[9571] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
P2 Gov't Electronic Communication
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Steven L Clift)
Tue Jan 11 13:11:21 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 12:08:51 -0600
DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT
Transnational and Intergovernmental Electronic Communication:
The Policy Questions and Implications of a Global Information Network
By Steven Clift
Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
University of Minnesota
clif0005@gold.tc.umn.edu
PART 2
Policy Implications and Analysis
The paper will now examine a few overarching policy implications and factors
that are important in the context of electronic communication and
inter-networking.
Human Networks
With all the discussion of computers, data networks, and databases it is easy
to lose sight of the fact that these networks are based on the interaction of
people. The application of more advanced information technology allows the
individual to expand their presence into other social, political, and economic
circles that was not possible before at such a relatively low cost. Within an
individuals organizational context the information and knowledge that a person
has to contribute is most often transferred through human interaction. (Footnote
9) So the electronic networks that a person is tied to are a foundation and
information and input source and become represented by the actions and policy
positions of an individual in their organization. The existence of a database
may assist in making specific information available when needed, but time for
the person to analyze and convert the information into applicable knowledge is
important.
The various "affinity networks" can also be viewed in social terms. Like
various groups in any society, there are norms, values, and rules that people
operate by. It is often the case that people new to the medium of electronic
communication conceptualize the receiver of their communication as a machine and
not a person. With experience and an understanding that longer-term
relationships with people are being built, a person will get the sense that this
is a human network. And while people will be less likely evaluated on their
physical characteristics or age, they will be scrutinized on their use of
language and writing style, their ability to construct rational arguments or
questions, personality quirks, or lack of substance that can be perceived easily
in many situations.
Hierarchies
One of the commonly stated effects of electronic communication and its ability
to break through other communication and bureaucratic barriers , is that it
flattens hierarchies that can lead to a decentralization of power. This has
been most observed as IT has spread through corporations:
"By its very nature, electronic mail blasts aside typical corporate hierarchies
because the messages are undifferentiated - there is no fancy letterhead....
[it] has produced a new social fabric for the R&D community that cuts across
corporations and the hierarchy of organizations that creates a new kind of
accessibility. It is easier to send e-mail to very important people, people
whom you would never consider calling or writing." (Footnote 11)
These lessons apply to interaction within a government agency and beyond.
Not only will people within an organization gain new ways to access information
that used to flow from the top of the organization, they will also be able to
compare their own status and work effort to others they have built connections
with in other government organizations. Information control is one of the prime
sources of power a bureaucratic agency has. If the organization cannot
maintain control over their information, their relationships with other
government agencies will likely shift. These shifts are considered by many to
be positive and it is argued by many that it will lead to a more efficient
public sector.
Policy Development
As described earlier, information networks will change the way policy is
developed. There are advantages to having the world at your finger tips, but
that does not necessarily mean you will utilize those networks. For
organizations and people to capture the potential in this area they need to
rethink and plan for how they will use this resource and integrate it into their
work. The problems of information overload, sifting through useless
information, and the need for training will all need to be dealt with. Also, as
we have observed with the prevalence of the fax machine, rapid communication
does not necessarily bring about better policy. It may actually reduce the time
people have to digest information and to create workable knowledge for use in
determining policy directions. As the public sector has more experience with
this type of communication we will have a better sense of how to address these
issues or at least gain a better sense of our limits.
The use of electronic communication is often a good channel through which to
better define the issues, but it does not necessarily bring you toward a
solution. Over time weaker arguments (or granted, those with fewer in-house
research resources) may become apparent. However, the relatively low cost of
basic electronic mail may actually allow smaller voices to be heard. This may
lead to the raising of more policy questions and require more work to be done to
bring a policy issue to a point where policy makers at a certain site feel
comfortable making a decision. One addendum to the inclusion of smaller voices
is that strong economic and political interests will adapt to this technology as
well and attempt to use it to their benefit.
The Media and Political Importance
The role of the media is very important in public policy. The use of IT has
also revolutionized the way news flows around the globe. What will happen when
more and more governments go straight to the people with their press releases in
an attempt to inform the public or to influence public opinion? The Clinton
Administration releases speeches and important documents electronically and NATO
has a press release service on the Internet as well. The fact that the leader
of the United States puts releases out for public consumption may spur more
national governments and opposition parties to do the same.
Over the last year the number of articles in the popular press on the Internet,
the National Information Infrastructure, etc. has numbered over a thousand. The
year before it was about fifty. What happens when the Internet moves from being
covered as a thing, to a respectable gauge from which of public feeling or
interest can be determined? When will fifty people protest an issue
electronically to a government entity become equated with fifty or say ten
people physically picketing a government office? How will policy makers and
government staff approach the Internet if it becomes a source for story ideas
about what government is doing, not just related to technology? How will they
react when they are quoted in their local paper from a message they posted to a
public electronic mail list? And how will the media react when the public and
government officials send their comments and opinions about stories directly to
the reporters electronically?
Role of Government
The role of government in the economy and society is geared toward the
promotion of economic growth through the market system and addressing issues
related to social and educational development. The general trend in market
countries is to move from more coercive regulation toward more non-coercive
education of the consumer that will spur industrial and social changes driven by
consumer demand. The predominant role for many government organizations is to
compile and produce information for others to make decisions from. The expense
involved with publishing and broadcasting often limits the amount of awareness a
government organization can build from released information.
For example, a government might collect data on when an industrial plant has
violated pollution standards. Through the use of IT, information may be
readily available to the public and retransmitted by concerned local citizens to
environmental groups across the country and used to put pressure on other
offices in the corporation. This might influence the company to deal more
seriously with their pollution problems or risk consumer backlash. Another
example might be an international government organization that deals with human
rights. They might not have the power to place sanctions on a country for human
rights abuse, but they would be able to inform the humans rights and trade
offices of the member countries on a regular basis and spur a coordinated
response. This also raises the possibility that governments and citizens of
different countries might become more deeply involved in monitoring and reacting
to the domestic activities within other countries in areas beyond the normal
pervue of foreign policy.
Conclusion
The overview of the policy implications and current efforts in the use of
information technology networks sought to bring out some of the issues
government will need to deal with. While improving the governments use of
information technology and promoting increased inter-networking is important,
the essential ingredient is the creation of a purpose for improved
communication. Government organizations need to prepare for increased
communications and where appropriate restructure their organizations and
information flows to take advantage of the benefits of inter-networking.
To help this process along a few suggestions include:
* Collecting evidence and anecdotal stories about how the government has been
made more efficient, effective, or that services provided to the public improved
because of ideas imported from elsewhere.
* Setting up a few pilot initiatives that use current technologies to link
government workers based on common interests between nations.
* The redirection of some of the public resources geared toward the R&D in
technology toward the development and testing of applications in government.
* Create incentives for government workers to scan the global information
networks for ideas on how to improve their work and their agency's delivery of
services and incentives for employees to share information and knowledge
electronically.
* And create a role for the United Nations, UNESCO, the International
Telecommunications Union, the OECD, and other international organizations to
assist in the creation of government "affinity" groups based on potential areas
of collaboration and to work to build the value of these forums for the
participants through electronic group facilitation.
With projects like these and the ability of people and the ability of
institutions interested in these issues to communicate through the established
internetworking, it will be possible to capture the lessons for the public
sector. In the near future perhaps we will see the creation on an international
"affinity" group of people, advocates within the public sector, who are
interested in developing initiatives to ensure that government moves forward in
the application of electronic communication to improve its work.
FOOTNOTES P2
10 Grosser, Kerry. "Human Networks in Organizational Information Processing."
Annual Review of Information Science and Technology p. 349-50
11 Tekla, Perry and John Adam. "E-mail pervasive and persuasive." IEEE
Spectrum. (October 1992) p. 28 . The subquote is attributed to Lucky at AT&T
Bell Laboratories.
DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT DRAFT
Bibliography
Anderson Consulting, "Open Systems in Minnesota State Government: A Readiness
Assessment" (November 1993) p. 3
European Commission, "Proposal for a Counncil Decision on aseries of guidelines
for trans-European data communications networks between administration." (March
1993)
Gould, Stephen. "Employing Information Technology to Facilitate the Conduct of
Congressional Business." Chapter 9 from Congressional Reorganizations: Options
for Change. (Sept. 1992)
Grosser, Kerry. "Human Networks in Organizational Information Processing."
Annual Review of Information Science and Technology
NASIRE Report, "Serving the Citizenry through Opening the Enterprise." Draft,
(August 1993).
Public Technology Inc. "Local Exchange." - flyer and information packet
OECD "Information Networks and New Technologies: Opportunites and Policy
Implications for the 1990s," Information Computer Communications Policy #30.
(1992)
Tekla, Perry and John Adam. "E-mail pervasive and persuasive." IEEE Spectrum.
(October 1992)
Working Group on Government-wide Electronic Mail, Integrated Services Panel.
"Final Report: A Unified Federal Government Electronic Mail Users' Support
Environment." (December 1993)
REPRINT of the 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
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
*::Steven:L.Clift::::::::::::::::::::::clif0005@gold.tc.umn.edu::#
#::Moderator,:Public:Policy Network:(PUBPOL-L):::::::::::::::::::*
*::Hubert:H.:Humphrey:Institute:of:Public:Affairs::::::::::::::::#
#::University:of:Minnesota, Minneapolis,:MN:55455::::::::::::::::*
*::(612):824-3747:::::::::(612):625-6351:fax:::::::::::::::::::::#
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
* To SUBSCRIBE to PUBPOL-L send the following message to: #
# Listserv@UMINN1.BITNET or Listserv@vm1.spcs.umn.edu --> *
* Subscribe PUBPOL-L Your Name #
#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*
