Technology and Public Management

Alan R. Shark

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781317527763
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Betriebswirtschaft
• Subtopic: Projektmanagement

At last, here is a textbook that covers the field of technology and public management in an informative and engaging style. Ever since the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration required greater infusion of technology into the curriculum, faculty and administrators have struggled with finding the right course materials designed specifically for the public administration environment.

Technology is no longer the sole domain of an information technology office, as it has evolved into a growing set of complex tools that influence every area of government. To be effective, every public manager needs to be actively engaged in technology decisions. This textbook is designed for students of public administration at every level who need to know and understand how technology can be applied in today's public management workplace.

The book explores the latest trends in public management, policy, and technology and focuses on best practices on governance issues. Finally, this book provides real-life examples about the need for policies and procedures to safeguard our technology infrastructure while providing greater openness, participation, and transparency.

Technology and Public Management covers:

• How information system design relates to democratic theory

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• How and where public policy and technology intersect

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• Skills and tools that are useful in information management, information technology, and systems dedicated for the effective flow of information within organizations

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• Understanding the role of e-government, m-government, and social media in today's society and in public organizations

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• Possibilities and challenges associated with technology applications within public organizations

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• How technology can be managed, through various governance models

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• The latest technology trends and their potential impact on public administration.

Contemporary Trends in Public Administration and Technology

DOI: 10.4324/9781315723372-1

Technology can mean many things to different people. It is a process of inquiry; it involves methods, often science, often machines, and usually one way or another—computers. Many equate technology as a set of tools that serve us in everyday life, the work environment, and most certainly all levels of government. In the 21st century, it is inconceivable for anyone studying public management not to have a healthy appreciation and understanding of the role technology currently plays and will play in the future. This is especially true as public managers consider the collecting, storing, and indexing of information, vital records, pictures, video, and maps that lead to the analysis of reports, studies, and the newly forming fields of big data and predictive analytics required for improved data-based decision-making.

Technology tools in public management are essential to service delivery—both internal requirements as well as external efficiencies. Just as auto mechanics would find it impossible to work on a car without a good set of tools, public managers are facing similar challenges in today’s contemporary office and mobile field environment, and they must also possess a mastery of modern tools. While a car mechanic must possess the skills needed to use wrenches and drivers, they now need to know even more about sophisticated onboard computers and sensors. Similarly, public managers must be able to look up records and forms, many still located in file cabinets, but they also need to know about hardware and software programs and systems in order to meet their public mission. As importantly, they also need to keep up to date on the latest technologies along with an appreciation of what they can do, how they are applied, and how they are aligned with the agency or department goals. Finally there is an ongoing challenge to ensure that any technology used is therefore, deployed for the right reason and cost-justified.

Public managers have the added challenge of staying on top of their specialty as well as keeping up on the tools and the rules governing them, which are constantly changing. In the past, technology was often left to an information technology (IT) or management information systems (MIS) department. Today, public managers can no longer rely entirely on someone else to

Figure 1.1 Three young women at work in an office circa 1930 Source: Library of Congress #LC-USZ62-111333

be the go-to-technology person. So not only is technology changing, so too is the way technology is governed.

With modern technological tools we can perform tasks faster, easier, more effectively, efficiently, and almost always—if carried out correctly—with less overall cost. The federal government spends approximately eighty billion annually on technology (Welsh 2013), and that number does not count defense or national security expenditures. State and local governments spend a combined $60+ billion dollars per year (Nunziata 2010). Governments at all levels play a significant role in using technology and, at the same time, perform a leading role in research and development aimed at improving it.

The federal government spends approximately eighty billion annually on technology, and that number does not count defense or national security expenditures. State and local governments spend a combined $60+ billion dollars per year.

Any discussion about technology and government must also include the role of private enterprise. Companies such as IBM, Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Amazon, Lockheed Martin, Textron, and Xerox all invest heavily in developing government technology solutions. There is hardly a technology company that does not sell to at least one level of government. Furthermore, there are thousands of companies that are directly and indirectly employed by government agencies, often as subcontractors, which depend on the private sector to assist in carrying out their public missions. Such companies either contract out work for special projects or simply supplement government staff.

This text is about public management and information technology—how technology and public policy often intersect at nearly every turn. Public mangers may find themselves working with the private sector in various roles as to the procurement of technology services, managing government contracts or contractors, or perhaps developing the rationale as to how technology programs should be regulated or possibly funded through grants or contracts. Public managers, many of whom may never have studied the growth and use of technology, may find themselves developing new rules and regulations that govern technology. Those in the nonprofit management field will need to understand and manage technology as a means of survival as these organizations are forced to do more with less, which is especially true when economic conditions and behaviors have sifted and resources have become scarcer than ever before.

Technology and Science

The terms science and technology are often used interchangeably; however, in practice they are both as complementary as they are different. Science is usually associated with knowledge and the active quest for inquiry into various subject areas. Most noticeably science focuses on the study of biology, microbiology, chemistry, physics, psychology, and astronomy as a few solid examples. Technology is more likened to applied science where the focus is on outcomes based on science. Science focuses on the pursuit of knowledge and analysis, where a scientist would be more interested in creating and/or proving theories. Science has a passion for explaining something, while technology usually aims towards creating or developing a useful purpose for something. As science may be the guiding force behind the advances in wind and solar energy, technology builds upon the science with actual adaptations for everyday use. Both science and technology are somewhat different yet inseparable. Science is the foundation of technology, as it drives innovation and new possibilities that wind up as technological advances.

The federal government plays a leading role in both science and technology supporting over 300 federal laboratories and centers. Mostly housed in the US Department of Energy, there are twenty-one labs and technology centers. The US Department of Homeland Security maintains no less than eight Homeland Security Centers and Labs including the National Urban Security Technology Laboratory. Every federal agency supports some form of technology information program. For example, the Environmental

Figure 1.2 United States Environmental Protection Agency Source: Environmental Protection Agency website

Protection Agency has many IT programs such as the “Technology Transfer Network.” For more information see the Environmental Protection Agency website. Every department or agency has many hundreds of employees in charge of technology in all its forms and applications.

In an attempt to help keep information and coordination flowing between such massive undertakings, the Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) was created in 1974. The FLC is chartered by the Federal Technology Transfer Act of 1986 designed to promote and strengthen technology transfer nationwide. The mission of the FLC is to add value to the federal agencies, laboratories, and their partners to accomplish the rapid integration of research and development resources within the mainstream of the US economy. Aside from its stated goals many critics have weighed in stating the FLC has for various reasons not lived up to its mission. Most who study government have not even heard of the FLC. See the Federal Laboratory Consortium website for more information.

When considering the use of technology in government one cannot ignore the impact of the US military. The largest agency known for its technology advancement is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Their stated mission is “Creating & Preventing Strategic Surprise.” DARPA was established in 1958 with the goal of preventing strategic surprises from negatively impacting US national security and create strategic surprise for US adversaries by maintaining the technological superiority of the US military. The term surprise might sound somewhat unusual but the US was completely taken by surprise when the Russians launched a basketball-sized satellite called Sputnik in 1957 that flew over the United States. Having a satellite orbiting the Earth and over the US was a surprise and caused great concern among its citizens and, of course, the military. Thus was the compelling reason to create DARPA. See the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency website for more information.

The Army maintains many technology labs of its own as does the Navy and Air Force. The military and its vast network of defense contractors have achieved many notable advances that have found their way into the civilian mainstream; an indirect benefit to military research and development.

The federal government has many levers it can pull and tools it can deploy to further technology advances that better serve the public good. The following is a list of methods that the government uses in one form or another and which encourage the use of technology adoption and are carried out in some form or fashion in just about every federal agency and commission.

Main Consumer and User

We know that the federal government spends over eighty billion a year throughout all its civilian agencies, commissions, and institutions. Similarly, state governments spend over sixty billion dollars a year in technology systems and infrastructure. Some applications are rather unique such as maintaining a safe and reliable air traffic control or a weather monitoring system. The Federal Bureau of Investigation requires many centralized databases such as fingerprint storage and retrieval, crime profiles, etc. States have the unique responsibility of maintaining driver license systems that keep track of licensed drivers, license plates, and must be accessible to law enforcement authorities throughout the state. Another example is the Veterans Administration that claims to have one of the finest online health record systems in the world. Cities maintain birth records, geographic information systems, and transportation systems that all depend on technology systems. At the heart of every agency one will always find some form of computer system, and hopefully, people trained to use it. To sum up, even the smallest local government units have no less than 200 lines of business, and each application is dependent on one or more technology systems.

Prime Promoter

(Think car safety information systems, like back-up beepers and cameras, accident avoidance systems online banking and commerce transactions, paying federal taxes online, etc.) Governments have the political and administrative capacity to promote certain technologies that support special policies, behaviors, and adoption. For example, it is not uncommon to find government agencies promoting technologies aimed at safety such as rear-view cameras or accident avoidance systems. Other examples include outbound emergency call alerts to cellular devices, or the ability for customers to use wireless devices...