is an unstoppable force in its own right, shaping the world (and government) in profound ways. It would undercut the bureaucratic form.  Reinforcement theory: IT is a tools like any other. It tends to reinforce the structural position of the powers that be.

Competing Theories of Information Technology (IT) and Change  Sociotechnical theory: IT is unconstrained by technological determinism or structural forms. It responds to system design. The designer becomes the agent of change.  Systems theory: Design is key, but it is determined by technological, not human, factors. The development of control systems influences outcomes.

IT Factor Environment Matrix Factors and Determinants Unconstrained Environment Constrained Environment Technological Factors Systems Theory Technological Determinism Human Factors Sociotechnical Theory Reinforcement Theory

The Global Village (1964)  Marshall McLuhan – Technological innovation the engine of change, not control of the means of production (Marx). Technological determinism.  Society would be transformed as television and electronic IT replaced newspapers and print media.

The Global Village (1964)  IT would create a global village where everyone could stay in contact with anyone else no matter where they were.  Before ARPAnet or the Internet, McLuhan saw the globalizing influence of an electronic nervous system.  All innovations consist of four processes: retrieval, enhancement, obsolescence, and reversal.

The Network Nation (1978)  Hiltz and Turoff – the revolution in information systems would lead to a new epoch of decentralization and democratization. Technological determinism.  Technological advances in communication changed group communication making dominance more difficult.

The Network Nation (1978)  Democratization of communication would increase democratization of decision-making.  Actual research suggested that improved communication actually increased managerial control.

The Electronic Cottage in the Infosphere (1980)  Alvin Toffler – The Third Wave. First wave – Agriculture Second wave – Industrialization. Third wave – Information age.  Personal freedom arising from telecommuting.  Replicable rather than finite resources.  Also technological determinism.

The Network Society (1996)  Maurice Castell  Based on reinforcement theory.  He identified the conflict as a dialectic between informational capitalism of networked international corporations versus social movements and regional efforts to assert unique cultural identities.  Informational capitalism intertwined with rising inequality and social exclusion.  The creation of the Digital Divide.  IT reinforces the powers that be.

Smart Communities (1997)  World Foundation for Smart Communities.  Adaptation of IT to meet human needs.  Unconstrained environment.  Calls on communities to consciously adapt IT to help the underprivileged.  Sociotechnical theory.

Digital Places (2000)  Thomas Horan.  More moderate version of smart communities assuming that digital places would combine electronic locations with physical locations.

E-Government and E-Governance ( )  Digital government, e-government, e- governance.  Sociotechnical theory.  Technological possibilities translate into technological realities influenced by organizational, political, and cultural environments, with non-deterministic results.  The virtual state cross-cuts traditional agency boundaries creating one-stop service centers.

E-Government and E-Governance ( )  E-government: Broadcasting. Transaction processing. Public records access. Interpersonal communication. Surveying and monitoring.  Clinton administration promoted e- government to reduce government tendency to refuse integration and develop redundant systems.

E-Government and E-Governance ( )  Four stages of e-governance. Presence. Interaction. Transaction. Transformation.