The information age has become a reality, and has brought with it many implications for public administration. New ICT's offer new opportunities for government and governing, but at the same time they pose challenges in some key areas of public administration, like trust, or the idea of checks and balances. This book is an examination of the developments and effects of ICT in public administration over the last 10 to 15 years. It represents a re-visiting of the 1998 IOS Press publication ‘Public Administration in an Information Age: A Handbook’. As a point of departure, the authors of this new book have chosen the speed of the succession of theoretical approaches, represented by the 'phase of theories' which has appeared since 1998. This approach, which reflects that of the 1998 handbook, avoids the impression of technological determinism and provides an opportunity to focus on the phases of theory and technological developments. The book is divided into five sections. The first section examines key issues, and the second focuses on aspects of democracy. In the third section, the focus shifts towards structural conditions; the conditions that public administration has to meet in order to maintain its effectiveness and its legitimacy in the information age. Section four addresses some objects of implementation, like IT-inspired redesign, HRM and the phenomenon of Street Level Bureaucrats. Finally, the last section offers some concluding thoughts.

This book is a joint effort of researchers who have been involved in research-projects and programmes that have been trying to chart and reflect upon the implications of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Public Administration (Tilburg/Rotterdam, Kassel, Irvine, Nottingham/Glasgow). Since the fifties, computers had largely facilitated and the transformation of the minimal 'Night-Watch-state' into the modern 'Welfare-state', through their contribution to their effectivity, productivity and efficiency. In most Handbooks of Public Administration, computers are seen as neutral instruments and, most of the time, the role of computer technologies in the transformation of public administration is completely neglected. This 'deafening silence' is a great contrast with the way ICT's are actually changing public administration. The faster the developments in a field of study are, the more difficult it is to let the theories, related to that field of study, mature. In such circumstances, most statements will remain provisial and context-dependent. 25 years of research in Irvine (California) and Kassel (Germany) and more than 10 years of research in Tilburg/Rotterdam (The Netherlands) and about seven years of research in Glasgow/Nottingham (the United Kingdom) nonetheless enables the presentation of a modest image of public administration as it is entering the information age. Researchers in each of these groups have, nevertheless, not stopped trying to phrase theories about the implications of informatization for public administration with a more or less larges scope, that are robust in different contexts and over longer periods of time. These results and theories, covering a broad set of elements of the body of knowledge of public administration, are presented in this volume. As the authors try to demonstrate in this book, informatization developments in public administration do not only challenge the existing body of knowledge of the public administration discipline, but they are also opening up new perspectives and paradigms for the study of public administration.

The physicist Neils Bohr allegedly wrote that “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future”. Many academics believe that serious scholars should never attempt to write about the future, but some awareness of the ways in which the future of e-government may evolve is needed if well-grounded long-term decisions about issues such as infrastructures, institutions and educational programs are to be made. In addition, future-oriented research is of the utmost importance for informed public debate about technological developments with far reaching societal implications. This book marks the 25th anniversary of the permanent study group on e-government of the European Group for Public Administration, and the papers here were first presented at their 2012 meeting in Bucharest, Romania. The invited authors were not asked for rigorous analyses based on systematic empirical research or deeply rooted in a theoretical framework; instead they were challenged to write thoughtful and measured, but provocative, essays about ICT and public administration in the coming decade. Their contributions are reflections on the nature of new and emerging technologies in the public sector and their impact on government and on democracy itself. The book is divided into three sections: the past and present as starting point for thinking about the future of e-government, imagining the future of government, and implications for research and practice. The many questions raised by developments in ICT for future public administration are presented in a clear and thought-provoking manner, and merit more debate. This volume represents a departure from the normal run of academic publications. It is intended both to provoke academics and administrators to think about questions which will affect all of our futures and to offer a range of creative ideas about how the opportunities presented by technology can be exploited to provide better government and governance.

New information and communication technologies have drastically changed public management. Public managers are increasingly dependent on information gathered form complex systems and they need to be able to put in place sound IT and communication structures. This accessible text, aimed specifically at those studying and working in public management, offers readers a comprehensive understanding of ICTs and their implications for public management. It provides aspiring and current public managers a framework for the development of strategic public information management across the full range of public organizations. Written by leading experts in this area, Public Management in an Information Age offers: - A thorough grounding in the latest research - Examples of issues and practices from different contexts and types of organizations around the world - A range of tools and techniques to help readers analyse concrete situations and develop appropriate solutions - Summary boxes on key ICTs in non-technical language This is the ideal text for students on Master of Public Administration, Master of Public Management and Master of Public Policy programmes.

In this well-informed yet anxious age, public administrators have constructed vast cisterns that collect and interpret a meteoric shower of facts. In Surveillance, Transparency, and Democracy, Akhlaque Haque demonstrates that this pervasive use and increasing dependence on information technology (IT) enables sophisticated and well-intentioned public services that nevertheless risk deforming public policy decision-making. Haque sees the contradiction at the core of a public that seeks services that require a level of data collection that triggers fears of a tyrannical police state. Haque begins by explaining that information has become a vital resource, offering a theoretical framework for its analysis. He then shows that an organization's information-gathering skill is reflected in its IT sophistication, but warns that successful IT strategies can by stunted by symbolic but shallow gestures such as the appointment of a "Chief Information Officer." He further outlines how the dependence on IT can create a reflex for IT solutions that fail to reflect the values of the citizenry they're intended to serve. Haque posits that IT's potential as a tool for human development depends on how civil servants and citizens actively engage in identifying desired outcomes, map IT solutions to those outcomes, and routinize the applications of those solutions. This leads to his call for the development of entrepreneurs who generate innovative solutions to critical human needs and problems. In his powerful summary, Haque recaps possible answers to the question: "What is the best way a public institution can apply technology to improving the human condition?" Haque masterfully flexes between crisp logical arguments and a deep empathy for human values. He finds apt metaphors that bring multifaceted scenarios into clear focus for experts and laymen alike. Engrossing, challenging, and important, Surveillance, Transparency, and Democracy is essential reading for both policy makers as well as the great majority of readers and citizens engaged in contemporary arguments about the role of government, public health and security, individual privacy, data collection, and surveillance.

Provides a critical assessment of the significance of the so-called information age to contemporary government, taking into account various perspectives on the relationship between information technology and social change in the context of British governance. In particular, the volume assesses current debates on the New Public Management, the reinvention of government, the new public consumerism and "electronic democracy" in light of these perspectives. It also evaluates policy stances towards the "information superhighway" and the likely effects on future public services. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Will information technology help reinvent government? It might, but only if it is correctly managed. This book provides a new model for management of information age reform, based on international case-studies drawn from the US, UK, mainland Europe, and developing countries. It offers practical guidance and analytical insights and will be of value to practitioners, students, educators and researchers in both public administration and information systems.