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SHERYLE A. DOMINGO
DM 216 - Information Technology Management
Master in Development Management
THE SPREAD OF INFORMATION AGE
REFORM
INFORMATION AGE DOES EXISTS BUT IS IT REALLY
SPREADING?
If we consider reform in general, then there is no doubt about its spread: whatever their guise or terminology, public sector reform initiatives have been on the increase. They have spread to all corners of the globe. Within individual countries, they have increasingly set the agenda for public sector managers. The most tangible evidence of SPREAD comes from the increasing use of Information Technology within government.
The origins of Information Technology in government are often traced back to Herman Hollerith, who work for the US Census Bureau in the 1880s. He developed a tabulating machine based on punched cards which was first used for the 1890 national census and subsequently for tabulating military payroll. The company Hollerith founded to produce his machine is today’s International Business Machine(IBM); the largest IT firm in the world.
Just as IBM has grown huge from small roots, so too has government use of IT. There are no reliable figures, but can guess estimate that up to US$500 billion per year is being spent world-wide on IT based information systems in the public sector.
WASHINGTON – The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released its updated annual “Report on Information Technology (IT) Spending for the Federal Government.” This update details the approximately $66.4 billion of requested FY 2008 IT spending, a 2.3 percent increase over the FY 2007 enacted total. http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/omb/pubpress/2007/052407_it_spending.pdf ACCESSED 9/20/2013 In 2008-09, annual Queensland Government ICT spending reached $1.5 billion , of which 56% or $845 million was directed towards ongoing operations of the sector's existing business applications and technology infrastructure http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Research+and+Markets%3a+In+2008-09%2c+Annual+Queensland+Government+ICT...-a0213312431 ACCESSED 9/20/2013
In year 2008-2009 Australian government spend US$5.17 billion in IT http://agimo.gov.au/files/2012/04/ict_expenditure_report_2008-09_-_2010-11.pdf Accessed 9/20/2013 Philippines Governance Systems and Efficiency Digitalization Program Php6,600,00.00; Php66,797,000 Financial Management Information System Php71,802,000 for the National Payroll System. (Office of the President) http://www.dbm.gov.ph/?page_id=3610 accessed 9/20/2013
• Saudi Arabia spending on information technology to US$4.1 billion dollars in 2012, with an annual increase of 9% over the past years
http://we-en.blogspot.com/2013/02/41billion-in-spending-on-information.html accessed 9/20/2013
Public Sector organizations undertaking their initial computerizations will typically see IT as means of increasing efficiency; automating the human effort within existing manual procedures and thereby attempting to cut staff costs. It is here that the majority of IT has so far been implemented in the public sector. At the other hand of the spectrum, a number of countries have been investing in electronic government projects, with a particular emphasis on using IT to improve the delivery of public services, combining the aims of increasing efficiency and becoming more customer responsive.
In dynamic terms, the IT base available to support the reinvention of the government is increasing every year. In many governments, increasing hopes about IT’s contribution to reform translate into increasing IT investment rates. Recently real average increases in annual government IT expenditure include 8% in the US, 23% in Malaysia and 61% in Singapore
The relationship between IT and government reinvention is increasing not only in terms of investment, but also in terms of visibility, with a number of high-profile initiatives having been launched during the 1990s. These have spread on a policy wave from early epicenters: notably the US but also Singapore. They include: • Australian Initiatives to make use of IT in government reinvention were launched in 1996 as an IT blueprint for the public sector. By 1998 the portfolio of initiatives included Fed link, which will create a whole government intranet, and the Commonwealth Information Centre, which will provide a single point of access to government information.
• European Union The Interchange of Data between Administration (IDA) programme, initiated in 1995 and entering its second phase in 1998, uses computer networks to enable exchange of public sector information between European governments.
• India The Leadership and Excellence in Andhara Pradesh in the 21st Century (LEAP21) initiative, launched in 1997, aims to use IT as a significant lever to the creation of better government in Andhra Pradesh state
•Philippines The governments National Information Technology Plan competitiveness and empowerment that includes plans for extensive computerization of government operations in order to improve governments capacity and efficiency across the board. In 1997, the plan was renamed IT21. •Singapore The IT2000 Intelligent Island master plan, first formulated in 1991, aims to make use of IT pervasive throughout the whole Singapore society. It includes a significant component of reengineering public services through use of IT
• South Korea The snappily titled Implementation Plan for Governmental Administration Informatization Promotion, originating in a 1987 information systems project, strives to increase the efficiency and quality government services through use of IT.
• US The National Performance Review (NPR) of 1993 and subsequent Access America plan of 1997 aim to create better, cheaper government with a substantial role for IT in that process
•World Bank/ developing countries. The
information for Development (InfoDev)
programme was designed in 1995 to harness
the "information revolution' for Third World
development. It includes the aim of using IT
more widely in government reform programmes
Within these initiatives, IT has often been
much more strongly identified as a part of
information age reform than have information
and updated information systems:
The primary objective is to investigate
the scope for a significant increase in
the use of on-line technology to
transform government so that, by the
turn of the century, most administrative
business is conducted electronically
• The initiative focuses on using Information
Technology as a strategic tool for improving
the quality of life for the people of Andhra
Pradesh
• The vision of IT2000 is based on the far-
reaching use of IT to see how IT can be
pervasively applied to improve business
performance and the quality of life
• Government direct will be founded on the
new possibilties offered by information
technology, and the private sector.
DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO
REFORM
The approach to reform in the public sector has
changed over time as regards IT and Information. In
large part, these changes relate to the changing
nature of senior public officials (both politicians and
managers), who have tended to set the
implementation agenda for reform. We can categorize
four different approaches to reform that appear over
time in a "four-eyes" model:
1. IGNORE
Public Officials are ignorant about IT
and Information System (IS).
They therefore do not include
consideration of their plans for reform. IT
expenditure is minimal and any IT
managers accidentally appointed in the
public sector have a pretty thin time.
2. ISOLATE
Public Officials remain computer-illiterate
and lack an understanding of information's role.
They nevertheless are aware of IT and its
potential. Investment in IT is therefore included
in reform plans but is seen as the responsibility
of IT experts. It is mainly associated with
automation and some idea that efficiency gains
will result. For other reform agendas, it is added
as an afterthought and is not linked in any
systematic way to the process of reform. This,
nonetheless, represents the first step on the
path of Information age reform. IT managers get
the budgets they always wanted and a certain
amount of freedom from management oversight.
3. IDOLIZE
Public officials have become semi-
literate. They use computers and are over-
aware of ITs potential. They believe that IT
can transform the business government.
They are dimly aware that Information is
something important. The public sector
becomes awash with IT-driven reform
projects which place technology at the heart
of the change process. IT managers get
huge budgets, immense workloads and the
boss always looking over their shoulder and
claiming any credit.
4. INTEGRATE
Public officials have become information-
literate. They recognize information as a key
organizational resource that is central to all
government functions. The reengineering of
Information systems and the introduction of
IT are now fully integrated into the process of
organizational change, driven by reform
objectives
INFORMATION AS A RESOURCE: IMPLICATIONS
FOR GOVERNMENT
• Managing government information:
government information in all forms is a
strategic resource and will be effectively
managed throughout its lifecycle
• Data administration: all government
information will be subject to data
administration to ensure common
definitions, integrity and consistency of
data.
• Sharing and re-using information:
information will be captured once, as close
to the source as possible, then shared and
re-used by authorized users.
• Exchanging information: once captured,
government information should be stored
and exchanged electronically to avoid
transcribing and re-entering it manually.
INFORMATION AS A RESOURCE: IMPLICATIONS
FOR GOVERNMENT
• Protecting information: the security, integrity and privacy of government information will be ensured by integrating information technology security measures with physical, personnel screening, and other security measures.
• Retaining information: government information will be retained only while there exist a business need, a legislative or policy requirement, or when it has historical or archival importance.
• Stewardship: specific organizational units
will be accountable for managing
designated classes of government
information to ensure its integrity, quality
and relevance, and to restrict its
accessibility to authorized users only
BARRIERS TO AN INTEGRATED
APPROACH
1. Barriers that restrict progress from the
ignore approach;
2. Drivers that encourage continuance of
the idolize approach;
3. Barriers that restrict diffusion of the
integrate approach
OTHER BARRIERS INCLUDE:
Technical Barriers
Skills and knowledge barriers
Data barriers
Structural and cultural barriers
BARRIERS TO PROGRESS FROM
THE IGNORE APPROACH
1.Skills and knowledge
2.Finance
3.Risk
4.Suspicion
5.Infrastructure
DRIVERS SUPPORTING THE
IDOLIZE APPROACH
1. The image of IT as reform solution
2.Pressure from other external institutions
3. Continuous novelty and unfamiliarity of IT
innovations
4. "Me too" attitudes
5. Other enabling trends
ALTERNATIVE REFORM MODELS
example of a government's Bureau of Statistics:
• Automation Phase
Once collected from the field, statistical
survey is typed by clerical staff on to a
computer instead of being held on a
paper. Tabulations are now performed by
the computer and not by hand.
.
• Optimization Phase
The survey forms and data entry screens
are simplified, and networked computers
are placed in regional offices. This enables
direct entry of data by field staff instead of
central entry by a pool of clerical staff at
headquarters.
• Reengineering Phase
Survey questions are redesigned to
provide the information that is actually
required by the Bureau and its clients.
.
• Transformation Phase
The Bureau is renamed the Statistical Services
Agency. It has outsourced much of its data
gathering and has set up a commercial unit that
provides income generating statistical services for
foreign and domestic private firms. These services
include an annually-updated CD-ROM of national
data sets; access to certain national data sets via
the internet; and an online analysis service for the
provision of customized trend analysis and
reporting
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