[9570] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
P1 Gov't Electronic Communication
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Steven L Clift)
Tue Jan 11 12:20:35 1994
From: "Steven L Clift" <clif0005@gold.tc.umn.edu>
Reply-To: "Steven L Clift" <clif0005@gold.tc.umn.edu>
To: nii_agenda@civicnet.org, fidelman@civicnet.org, com-priv@psi.com,
Date: Tue, 11 Jan 94 11:17:29 -0600
I scanned through my old e-mail and thought you might be interested in paper I
recently completed. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.
Steven Clift
Transnational and Intergovernmental Electronic Communication:
The Policy Questions and Implications of a Global Information Network
Introduction Note:
A month ago I placed a research request on the Public Policy Network
(PUBPOL-L) and elsewhere on the Internet for this paper. A number of you
suggested that I post it on the Internet. This is a DRAFT in the sense that it
could be improved and much of my analysis is based more on personal experience
and needs more research support. There is also a certain apprehesion involved
in having your paper reproduced hundreds, if not thousands of times. I would
appreciate any comments or suggestions on ways to improve the paper.
Before I let you get into the paper, I thought I'd take this opportunity to
tell you a bit about myself. This paper was written for a graduate course at
Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, where I am
finishing a Master's Degree in Public Affairs. I have been actively researching
the issues in the specific area of electronic communication for about two years.
I have also used the Internet and e-mail for about two years. In the paper
I suggest that people in the public sector will create applications and
electronic forums based on their needs. This assumption is based on my own
experience. When I first started exploring the Internet I found that a general,
but serious forum for those interested in public policy did not exist. I wasn't
interested in general debate that mirrors talk radio, so I created the Public
Policy Network (PUBPOL-L - To SUBSCRIBE to PUBPOL-L send the following message
to: Listserv@UMINN1.BITNET or Listserv@vm1.spcs.umn.edu: Subscribe PUBPOL-L
Your Name). I decided that if I could not find a service that met my needs I
should create one and eight months later in late September,1993 it was
officially launched.
Last summer I worked for the Committee on Budget, U.S. House of
Representatives and did research on public policy issues related to the use of
information technology in government. I spoke with or met with people in a
number of Federal agencies, the White House, and from the legislative branch.
My tendency toward political analysis comes from my two years of work with
Project Public Life which is part of the Center for Democracy and Citizenship at
the Humphrey Institute, and my past work for the Minnesota State Senate and
political campaigns.
I am currently working for the State of Minnesota's Information Policy
Office. I staff the Ad-hoc Task Force on Electronic Access to Public
Information. The Task Force is developing proposals for a coordinated, central
access point to government information and services through multiple
technologies and applications like the Internet, e-mail, computer bulletin
boards, and kiosks. If you are interested in receiving more information about
this initiative when we release our draft proposal contact me at:
steven.clift@state.mn.us. It is an exciting effort and will offer a number of
lessons about how to use information technology to improve public access to
government information and services.
I hope you find the paper interesting and your comments are welcome.
Steven Clift,
clif0005@gold.tc.umn.edu
P.S. The article was split into two parts because of my mail program's capacity
and the second part is much shorter. On paper it was about 18 double spaced
pages.
DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT
Transnational and Intergovernmental Electronic Communication:
The Policy Questions and Implications of a Global Information Network
By Steven L. Clift,
clif0005@gold.tc.umn.edu
Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
University of Minnesota
Introduction
It could be said that for the governments of the world to prepare now for the
effects of the current information and communications revolution, would have
been like the government preparing a program to deal with airport noise problems
before the jet engine was built. With the development of each new technology
and applications to use those technologies the way our societies operate and
allocate resources shift. The changes that occur often have positive and
negative results. The opinion someone has about those changes may also vary
from person to person. Also, the infusion of new technologies and their effects
is not static and the development of different technologies or adaptations by
others in society often alter the original results.
The survival or strength of an institution depends on its ability to read and
understand how the changing world around them might affect their work and
purpose in society. Government organizations from national legislatures to
local social service agencies operate in a complex and increasingly globalized
economic and political system and are not immune from these shifts, especially
as they relate to the use of information technologies in their work.
This paper will examine the development of intergovernmental and transnational
data networks and explore the potential policy implications and challenges
government institutions may face as a result. It will summarize some of the
technological aspects of inter-networking, present examples of current
application and efforts by governments, and explore some of the potential policy
implications. It will conclude with proposals on how government can capture the
positive benefits of electronic communication, and prepare itself to deal with
the policy issues and potential downfalls as they emerge.
This paper centers on those countries that have developed more sophisticated
information infrastructures and does not address these issues from the
perspective of a developing nation. (Footnote 1)
Information Technology and Networking
Over the last few decades governments around the world have invested billions
of dollars into the research and development of new technology including high
performance computing, communication devices, and data transmission networks.
Examples include the High-Performance Computing and Communications (HPCC) and
National Research and Education Network (NREN) in the United States, the
European Strategic Programme for Research and Development in Information
Technologies (ESPRIT), the European Nervous System (components of which address
transnational electronic communication and will be presented later) and Japan's
New Information Processing Technology project of the Ministry of International
Trade & Industry (MITI).
The following statement from the paper "Information Networks and New
Technologies: Opportunities and Policy Implications for 1990's" from the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) sums up the general
public purpose developed for most of these initiatives:
"Information technology (IT) developments, originally driven by defence and
space needs, are increasingly geared to meet commercial and industrial demand.
It is now recognized as indispensable to many economic activities, and industry
experts consider broader IT production and use as a basis for further economic
and social development.... IT has become a strategic tool in the contemporary
economic and political environment, as well as for the opening up of new markets
and patterns of demand." (Footnote 2)
Except for the mentioning the use IT as a strategic political tool, most
government support of research and development in this sector has been geared
toward building a competitive national industry, improving the collaboration of
scientists and researchers, and in higher education. The benefits of IT have
been conceptualized by these various projects in functionary terms or by sectors
of the economy. The development of technological capacity is not generally
presented as a means to improve processes. However, the creation of basic and
more advanced applications helps explain how IT is becoming a tool that changes
the way organizations work and communicate.
The OECD report is one of the few reports that presents the public sector as
one of the beneficiaries of its own investment in IT research and development.
It was not until the late summer of 1993, with the release of the Clinton
Administration's National Performance Review, that the notion of IT causing
changes in the way government delivers services and makes decisions received
high profile attention. It was estimated that Federal government investment in
and the use of IT could save billions dollars over a number of years. How this
will change the way government functions will be important to watch. Most of
the literature on the effects of information technology and systems on
organizations examine businesses and not government. While general observations
can be drawn from that literature (group work across geographical distances,
flattening of hierarchies, etc.) the public nature of government work and
general lack of a firms profit motive and sale of products provides for enough
of a difference to demand more study of IT impacts on public sector processes.
This paper should bring out a number of those areas requiring research.
Networking
The current use of IT applications and the development of networking standards
over the last decade has brought us to a point where local area computer
networks can be linked to other computer networks via routers and high speed
data backbone network connections. The "Open Systems" standards (OSI), the
Government Open Systems Interconnet Profile (GOSIP), and TCP/IP Internet
protocols are all contributing to a general government acceptance of the concept
that government agencies need to move from proprietary computer systems to
systems that can be networked and communicate with other systems based on a
general set of operating standards. This is occurring, however slowly, at all
levels of government in most countries that have highly developed information
infrastructures. Countries that do not have developed infrastructures will
likely use these protocols as they develop based on normal distribution patterns
of technologies to the developing world.
Within the United States four or five states are considered leaders in the
promotion of Open Systems for use by state government. The draft National
Association of State Information Resource Executives (NASIRE) titled, "Serving
the Citizenry through Opening the Enterprise," it states that "the fact that
standards are agreed upon by national or international organizations has little
to do with adoption and use by an enterprise or a community of enterprises."
While many information resource offices have been policy advocates of Open
Systems the actual movement in State agencies has been slow. The report argues:
"If, instead of setting our goal to achieve Open Systems, we sought to open the
enterprise and interconnect it to the world, we would have defined a practical
goal. Also, as we look at "states" or "governments" as an enterprise, we are
challenged to rethink "the organization" within which interconnectivity is
required." (Footnote 3)
This statement is a sign that government entities are, from their experience,
moving toward Open Systems without integrating it into the work of their public
mission or business plan.
A November 1993 report by Anderson Consulting titled, "Open Systems in
Minnesota State Government: A Readiness Assessment" summarizes this State's
readiness for Open Systems:
"* Minnesota is in the very early stages of readiness for open systems.
* Understanding and commitment to open systems have not significantly penetrated
the State's technology community. Most activity has been at the policy level.
Policy progress has yet to be translated into concrete actions to move away from
proprietary information technology toward open systems environments.
* Key enablers driving the State toward open systems are the needs to: 1)share
data across the enterprise, 2) cut costs, 3) cooperate for service delivery, and
4) respond to market forces and federal mandates.
* The barriers to implementing open system environments in Minnesota state
government are formidable, but not insurmountable. Those barriers are: Lack of
knowledge, training and skill base, Perceived lack of industrial strength
products in the marketplace, Lack of open systems champion, and Large installed
base of proprietary legacy systems, Government fragmentation and fiefdoms, and
Conversion cost." (Footnote 4)
While Open Systems goes beyond the TCP/IP Internet connections, the State of
Minnesota will have invested $7.3 million dollars in a state-wide high speed
data, video, and voice network by late next year that will among other things
provide for extensive Internet access, the next challenge is to migrate the
hundreds of government systems to that network. We are already seeing
government use of electronic mail over the Internet and a few State agencies and
the State Legislature have put menu driven information on the Internet through
an application called "Gopher." This information is available to anyone in the
world who is interested in looking at it.
Given the time it will take for most governments in different countries and
levels within those countries to be inter-networked, this paper will begin
exploring the possible interactions of governments based on current examples and
efforts at a smaller scale. How will the various government institutions
shape this environment for their benefit? What will the characteristics of this
networked world be? What types of applications will they develop for it in the
carrying out of their missions?
Applications
While more advanced applications and tools are being developed for the Internet
on a regular basis the most commonly mentioned uses for these networks include
electronic mail, file transfer, electronic data interchange (EDI), and remote
access to databases and information. Once an organization adopts a basic level
of connectivity it is unlikely that they will retreat from that. It could be
compared with throwing away your fax machine because the process for sending a
fax confused you at first. It is also predicted in the future that this will be
the platform for the development of a digital information infrastructure that
will include voice, video, and high speed transfer of extermely large quantities
of data.
One of the most important communication tools used on electronic information
networks are those that allow collaboration or automated communication among
groups of people. There are thousands of electronic mail forums or lists that
allow an individual to "broadcast" a message to those subscribed to that list.
The parameters and openness of these forums vary. Some may involve only ten
individuals on a private list or thousands on a public list. Some lists are
moderated, some allow anyone to post, some only deliver an information service
from the list owner. This allows for the creation of "affinity networks." The
OECD report describes the characteristics of these networks:
"Such "affinity" networks may result in national and international networks.
In principle, it would then be possible to receive and exchange information
presented in whatever form in real time, from a large number of intelligent
stations (human and PC and/or intelligent work stations), on whatever subject,
worldwide, coupled with feedback at the local or global level. Such networks
could be used to sense or act on all types of parameters (economic, social,
environmental, etc.) when designing, producing and marketing goods and services
or any other activity or process." (Footnote 5)
Current Efforts, Examples and Analysis
The European Community
One of the most advanced policy documents on transnational data exchange
between governments comes from the European Community. It is titled "Proposal
for a Council Decision on a series of guidelines for trans-European data
communications networks between administrations." What stands out about the
creation of an IDA programme (interchange of data between administrations) in
European Community is the existence of an articulated purpose. Greater data
sharing and communication will "enable national administrations and the
Community institutions and bodies to meet their new responsibilities" and
contribute to the "effective management of the Community area without
frontiers." (Footnote 6) This situation includes a supranational organization
in the inter-networking among nation states which has special characteristics
not present elsewhere.
This case illustrates how supranational institutions like those in the European
Community view the potential usefulness of moving toward open and integrated
information systems. It could also be viewed as a way for the EC institutions
to strategically place themselves in the middle of information flows between the
member states and assist them in the management of "common agricultural,
environment, education, and health policies."
The EC is also a central organizing point that will invest resources in
building applications to manage and add value to the electronic communication
that occurs between governments. In the United States there is a need for more
intergovernmental coordination, but the incentives for Federal agencies to
create communication systems that may lead to a decentralization of their
decision-making process and that may require them to share power with those
included in their information flows make it less likely that Federal agencies
will take the lead without management acceptence or political leadership. A new
report released in December 1993 by the voluntary inter-agency Working Group on
Government-wide Electronic Mail, titled "A Unified Federal Government Electronic
Mail Users' Support Environment" represents a movement by primarily government
information technologists to move move forward. The report states, "Regardless
of the approach chosen [specific IT applications and services], the Federal
Government needs to see that our American society is plunging headlong into the
world of electronic information flows, and that an insular,
each-agency-for-itself approach will be detrimental to the Nation." (Footnote 7)
The EC contributions in this area, including efforts to create tools for
language translation, will likely enhance their power and ability to manage the
affairs of an integrated market. The use of Open System protocols by the EC
also means that transborder data flows will not only expand from the EC at some
point to the other nations of Europe as the report mentions, but to the entire
world. It should be pointed out that Open Systems does not mean unrestricted
access or non-secure communication. The tools and forums that the EC creates to
improve communication between governments at all levels within the EC may result
in the flow of information and ideas to governmental agencies in other countries
dealing with similar issues.
Local Government
In the United States the National League of Cities, the National Association of
Counties, and the International City/County Management Association among others,
have created a service called Local Exchange. While it is not accessible
through the Internet, subscribers from local governments all across the United
States dial in with their computer and modem to share information on topics of
interest to local governments. Their services include the creation of computer
conferences geared to exchange information on specific issues, electronic mail,
a database called "Local Government Solutions" that contains "one-page
description of thousands of recent, successfully implemented problem-solving
city and county programs, complete with names and numbers for follow-up
information," and abstracts of articles from more than 400 local government
publications. (Footnote 8)
With a fee based service like this, one of the incentives for people to
participate relates directly back to the work they are doing with their local
government. When they are able to improve their work, they will be more likely
to exchange information that is useful to others in the service. This service
also posts "Federal legislative alerts" which illustrates how governments may
use the medium to organize themselves politically along lines of common
interest.
As local governments begin gaining Internet connectivity these types of
exchanges will occur more frequently between local governments in different
countries. Will this allow new or innovative ideas to spread to various
localities in a fraction of the time that it occurred in past? For example had
local governments been inter-networked when the idea for the new German
packaging laws emerged, where the manufacturer is essentially responsible for
the packaging after the consumption of the product, would there have been local
governments in the United States that would have adopted that policy early
instead of waiting to determine the success of the German initiative. What
implications does this have for industries that try and prevent regulatory ideas
in one part of the world from gaining credibility in parts of the world? And
moving beyond the use of this medium by local government staff, will local
elected officials use it on a regular basis to communicate with each other and
with their constituents? Will the range of interest groups from the local to
international level use this medium to organize local political activity or
attempt to set the local public agendas?
Legislatures and Parliaments
The United States Congress will complete a fiber optic network for the Capitol
Hill complex within the next year that will allow for high speed data
transmission and complete Internet connectivity. A report by the Congressional
Research Service titled, "Congressional Reorganization: Options for Change,"
states that the full impact of using advanced information technologies will not
be known until they are used as universally as word processing is today."
Within this very political environment "developing such an advanced
infrastructure will require a degree of cooperation and collaboration between
congressional offices that is, so far, unprecedented." (Footnote 9)
Both the U.S. House of Representative and U.S. Senate have moved forward in the
last few years with the research and database tools available electronically and
a large portion of staff can now send and receive electronic mail to and from
the Internet. The infrastructure envisioned by Stephen Gould of the CRS
includes moving most of the printed information used by Congressional offices to
electronic format, including bills, committee reports, etc., use of "groupware"
software to "streamline congressional work processes," and the use of video
conferencing. It could be argued to explicitly plan for a system such as this,
and deal explicitly with the political ramifications would be extremely
difficult. It seems more likely that technology will advance within the walls
of Congress and they will structurally respond to technology and not use IT as a
tool to force reform.
In terms of more basic inter-networking the House Representatives launched a
project to test electronic mail from constituents in about 6 member offices.
Legislative institutions and staff are already overloaded with information and
they operate to manage and control the information flow and do not desire to
increase it. The pilot project requires that the people who want to send
electronic mail must write to the Members office first and register in their
system to verify that they live in the district. Unlike the White House which
accepts electronic mail messages from anywhere and has a relatively high volume,
this project has not generated high volumes of correspondence. In fact, many
have been disappointed by the low volume of traffic. (This should change over
the years as more of the public begins to use electronic mail services.) It
could be argued that the qualities of electronic correspondence do not lend
itself to the generation of high volumes of mail from one individual to a single
office and the lack of residency in district may make the ease at which an
incoming message can be deleted enough of a deterrence to prevent abuse of such
a system. (The White House has set up a system that auto-responds to message to
verify receipt and it is printed out and responded through normal postal
channels.)
As Congressional staff have more experience and training on the Internet they
will see it more as a staff resource tool. This is beginning to happen. The
use of electronic mail forums will allow them to link into the currently
established research networks that are involved with the issues they are
assigned to. When they have a need to find information quickly and the
databases provided to them do not return useful information, many will find
posting a basic question to scores of experts in that field through one
electronic mail address an attractive option. This same idea can be applied to
legislatures and parliaments at both national and regional levels in all
countries. Over time active staff on these networks will become aware of each
other and new lists and forums will be created to suit their needs and perhaps
create international networks of legislative staff..
The questions that can be raised in this are are many. How will this affect
how the public agenda is set in a legislative body? Will increased communication
result in a coalescing of political forces with similar ideologies or agendas
across nations? And will this lead to the conceptual globalization of public
problems and proposed solutions?
DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT
FOOTNOTES
1 A good source of information on the issues facing the developing world see
Global Communication and International Relations (1993), written by Howard
Fredrick.
2 OECD "Information Networks and New Technologies: Opportunites and Policy
Implications for the 1990s," Information Computer Communications Policy #30.
(1992) p. 23 Note: I sent a general research request to a number of people on
the Internet and asked if anyone had the e-mail address for Dieter Kimbel who
wrote most of this article. After being referred to someone at the
International Telecommunications Union who used to work at the OECD, I was given
Dieter Kimbels e-mail address and have had correspondence in reference to my
original research request.
3 NASIRE Report, "Serving the Citizenry through Opening the Enterprise." Draft,
August 1993. p. 1-4 This draft report was developed by the Open Systems
Subcommittee of the Information Policy Committee of the NASIRE.
4 Anderson Consulting, "Open Systems in Minnesota State Government: A Readiness
Assessment" (November 1993) p. 3
5 OECD "Information Networks and New Technologies: Opportunites and Policy
Implications for the 1990s," Information Computer Communications Policy #30.
(1992) p. 33
6 European Commission, "Proposal for a Counncil Decision on aseries of
guidelines for trans-European data communications networks between
administration." (March 1993) p. 8
7 Working Group on Government-wide Electronic Mail, Integrated Services Panel.
"Final Report: A Unified Federal Government Electronic Mail Users' Support
Environment." Part I, near end. (December 1993)
8 Public Technology Inc. "Local Exchange." - flyer and information packet
9 Gould, Stephen. "Employing Information Technology to Facilitate the Conduct
of Congressional Business." Chapter 9 from Congressional Reorganizations:
Options for Change. (Sept. 1992) p. 62
END OF PART 1
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