Evaluation of Public Information Systems

Evaluation is a key element in preparation of the business case for an IT project. Business plans include discussion of costs and benefits, performance measures, progress milestones, assessment of risk, cost estimates for alternatives, and general justification for the advocated alternative. Approaches to evaluation range from the qualitative and general to the quantitative and specific. As identified in the chapter, evaluation activities may include comparisons of the agency with “best practices,” development of performance measures and benchmarks, and cost-performance analysis.

Cybercrime and Electronic Commerce

With the pervasiveness of IT, security is the Achilles heel of computing. As discussed in the chapter, security efforts have gained attention, but secure systems remain out of reach as organizations struggle to balance market needs, civil liberty demands, and privacy rights. This chapter considers the current state of computer security along with the methods used to both exploit and prevent system infractions. It also relates some of the major legislative activities that seek to address security shortfalls. Finally, it touches on a number of security guidelines that managers should be aware of and possibly exercise to protect critical information assets.

Organization Behavior and Organization Theory

In this chapter, the authors attempt to find a middle ground between optimism and pessimism by approaching organization theory and organization behavior empirically, first looking at the alleged effects of information technology on organization structure and then on behavior. After investigating some of the key questions that relate information technology to organization theory and behavior, the chapter expounds on the role of IT on both organizational theory and behavior in light of the theoretical themes of the book, specifically technological determinism, reinforcement theory, sociotechnical theory, and systems theory.

The Information Technology Business Model

Business models are intended to provide a framework for strategic planning, promoting the alignment of the agency’s IT plans with its overall mission and encouraging clarification of roles and responsibilities for achieving desired results. Such results typically are to improve the availability, cost, and quality of public services, and to implement common IT standards in the hope of additional cost savings. As a form of results-oriented management, such public-sector business plans are intended to promote accountability at the individual and organizational levels. This chapter focuses on the various components of an information technology business model and the common pitfalls organizations may encounter in the development of their IT plans.

The Vision of E-Governance

The book begins with a discussion of the two major eras that define IT in public administration. It then explores a number of theoretical frameworks that have proved helpful in understanding IT. Specifically, technological determinism, reinforcement theory, socio-technical theory, and systems theory are all reviewed as a means to help appreciate the various frames of references that guide IT development. As the is shown, the theoretical frameworks differ significantly in their approach to IT. The other goal of this chapter is to explore how IT impinges on democratic values of transparency, participation, and collaboration. In short, this chapter presents the concept of democracy from a concentric layering perspective of six critical themes: e-democracy, e-activism, e-campaigning, e-voting, e-legislation, and e-participation. As explored in the chapter, these five layers entail many new roles for public managers, many new challenges, and many new opportunities.

Governmental Transparency, Information Access, and Information Privacy

This chapter explores the tensions that exist among government transparency, information access, and information privacy. Computer technology has the capability to offer much to today’s public organizations. It has the potential to bring about transparency in the way government conducts its business, but information transparency has two countervailing sides and numerous obstacles. The debate over an individual’s right to privacy and the public’s right to information has a long and checkered past, and at no time before has the debate become more critical. The chapter closes with a discussion of the tangential obstacles that often impede government transparency and offers guidelines on how to navigate this thicket of competing demands.

Implementation Success Factors

Since the appearance of the modern computer, managers, politicians, and the public have become accustomed to believing that investment in information technology is the automatic path to success and progress. It is now a fundamental notion in management literature that nations and organizations that know how to take advantage of IT will gain a competitive edge over others. Yet success is neither automatic nor guaranteed. This chapter explores the many challenges that are typically encountered and offers advice on how to overcome the obstacles that threaten IT success.