Notes for “Master of Science”

Students
Level: [Link]. (Administrative Sciences)
Semester: (3rd) spring 2021
University: Allama Iqbal Open University
(AIOU)
Study Notes Course: (5014) Technology policy &
Administration
Prepared By: Sardar Umer Chaudhary
Department: Dept. Of Business Administration,
Islamabad main campus of AIOU.
Block: 1 Technology & Administration
Information Technology and Public Administration: The View
from the Profession:
In “Information Technology and Public Administration: The View
from the Profession,” Alana Northrop points out the need for a
reader on information technology by reviewing the importance
given computing education by MPA programs and practitioners. A
survey of leading public administration journals finds general
neglect of coverage of computing. Textbooks in the field also
barely mention information technology. The chapter suggests that
there are six generic skills that need to be taught in public
administration curriculam, with a seventh one on the horizon. In
The Six Generic Applications
A person looking for a responsible job in city, county, state, or
federal government will be expected to indicate computer skills on
the resume. Experience with dedicated computer applications in
one’s area, such as human resources, will enhance one’s
employability. Of greater fundamental importance, there are
computer skills that are commonly expected of all job applicants.
These computer skills are generic because any job applicant would
be wise to have them.
The generic computer skills include word processing, spreadsheet,
graphics or data presentation, database management, e-mail, and
Internet. Using Geographic information systems (GIS) is a
computer skill that is on the fast track to becoming a generic
application, too. There are also benefits to knowing a simple
desktop publishing application; however, while desktop publishing
is a nice and even a fun skill, it is not on the level of the other
generic skills for PA professionals. National Association of Schools
of Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA) in 1989 committee
recommend 6 approaches must taught to MPA Graduates.
Politics, Accountability, and Governmental Information
Systems :
“Politics, Accountability, and Governmental Information Systems,”
Information systems are becoming more involved in politics due to
the growth of the World Wide Web, electronic government, and the
increasing digitization of information of all kinds. Many information
management specialists lack knowledge and experience about
how to deal with political aspects of information management, and
consequently they are ineffective. Bruce Rochelle discusses how
central political issues are to information management and
illustrates strategies that can be useful in dealing with political
 issues. Examples are given of how inattention to the political
aspects of managing information systems can result in problems
and even disasters. Internally, information viii managers have to
deal with such politically-charged tasks as the structuring of
information management, purchasing information systems,
managing personnel in this era of digital communication, and
struggles over the sharing of information within organizations.
External information management issues include demands for
online accountability information, the development of websites,
issues over access to information, and inter organizational issues
including disputes over turf. Many survey say in MPA programs
computer subject must need to taught but computing skill is also
necessary. In essence, even taking into account that these studies
are out-of-date, the word from public managers is to know how to
use computers and be ready to deal with management issues
surrounding computerization.
Block-2: Evolution of Information Technology Management
 The Evolution of Information Technology Management at the
Federal Level: Implications for Public Administration :
Given the growing importance of effective information technology
(IT) management to the basic functioning of most public programs,
the sophistication of the policy, theory, and practice in this area
should be evolving quickly. Unfortunately, that is not so (Holden,
1996; Holden & Hernon, 1996; Fountain, 2001). As a result, it is
quite possible that the current generation of public administration
scholars and practitioners may be ill equipped to face the
challenges of the information age in which we find ourselves trying
to govern. A mere gap in IT management theory might not be fatal;
but in reality, the implications for the practice of public
administration, and therefore governance, are quite grim. In past
few few years unfortunately it implications effort put in other sector
air traffic control etc but the main sector public sector is safety and
economic well being of country is ignore. While the billions of
dollars currently spent by the federal government on IT make up an
insignificant portion of the budget, IT underpins almost the whole
budget directly or indirectly. Just ponder the implications to the
government’s cash flow if the Internal Revenue Service could not
collect taxes or the Social Security Administration could not post
employee earnings. This chapter compares the federal IT
management literature with a normative model of management
maturity, examining the strategic objectives for IT and the related
management approaches. The academic disciplines that contribute
to an understanding of the management of IT in the federal
government include business administration, state and local
government management, information sciences, and public
administration. Is governance is ready to accept information age
answer is no because they not show the maturity but the
information through it is very important is that era they need to
make strategies and must need to taught about it in education level
and also implement at public administration in governance level
and laungh e-governence.
The Realities of the Paperwork Reduction
The Paperwork Reduction Act was enacted in 1980 to protect
the public from excessive demands for information. Paperwork
Reduction Act (PRA) in 1980 (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35; P.L. 104-13).
This seminal act made information resources— information,
technology, and personnel—be viewed and treated as a valuable
government asset and managed in a life-cycle manner. Later this
act revised as Performance result Act (PRA) 1980 and later this act
revised as GPRA 1993 added support and strength to the
recognition of the strategic value of information resources and the
necessity of planning for their effective use. These laws are
designed to maximize government performance and efficiency,
make top level agency heads accountable for their information
technology (IT) management, insure privacy and security for both
the information systems and the data maintained by federal
agencies, to manage government information collections according
to a life-cycle model, to provide public access to high quality
government information and transactions, and to do all the above
in an online environment by FY 2003 (Fletcher & Waterbuck, 1999;
Fletcher, 2002). Such a major transition to a new technology
environment begs for effective planning prior to making this move.
Federal government do investment of 44B in IT sector it is largest
in entire world. US is the largest purchaser of IT after this
investment. Government used internet to deliver info to their
citizens. After all these big efforts Gov. need to put more work on
this era because many country still rely on paper work. The need
for strong IT leadership and a government-wide strategic view of
information management has long been recognized as critical.
Block-3: Information Resources Management
Information Resources Management – key factors
Information Resource Management (IRM) is a program of activities directed at making
effective use of information technology within an organization.

Information Resources Management (IRM) is the concept that

information is a major corporate resource and must be managed
using the same basic principles used to manage other assets. It is
the efficient handling of raw data and resulting information asset
(knowledge). Information resource management mean planning,
budgeting, organizing, directing, training, promoting, controlling, &
management activities with the burden collection & use of
dissemination info by agencies or organization.
Those (critical success factors) are people, project,
organization, knowledge, and expertise. Those critical success
factors are also supported by several items of each factor.
 “These factors include nature of the organization, category of the
organization, structure of the organization, size of the organization
and the management style followed in the organization.”
Block-4: Digital Government
 Mediating the Tension between Information Privacy and
Information Access: The Role of Digital Government
Government agencies collect and disseminate data that bear on
the most important issues of public interest. Advances in
information technology, particularly the Internet, have multiplied the
tension between demands for evermore comprehensive databases
and demands for the shelter of privacy. In mediating between these
two conflicting demands, agencies must address a host of difficult
problems. These include providing access to information while
protecting confidentiality, coping with health information databases,
and ensuring consistency with international standards. The policies
of agencies are determined by what is right for them to do, what
works for them, and what they are required to do by law. They
must respect the democratic & individual accountability. They must
keep pace with technological developments by developing effective
measures for making information available to a broad range of
users. They must both abide by the mandates of legislation and
participate in the process of developing new legislation that is
responsive to changes that affect their domain. In managing
confidentiality and data access functions, agencies have two basic
tools: techniques for disclosure limitation through restricted data
and administrative procedures through restricted access. The
technical procedures for disclosure limitation involve a range of
mathematical and statistical tools. The administrative procedures
can be implemented through a variety of institutional mechanisms,
ranging from privacy advocates, through internal privacy review
boards, to a data and access protection commission. FIA CYBER
 CRIME WING & PTA AND NADRA IS BEST PAKISTANI
EAXAMPLES….

 E-Government: An Overview

By definition, e-government is simply the government use

information and communications technology, such as the Internet,
to improve the processes of government & they provide service to
citizen and other person of the country or region.. E-government
promises to make government more efficient, responsive,
transparent and legitimate and is also creating a rapidly growing
market of goods and services, with a variety of new business
opportunities. The 4 types of e- gov services, of the digital
interactions between a citizen and their government (C2G),
between governments and other government agencies (G2G),
between government and citizens (G2C), between government and
employees (G2E), and between government and
businesses/commerces (G2B). E-government is also known as e-
gov, electronic government, Internet governance, digital
government, online government, connected government. E-
government and its capacity could be available to all people
regardless of their place or social level. In summary, more
efficiency, enhanced services to better serve citizens, better
accessibility of public services, more transparency and
accountability of government are the expected advantages of e-
government. E- gov improve public administration and easy access
to citizen and fast delivery.
Block-5: Leading-Edge Information Technologies
 Leading-Edge Information Technologies and Local
Governments
A leading-edge information technologies and their adoption by
American local governments. By information technologies, I mean
nearly any technology that is based on the use or deployment of
computers and computerized devices and that involves the
collection, storage and manipulation of data and information. By
leading edge, I mean information technologies that are currently on
the vanguard “mohra” (hence, “leading edge”) of innovation
adoption by municipal governments.
It is useful to distinguish here between leading- and the bleeding-
edge technologies. Being on the leading edge of a technology
innovation means to be among the first wave of adopters of a
proven technology. Innovation in the form of early adoption in such
a case, while carrying some risk, is not inherently risky. Being on
the bleeding-edge is much riskier (and, therefore, in the world of
local government, generally is not recommended), because it
involves being among the first adopters of a technology that has
not been tested and proven in the field (e.g., being a beta site for a
new technology). Leading-edge information technologies tend also
to have a second important characteristic. Many of them are
relatively more sophisticated than information technologies used
for more routine functions. These information technologies require
more than just basic hardware and software, perform other than
routine applications, involve both multiple departmental or
functional area users, and require advanced knowledge and skills
to operate. This characteristic is certainly observable in such
leading-edge information technologies as GIS, AFIS, electronic
government,1 and others.
A geographic information system (GIS) is a system that creates,
manages, analyzes, and maps all types of data. GIS connects data
to a map etc.
The Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) is a
biometric identification (ID) methodology that uses digital imaging
technology to obtain, store, and analyze fingerprint data.
 Local Government:
Local gov used these technology like GIS & AFIS for effectiveness
& efficiency. They used these technologies for measuring
population. Gov used technologies for solving specific problems.
Finally, as newer and more sophisticated information technologies
are adopted, local governments will necessarily have to provide
more integration and support for them. In future many local gov
used LET for better result.
Block-6: Information Technology - Results-Based Management
 Information Technology as a Facilitator of Results-Based
Management in Government

The role of information technology in government management has

constantly evolved over the years. This evolution has generally been
driven by changes in IT, as both software and hardware have rapidly
improved. However IT’s management role has recently been
changing more rapidly, and this time it is because public
management, at least as much as IT, has been changing. During the
past decade, consultants, texts, academics, and professional
societies have all combined to change the accepted definition of
“good” public management. Twenty years ago, public managers who
listened to their workers, kept their operations moving smoothly, and
calmly handled occasional crises would often be considered
outstanding managers by peers and by outsiders. Governmental
results-based management combines several streams of
management changes that developed separately over a decade,
primarily in the business world. Total Quality Management (TQM) was
first. In the 1980s, as Japan’s economic growth was at its peak, US
and European companies looked to learn from Japanese
management and its use of TQM.2 Major US corporations quickly
adopted many TQM approaches, especially frontline worker
 empowerment, process benchmarking, and continuous measures of
customer satisfaction. Reengineering, with its tools for process
improvement, was implemented by many companies a few years
later. The new model attempts to make public agencies more
proactive, more agile, and more results-oriented. Today teaching ,
doctor working method change and they work on basis of result. And
different stores, companies purchasing & selling they use different IT
software like MIS (Management information system).
Computer Tools for Better Public Sector Management
computer applications and information technology in government. It
could have been organized by public administration task such as
human resource management or budgeting, but each governmental
function can use several computer tools that are not unique to that
function. Thus a human resource manager uses word processing
software and probably a spreadsheet or a database management
program. The same could be said of someone performing virtually any
other administrative function. This example suggests that the topic
should be organized by software type. Spreadsheet is used for
statistics & forcasting. Database management software, such as
Access or Alpha-Five, is commonly used for personnel records,
inventory management, or whenever large numbers of records will be
stored. Database management software is also ideal when data are to
be entered by a computer novice. Data input screens can be designed
that include instructions for the user to help ensure that the correct
types of information are keyed into particular fields. To some degree,
 each field can also be designed so that incorrect types of information
cannot be entered.
 Geographic Information Systems in the Public Sector
The term “geographic information system” (GIS) can be traced to the 1970s
when it was first used to describe a variety of techniques used to create maps
as an aid in the analysis of data. This application was an outgrowth of the
development of various tools such as computer-aided mapping (CAM) and
computer-aided design (CAD) systems used primarily by cartographers,
draftsmen, and engineers to produce detailed and accurate maps. Through the
application of CAM and CAD programs, very precise maps could be drawn and
updated quickly to reflect changes in infrastructure, political boundaries, and
topography. Public Managers used raster & vector model and sampling for
better level of measurement for better effectives and efficiency.